A lightweight PHP static site generator for GitHub projects that creates a professional documentation website with minimal configuration.

This tool automatically generates a static website based on your GitHub repository content. It pulls README.md and other Markdown files from your repo, converts them to HTML, and creates a fully functioning website with navigation, download page, and support functionality.

• Home page generated from README.md
• Additional Markdown pages (e.g., INSTALLATION.md, TROUBLESHOOTING.md)
• Download page with GitHub Releases information
• Support page with:
  • List of open GitHub issues
  • Contact form with email notifications
• Code syntax highlighting with highlight.js
• Sponsor page with donation links from GitHub FUNDING.yml

• Local caching for faster generation
• Favicon customization
• Theme customization options

• https://opensim-helpers.dev/

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/magicoli/php-site-generator.git
cd php-site-generator

2. Install dependencies:

composer install

3. Create configuration file:

cp config.json.example config.json

4. Edit config.json with your project details

5. Generate the site:

php generate.php

6. Set up a cron task to automatically update your site:

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add a line to run the generator hourly (adjust the path as needed)
0 * * * * cd /home/path/to/php-site-generator && php generate.php >> /var/log/site-generator.log 2>&1

The cron task will automatically rebuild your site on a regular schedule, keeping the content in sync with your GitHub repository.

Edit config.json to configure your site:

{
  "title": "My GitHub Project",
  "github_user": "user",
  "repo": "my-repo",
  "github_branch": "master",
  "github_token": "your_token_here", 
  "support_email": "[email protected]",
  "sender_email": "[email protected]",
  "output_folder": "output",
  "menu": [
    { "title": "About", "file": "/" },
    { "title": "Download", "file": "download" },
    { "title": "Installation", "file": "INSTALLATION.md" },
    { "title": "Troubleshooting", "file": "TROUBLESHOOTING.md" },
    { "title": "Support", "file": "support" }
  ]
}

Important configuration options:

• github_token: Optional, helps avoid API rate limitations
• support_email: Required for the support form to function
• sender_email: Optional, defaults to support_email if not set
• output_folder: your website root directory (e.g. /var/www/html)

/php-site-generator/
├── config.json            // Configuration for the site and pages
├── generate.php           // Main script to generate the static site
├── template.php           // HTML template for the pages
├── vendor/                // Composer dependencies (Parsedown)
├── assets/                // CSS, images
│   └── style.css          // Custom styling
└── pages/                 // Local Markdown files and templates
    ├── download.md        // Template for download page
    ├── support.md         // Template for support page
    └── partials/          // Reusable page components
        └── support_form.php // Support form template

../www/                    // Generated static site (output folder defined in config.json)
├── assets
│   └── style.css
├── download.html
├── index.html
├── installation.html
├── support.php            // PHP for dynamic support form
├── support_form.php       // Included in support.php
└── troubleshooting.html

The generate.php script:

1. Loads your configuration
2. Fetches content from your GitHub repository
3. Processes Markdown files into HTML
4. Creates special pages like download and support
5. Assembles a complete website with navigation
6. Outputs everything to your specified folder

AGPL-3.0

• Parsedown for Markdown parsing
• Bootstrap for responsive layout
• highlight.js for code syntax highlighting