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10 min · product

Ship a static guide site (like iswarp)

Goal: Edit MD, regen HTML, commit; a red checklist item means not shippable—no custom CMS on day one.

Best for: Educators, indie builders, and bilingual guide sites that should stay free to read.

You can teach useful AI habits with folders of HTML, CSS, and markdown—not a full product stack. Login walls can come later (or never). Optional subscribe is enough for many indie sites.

Why beginners skip this

A scaffolded site feels shipped—without one real guide and a proof checklist, readers hit empty pages. Ship one guide first.

Step 1 — Minimum file map

  • index.html — home
  • learn.html / start.html — paths into guides
  • styles.css + small app.js (language toggle is enough)
  • guides/*.html — one page per lesson
  • content/guides/en|zh/*.md — source of truth you edit

Host options (pick one tutorial and finish it): Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, or GitHub Pages. Do not start three hosts.

Step 2 — Launch checklist prompt

Run a launch-checklist prompt: links, titles, mobile, a11y—if any item fails, do not call it shippable.

Example

Filled prompt

Act as a release checklist (no cosplay). My static guide site must ship tonight.
Confirm each item Yes/No/Unknown based only on what I list:
- 10+ guides live as public HTML
- EN default; ZH available without a separate domain
- No login wall to read
- Mobile readable
- Subscribe optional only
- Broken-link spot-check on 5 random guides
My status notes: [paste]
Return a table + the single riskiest No.

What good output looks like

  • Table mirrors your notes, not invented deploys
  • Riskiest No is actionable tonight
  • No pressure to add auth “for professionalism”

Step 3 — Content workflow that survives

Edit markdown, regen HTML, commit, host auto-deploys; keep ads in a separate config so a broken widget never blocks reading.

Draft a one-page README for contributors: how to add a bilingual guide, naming rules, and “Ship a static guide site” Keep under 200 words.
Example

Filled prompt

Ship checklist for static guide site: build, broken-link crawl, minutes sync, no secret in repo.
Mark which I will do tonight vs weekend.

What good output looks like

  • Ship checklist items checkable for “Publish HTML guides on a static host without build”
  • No fake “done” without a URL/artifact
  • Scope freeze before polish
  • Pass/fail: one shipped link

Keep it real

Run this guide’s Practice now on work you will actually ship this week—not a fictional scenario. Dated notes beat perfect theory.

Do not bookmark-only

Finish Practice now, then tick this guide on your path. Titles unread are not skills.

Close the loop

Write one line: next time I go live with empty pages, I refuse publish.

Check the unknown path

What should the model do when a field is missing—null, TBD, or ask you? Write it once in Boundaries.

Example

Filled prompt

Pre-ship tonight: link crawl, minutes sync, no secrets in repo.
Checklist tonight vs weekend. Mark owners.
Context: real workstream this week (Asia/Shanghai). Name actual files/people.
Constraints: no invented metrics/owners/prices; label Unknowns; stop before send/delete/pay.
Done check: I can mark pass/fail in one minute on the output.

What good output looks like

  • No fake “done” without a URL/artifact
  • Scope freeze before polish
  • Pass/fail: one shipped link
  • Ship checklist items checkable for “Publish HTML guides on a static host without build”

Red flag

A scaffolded site with no real guide or proof dumps empty pages on readers—ship one guide first.

Save this card

Card: Edit MD → regen HTML → commit; a red checklist item means not shippable. Keep this beside the tool; read before you start.

Before you start

Open the ship checklist. For “Publish HTML guides on a static host without,” the Done line must name a URL or file path you can click. Guide: product-ship-a-guide-site-static. Keep the real job visible the whole time; a blank box means stop and fetch the artifact first.

How to use this week

This week run the proof checklist before publish: links / titles / EN↔ZH align; at least one real guide must pass before go-live.

Pitfalls

PitfallFix
Building auth before 10 public guidesShip reading first
Hand-editing HTML and markdown out of syncOne source of truth + regen
Paywalling tutorials on day oneOptional subscribe; open guides
Copying other sites’ lesson textOriginal examples only
Example

Filled prompt

Temptation: skip the habit for product-ship-a-guide-site-static to save five minutes.
Job still: Publish HTML guides on a static host
Smallest correct pass: Done visible · checkable artifact · Unknowns [?].
Boundaries: draft only; no silent send; no invented metrics.
Return: artifact + refuse-line said aloud.

What good output looks like

  • Names the shortcut refused (specific to product-ship-a-guide-site-static)
  • Still delivers checkable output for “Publish HTML guides on a static host”
  • Unknowns labeled; draft-only
  • Pass/fail: refuse-line dated (product-ship-a-guide-site-static #4)

Practice now

Lighthouse glance: note LCP/CLS only if you already run it—else skip (Asia/Shanghai).

Mobile glance: open the page at phone width once (Asia/Shanghai).

Link click: click every new href once before ship (Asia/Shanghai).

Ship-site drill: one static page change + local preview check before declare done (Asia/Shanghai).

Thin-spot drill: rewrite the Save card with real nouns from your work (repo, doc, inbox). Generic placeholders fail the drill.

Tonight run the proof checklist before publish: links / titles / EN↔ZH align; at least one real guide must pass before go-live.

Reality check: after Practice now, write one sentence you will refuse next time—and keep it on the Save card dated Asia/Shanghai.

Today card (copy) — product-ship-a-guide-site-static: 1. Artifact I will produce: ___ 2. Pass/fail check: ___ 3. Refuse-line if tempted to skip verify/send: ___ (date: Asia/Shanghai) 4. One never-do from this guide: ___

Extra pass: do the card on a real file today—reading alone does not count.

One sentence takeaway

Proof checklist: links / titles / EN↔ZH align; one real guide passes before go-live.

Next

Landing copy loop · 7-day path · Disclose AI assistance

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