Quickstart

Create and deploy your first Pala site in minutes.

This quickstart guide walks you through creating your first Pala site. You’ll have a live site in under 5 minutes without a single terminal command.

This guide assumes you’ve completed installation. If you haven’t, start there first.

Step 1: Enter Site Name

When you first access Pala (or click “Create Site”), you’ll see the site creation wizard.

1. Enter a name

   Provide a name for your site. This is for internal organization.

   You can change the site name later in site settings.

Step 2: Choose a Starter

Starters give you a head start with pre-configured page types, blocks, and sample content.

1. Pick a starter source

   Choose where to get your starter from:

   Your Existing Sites:

   • Clone one of your existing sites as a template
   • Includes all page types, blocks, and structure
   • Perfect for creating similar sites

   Marketplace Starters (all free for now):

   • Blog - Ready-to-go blog with posts, categories, and author pages
   • Portfolio - Showcase your work with project pages and case studies
   • Restaurant - Menu pages, location info, and reservation forms
   • Business - Landing page, services, team, and contact pages
   • Blank - Minimal starter to build from scratch
2. Select your starter

   Click on the starter you want to use. You’ll see a preview and description.

Your starter is selected! It includes page types, sample pages, and pre-configured blocks.

Step 3: Add Additional Blocks (Optional)

You can add extra blocks to your site from your server library or the marketplace.

1. Browse available blocks

   • Server Library: Your personal collection of reusable blocks
   • Marketplace: Community blocks (all free for now)
2. Select blocks to add

   Click blocks you want to include:

   • Hero sections
   • Text blocks
   • Image galleries
   • Call-to-action buttons
   • Contact forms
   • And more…

   These blocks get added to your site but won’t be pre-connected to fields. You’ll connect them manually as needed. The blocks included with your starter are already connected and ready to use.

3. Finish creation

   Click “Create Site” to complete the setup.

Your site is created with your chosen starter and selected blocks!

Step 4: Explore Your New Site

Your site is now ready to edit and customize.

1. View the dashboard

   You’ll see your site editor with:

   • Pages - Sample pages from your starter
   • Page Types - Pre-configured templates
   • Blocks - All available blocks (from starter + your additions)
   • Site Fields - Global content like logo and navigation
2. Edit a page

   Click “Pages” in the toolbar, then click on any page to edit it:

   • Edit content by clicking on sections
   • Add new sections from available blocks
   • Reorder sections by dragging
   • Fill in page fields like title and description
3. Customize content

   Update the sample content:

   • Replace placeholder text with your content
   • Upload your images
   • Update site fields (logo, navigation, footer)
   • Adjust colors and styling as needed

Step 5: Publish Your Site

When you’re ready to go live:

1. Review your changes

   Use the preview to see how your site looks.

2. Publish

   Click “Publish” (or press ⌘P). Pala will:

   • Compile all your blocks
   • Generate static HTML
   • Deploy to your domain

   Your site is now live!

Pala generates static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for fast performance. For further optimization, run your site through PageSpeed Insights to identify improvements like image compression and WebP formats.

Accessing Your Site

Your site is published and hosted from the same domain:

• Live site: https://yourdomain.com/
• Pala admin: https://yourdomain.com/admin/

The admin panel is always at /admin/ on your domain. Your published site lives at the root.

Learn More

You’ve created your first Pala site! Here’s where to go from here:

Core Concepts

Understand how Pala’s architecture works

Building from Scratch

Build a site from the ground up and learn the fundamentals

Writing Components

Learn to build custom blocks with Svelte

Defining Page Types

Master page types to create content structures

Common Next Steps

Customize Your Site:

• Edit page content and add your own text/images
• Adjust site fields (logo, navigation, footer)
• Modify page types to fit your needs

Build New Blocks:

• Create custom blocks for your specific needs
• Add them to your server library for reuse
• Make them available to specific page types

Create More Pages:

• Use existing page types to create new pages
• Organize pages with parent/child relationships
• Build out your site structure

Invite Collaborators:

• Add team members as editors
• They can create and edit content without touching code
• You maintain control over structure and design

Blocks in your server library can be added to any site. They get copied in, giving you a starting point to customize for each site’s needs.