Gatsby is a popular React-based static site generator that leverages GraphQL for data fetching and manipulation. It allows you to build high-performance websites and web apps with ease. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial to get you started with Gatsby:

1. Installation

First, ensure you have Node.js and npm installed on your system. Then, you can install Gatsby globally or locally within your project:

npm install -g gatsby-cli

2. Create a New Gatsby Site

Create a new Gatsby site using the Gatsby CLI:

gatsby new my-gatsby-site

Replace my-gatsby-site with the name of your project.

3. Navigate to Your Project Directory

Navigate into your newly created project directory:

cd my-gatsby-site

4. Start Development Server

Start the development server to preview your Gatsby site:

gatsby develop

This command will compile your project and start a local development server. You can access your Gatsby site at http://localhost:8000.

5. Explore Starter Content

Gatsby provides a starter content structure with some example pages and components. Explore the files in the src/pages directory to see how pages are structured.

6. Customize Content

You can customize the content of your website by editing the Markdown, JSON, or YAML files in the src/pages directory. You can also create new pages and components as needed.

7. Query Data with GraphQL

Gatsby uses GraphQL to query data from various sources, including Markdown files, JSON files, APIs, and databases. You can define GraphQL queries in your components to fetch data and display it on your pages.

8. Install and Configure Plugins

Gatsby has a rich ecosystem of plugins that extend its functionality. You can install plugins via npm and configure them in the gatsby-config.js file. Plugins can be used for various tasks like image optimization, SEO, analytics, etc.

9. Build Your Site

Once you’re satisfied with your website, you can build it for production:

gatsby build

This command will generate a static version of your website in the public directory, optimized for performance.

10. Deploy Your Site

You can deploy your Gatsby site to various hosting platforms, including Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, etc. Simply upload the contents of the public directory to your hosting provider.

That’s a basic overview of getting started with Gatsby. From here, you can explore its rich ecosystem of plugins, themes, and community-contributed starters to build powerful and feature-rich static websites and web apps.