Your Google Doc is already a CMS

A beautiful blog,
written in Google Docs

No dashboard. No database. No plugins. Write your posts in Google Docs, paste one URL, and publish instantly — with a gorgeous editorial design out of the box.

Get The Journal — $19 → See how it works
Zero dependencies Single HTML file Works on any host Embeds anywhere
Live preview

This is what your readers see

A refined editorial layout with search, tag filters, and a featured post — all rendered from your Google Doc automatically.

yourblog.com
Ideas  ·  Essays  ·  Updates
Where ideas live
Thoughtful writing on design, culture, and the everyday
All Posts
Design
Tech
Life
🖼️
Design · Essay
The Quiet Power of Negative Space in Modern Interfaces
How restraint became the most radical thing a designer could practice in an age of infinite scroll…
April 12, 2025 · Jane Doe
Tech
Building in Public Without Burning Out
Three years of shipping in the open taught me more about audience than any dashboard…
March 28, 2025
Life
On Writing Every Day and Why I Stopped
The streak hit 200 days before I realised quantity had become the enemy…
Feb 14, 2025 · Jane Doe
Design
Colour is a Language You Already Speak
We learn colour the same way we learn words — by repetition and feeling…
Jan 30, 2025
Essay
The Internet Forgot How to Be Boring
And why that matters for anyone trying to say something that lasts…
Jan 8, 2025
Tech · Tools
Five Tools I Actually Shipped Something With
Not the tools I aspired to use — the ones that survived a real deadline…
Dec 18, 2024
How it works

Up and running in four steps

No accounts, no subscriptions, no config files. If you can write a Google Doc, you can run this blog.

01
📄
Write in Google Docs

Open any Google Doc. Add a ---POST--- marker, fill in TITLE, DATE, TAGS, and write your content with normal Docs formatting.

02
🌐
Publish the Doc

Go to File → Share → Publish to web and copy the public URL. Enable auto-republish so new posts go live the moment you save.

03
🔗
Paste the URL

Open blog.html and replace two values: your Google Doc URL and your preferred posts-per-page count. That's the entire config.

04
🚀
Host anywhere

Drop the single HTML file on Netlify, GitHub Pages, Carrd, or any server. No backend needed. It's just a file — host it for free, forever.

Features

Everything a blog needs,
nothing it doesn't

Thoughtfully designed so your writing takes centre stage.

🔍
Live search

Search across titles, authors, tags, and body content instantly — no server required, fully client-side.

🏷️
Tag filtering

Add comma-separated tags to any post and they automatically become filter pills on your blog index. Zero setup needed.

⭐️
Featured post

Your most recent post is automatically promoted to a larger featured card — giving new writing the spotlight it deserves.

🖼️
Image thumbnails

Insert images directly in Google Docs. The first image in each post becomes its card thumbnail automatically.

📖
Full formatting support

Bold, italic, headings H1–H3, lists, hyperlinks — all your Docs formatting flows through to the blog automatically.

📄
Pagination

Posts are paginated automatically. Set your preferred page size in one config line — no endless scroll for readers.

📱
Fully responsive

The layout adapts elegantly from widescreen to mobile. Your blog looks great on every device your readers use.

⚡️
Zero dependencies

Pure HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS. No npm, no bundler, no frameworks. Drop the file, it works — update it forever without breaking changes.

🧩
Embeds anywhere

A separate embed version lets you drop the blog into any existing site — Carrd, Webflow, or your own — as a seamlessly styled section.

The CMS

Your Google Doc is
the dashboard

No new tools to learn. No editor to log into. Every post lives as a clearly marked block in one Google Doc, written exactly how you write everything else. The blog reads it fresh on every visit.

  • Start each post with ---POST---
  • Add TITLE:, DATE:, AUTHOR:, and TAGS: fields
  • Write your content — all formatting preserved
  • Save the doc — the blog updates automatically
  • Stack multiple posts in the same document
My Blog Posts — Google Docs
← older posts above ←
---POST---
TITLE: The Quiet Power of Negative Space
DATE:  April 12, 2025
AUTHOR: Jane Doe
TAGS:  Design, Essay
How restraint became the most radical
thing a designer could practice in an
age of infinite scroll...
---POST---
TITLE: Building in Public Without Burning Out
DATE:  March 28, 2025
TAGS:  Tech, Growth
Three years of shipping in the open
taught me more about audience than
any analytics dashboard ever could...
↓ new posts go here ↓
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📰 Latest posts
Design
The Quiet Power of Negative Space
April 12, 2025 · Jane Doe
Tech
Building in Public Without Burning Out
March 28, 2025
Life
On Writing Every Day and Why I Stopped
Feb 14, 2025 · Jane Doe
Essay
The Internet Forgot How to Be Boring
Jan 8, 2025
Embed version

Already have a site?
Drop it right in.

The embed version is a scoped, conflict-free widget that slots into any existing website without touching your styles. Works with Carrd, Webflow, Framer, raw HTML — whatever you're already running.

  • Fully scoped CSS — zero style conflicts
  • Paste one div and one script tag
  • Same Google Doc, same posts — shared source of truth
  • Scrolls back to the blog embed, not the page top
  • Matches beautifully alongside any existing design
Why it exists

"I wanted a blog that felt like a newspaper, ran like a static site, and used a tool I was already in every single day. So I built it."

— The Journal  ·  Made for writers, not engineers
Pricing

One price.
Everything included.

Pay once, own it forever. No subscriptions, no renewals, no hidden tiers.

The Journal — Complete package
$ 19
One-time payment  ·  Lifetime license
What you get
  • blog.html — standalone blog
  • blog-embed.html — embed version
  • Full source code access
  • Modify for your own use
  • Search & tag filtering
  • Featured post layout
  • Image thumbnails
  • Pagination built-in
  • Mobile responsive
  • CMS guide included
Get The Journal — $19 →
One-time · No subscription · Use on your own project
FAQ

Questions you'll probably have

Do I need to know how to code?
Not really. You need to open an HTML file in a text editor and change two values: your Google Doc URL and the number of posts per page. That's the full technical requirement. Everything else is Google Docs.
What happens when I publish a new post?
Just add a new ---POST--- block at the bottom of your Google Doc and save. If you enabled auto-republish, the blog updates immediately. Otherwise go to File → Share → Publish to web and click Publish again — takes five seconds.
Where can I host the blog?
Anywhere that serves HTML files. Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, and Cloudflare Pages all have generous free tiers. You can also use the embed version on Carrd or any shared hosting. There's no server-side code, so your options are wide open.
Can I change the colours, fonts, and blog name?
Yes. All colours are defined as CSS variables at the top of the file — changing one variable updates everything consistently. Fonts are Google Fonts imports you can swap freely. The blog name appears in clearly marked places in the HTML.
How does the embed version differ from standalone?
The standalone is a complete self-contained page with masthead, hero, and navigation. The embed version is a lightweight widget — just the search, tag filters, post grid, and full post view — with fully scoped CSS so it can't clash with your existing site's styles. Both read from the same Google Doc.
Is there a limit on how many posts I can have?
No hard limit. The blog fetches your entire Google Doc on each visit and renders all posts with pagination. For anything a typical blog accumulates over months or years, it's fast.
What does the license allow?
The $19 license covers a single installation — your own site or one client project. You can modify the code freely for that installation. You can't resell the software, redistribute it, or use it on multiple sites without additional licenses. Full terms are in the License Agreement.
Ready to start writing?

Your blog,
in five minutes.

Pay once. Download the files, paste your Google Doc URL, host anywhere. That's it — your readers will never know how simple it was.