Freedom251 › Blogging Platforms
fastpages
What fastpages is
fastpages is a free, open-source web blogging platform that turns Jupyter notebooks, Markdown files, and Microsoft Word documents into Jekyll posts. It uses GitHub Actions to simplify publishing on GitHub Pages. Notebook posts can contain code, outputs, formatted text, interactive Altair visualizations, hideable inputs and outputs, collapsible code cells, and metadata entered in a Markdown cell. Posts may automatically include links or badges for GitHub, Colab, Deepnote, and Binder. The platform provides lunr.js keyword search, tags for categorization, custom styling through code, custom domains, and settings for page width and Google Analytics. Twitter cards and YouTube videos can be embedded. Authors can write locally and preview with live reload. Comments use Utterances and are stored as issues in the blog's GitHub repository, which must be public for readers to view them. Setup starts by copying the fastpages repository; GitHub Actions then opens a pull request to continue setup. The repository lists an Apache-2.0 license. The project is deprecated, and its maintainers recommend Quarto instead.
Who it suits
It suits authors who want GitHub-based Jekyll publishing from notebooks, Markdown, or Word files. It is most relevant to users comfortable with repositories, GitHub Actions, and a deprecated project.
What it does well
- Free and open source
- Notebook posts support interactive Altair visualizations
- GitHub Pages publishing via GitHub Actions
- Custom domain and code styling
- Local live-reload previews
What to know first
- Project is deprecated
- Maintainers recommend Quarto instead
- Comments require a public GitHub repository
- Setup uses a repository and pull request
Verdict
fastpages offers a broad notebook-oriented publishing workflow with GitHub integration and configurable blog features. Its deprecated status is the key consideration before starting a new site.
Facts from fastpages's own pages
- Blog analytics
- Yes · fastpages.fast.ai, 22 Sept 2026
- Comments
- Comments use Utterances and are stored as issues in the blog's GitHub repository; the repository must be public for readers to view them. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Custom domain
- Yes · fastpages.fast.ai, 22 Sept 2026
- Customization
- Users can customize site styling and configure options such as tags, page width, and Google Analytics. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Discovery
- fastpages includes keyword search and lets users categorize posts with tags. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Embeds
- The feature list includes embedding Twitter cards and YouTube videos. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Local preview
- Users can write posts on a local machine and preview them with live reload. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Notebook features
- Notebook posts support interactive Altair visualizations, hideable input and output, collapsible code cells, and post metadata in a Markdown cell. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Notebook links
- Notebook posts can automatically include links or badges for GitHub, Colab, Deepnote, and Binder. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Notebook posts
- Notebook posts can include code, outputs, formatted text, and interactive Altair visualizations. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Project license
- The repository lists an Apache-2.0 license. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Publishing
- It uses GitHub Actions to simplify creating blog posts on GitHub Pages. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- fastpages is a blogging platform for creating Jekyll blog posts from Jupyter notebooks, Word documents, and Markdown. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Search
- The platform includes keyword search powered by lunr.js. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Security and privacy
- The opened project pages do not state security certifications or compliance claims. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Setup requirement
- Setup begins by copying the fastpages repository, and GitHub Actions opens a pull request on the new repository to continue setup. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Status
- The project is deprecated, and its maintainers recommend using Quarto instead. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Theme customization
- custom code · fastpages.fast.ai, 22 Sept 2026
- Writing formats
- Users can create posts from Jupyter notebooks, Markdown files, and Microsoft Word documents. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Where fastpages stands on Freedom251
- Blogging Platforms#95 of 125