# Server-Side Rendering
!> :construction: SSR support is experimental and incomplete. We are working on it. Plugins and
some features of Docsify will not work in SSR mode yet. :construction:
Sample repo at https://github.com/docsifyjs/docsify-ssr-demo
## Why SSR?
- Better SEO
- Feeling cool
## Quick start
Install `now` and `docsify-cli` in your project.
```bash
npm i now docsify-cli -D
```
Edit `package.json`. The below assumes the documentation is in the `./docs` subdirectory.
```json
{
"name": "my-project",
"scripts": {
"start": "docsify start . -c ssr.config.js",
"deploy": "now -p"
},
"files": [
"docs"
],
"docsify": {
"config": {
"basePath": "https://docsify.js.org/",
"loadSidebar": true,
"loadNavbar": true,
"coverpage": true,
"name": "docsify"
}
}
}
```
!> The `basePath` just like webpack `publicPath`. We can use local or remote files.
We can preview the local site to see if it works.
```bash
npm start
# open http://localhost:4000
```
Publish it!
```bash
now -p
```
Now, you have support for SSR.
## Custom template
You can provide a template for an entire page's HTML, such as
```html
docsify
```
The template should contain these comments for rendered app content.
- ``
- ``
## Configuration
You can configure it in a special config file, or `package.json`.
```js
module.exports = {
template: './ssr.html',
maxAge: 60 * 60 * 1000, // lru-cache config
config: {
// docsify config
}
}
```
## Deploy for your VPS
You can run `docsify start` directly on your Node server, or write your own server app with `docsify-server-renderer`.
```js
var Renderer = require('docsify-server-renderer')
var readFileSync = require('fs').readFileSync
// init
var renderer = new Renderer({
template: readFileSync('./docs/index.template.html', 'utf-8'),
config: {
name: 'docsify',
repo: 'docsifyjs/docsify'
}
})
renderer.renderToString(url)
.then(html => {})
.catch(err => {})
```