Migrating blog to Next.js

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Jun 25, 2025 (1d ago)

nextjs, migration, blog

This year, I finally decided to set up a personal server. You know, that moment in every man's life when, instead of going to therapy, he spins up an empty droplet on DigitalOcean (of course, I'd love a home server. but not with my lifestyle).

I decided to start by migrating my blog from 11ty to Next.js. 11ty is great when you need something out of the box, but customizing it is a real headache. Their documentation is pretty messy. And you still have to write plain JavaScript đź« .

So I grabbed a ready-made Next.js blog template and started customizing it. I’ve got plenty of ideas, so I’ll be slowly bringing them to life and sharing progress here.

minimalism is key

I spent a lot of time thinking about the design. I still really love the webpunk and retro aesthetic. The vibe of those “personal pages” from the 90s and neocities. But that’s more like a separate philosophy, and I’m not so close to it anymore. So I decided to choose something more minimalistic and a bit more “professional” for now.

By the way, Next 15 is painfully slow. Even rebuilding this tiny blog takes several seconds. But the production build seems okay.

The old version of the blog is still live here old.valentyndomanskyi.com.