this page contains instructions to help you get up and running with the local development server.
we need nodejs (13.x or better, i think) to run our dev server. the instructions for your platform, either macos or windows should help you get it installed.
installing node also installs npm (the “node package manager”). if you cd to the project directory, you can install the “node packages” our dev server needs:
$ npm install
you should only need to do this once.
once installed, in the project directory you can start the dev server like so:
$ npm start
you should then be able to view the site here.
there server has at least one bug. if you rename or delete a file, it will probably crash. if you start it again it should be fine.
on mac, installation is easier if you have homebrew. if you don’t, you can install it like so:
$ /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
then, use homebrew to install node:
$ brew install node
now hop back to the shared install instructions
on windows, installation is easier if you have chocolatey. the instructions are a little too complex to copy here. but the “individual” section has what you need. you’ll need to run them in an administrator powershell. search for “powershell”, right-click the icon, and select “run as administrator”.
then, still in an administrator powershell, use choco to install git:
$ choco install git
this command installs a new shell, “git bash”, more powerful than powershell. open “git bash” and close powershell forever. now in git bash, use choco to install node:
$ choco install nodejs
lastly, you also need to enable developer mode. search for “developer settings”; it should be the first toggle on that settings screen. congratulations, developer!
now hop back to the shared install instructions.