How-to guides
Choose a concrete task after you can compose and render a SimplyPages component. New to the library? Follow Getting started: the two runnable tutorials, then the HTTP serving guide.
Build an application feature
Each guide supplies a complete controller, concrete data/validation, response contracts, and checks you can perform in your application. These are task recipes, not six separate tutorial applications or bundled demo routes.
| Task | What you will build | Application boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Build a Markdown blog | Directory-backed articles, paginated index, full/HX navigation | Filesystem publishing and refresh policy |
| Build a forum browser | Read-only topics and paginated comments | Ordered application data; no write endpoints or accounts |
| Build user-editable pages | Owner-only briefing edit modal with validated saves | Existing identity/CSRF integration; nondurable example storage |
| Add chat | Session-local composer, transcript, and real HTMX polling | Local, unauthenticated, nondurable; no assistant or shared-room service |
| Build a dashboard | Summary metrics, queue table, and responsive cards | One immutable example snapshot; application owns live queries |
| Handle form submissions | Server-validated address preview with retained drafts | Existing identity/CSRF integration; nothing sent or persisted |
Use SimplyPages 1.2.1 with JDK 21 or later, installed from this checkout. The guides assume an existing Spring MVC host and working framework/WebJar resources. Helpers and modules do not supply authentication, authorization, CSRF verification, persistence, or transport servers. Keep the security prerequisites in each guide.
Serving, publishing, and maintenance
- Serve full pages and HTMX fragments
- Implement an authorized editing flow
- Publish a Markdown directory
- Build, test, and browse the documentation
- Compose a shell with navigation and assets
- Customize forum rendering
- Connect chat to SSE or WebSocket hooks
- Scope and authorize chat conversations
- Cache dynamic fragments
- Write component and module tests
For API facts and defaults, use Reference. For the reasons behind rendering and security boundaries, use Explanation.