Pagesmith
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Getting Started

Learn how Pagesmith creates editable Astro websites and how to move from a brief or existing site to a published project.

Pagesmith helps you create, edit, publish, and manage an Astro website. Start with an existing public site, a template, or a written brief. You can then refine the result with AI, visual controls, article editing, or direct code changes.

How Pagesmith Works

  1. Choose a starting point: Import a public site, choose a template, or describe a new site.
  2. Create the draft: Pagesmith generates an Astro project with pages, styles, and components.
  3. Review and edit: Check the preview, then make changes with AI, visual controls, or code.
  4. Publish or export: Publish with Pagesmith or use the code workflow available on your plan.

The output follows a standard Astro project structure. Code export and GitHub workflows are available on eligible plans. An exported project may still need configuration for integrations, environment variables, databases, or another hosting provider.

What Makes Pagesmith Different

Crawlable Page Content

Pagesmith uses static generation where possible and server rendering when a page needs it. Important page content can be included in the HTML response, which removes a JavaScript rendering dependency for crawlers. Search engines still decide whether to crawl, index, and rank each page.

  • Page-specific titles, descriptions, and social sharing metadata
  • Sitemap and robots controls
  • Semantic HTML structure
  • Site audits and Search Console visibility

Astro Code Access

Pagesmith outputs a standard Astro project structure:

my-site/
├── src/
│   ├── pages/          # Your routes
│   ├── components/     # Reusable components
│   └── layouts/        # Page layouts
├── public/             # Static assets
├── astro.config.mjs    # Astro configuration
└── package.json

On eligible plans, you can export or synchronize the project with GitHub. Test the independent build before moving the site, especially when it uses Pagesmith-managed services.

Static-First, SSR When Needed

Pagesmith pre-renders pages when possible. A project can use server rendering for forms, user data, API calls, or database access when needed.

  • Static pages: Blogs, landing pages, documentation
  • SSR pages: Dashboards, authenticated content, dynamic data
  • React islands: Interactive components within static pages

Useful Starting Defaults

A generated site can include:

  • Responsive design (mobile, tablet, desktop)
  • Image and script loading choices intended to support performance
  • SEO fields such as titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, and structured data
  • Accessibility foundations such as semantic HTML and heading structure

Review these items before publishing. Generated output still needs business, content, accessibility, privacy, and quality checks.

Who Uses Pagesmith

Small-business owners and marketers creating or modernizing a business website.

Product teams publishing documentation, blogs, landing pages, and product pages.

Freelancers and agencies building and managing several client sites.

Designers and developers using AI for routine work while retaining visual and code-level control.

Technology Stack

Pagesmith generates sites using:

  • Astro: Page routing, static generation, server rendering, and islands
  • Tailwind CSS: Utility classes for styling
  • TypeScript: Typed JavaScript for project code
  • React: Interactive components when the project needs them
  • Cloudflare: Pagesmith hosting and supported data services

Next Steps

  • Quick Start Guide: Create and publish your first project
  • Key Concepts: Understand static generation, server rendering, and Astro islands
  • Use Cases: Follow a guide for a common website project