Deploy your site

Select Deploy at the right end of the preview toolbar. It’s available once Ploof Studio finishes replying. The dialog, Put your site online, offers three paths.

Both GitHub paths share one repository per project. Once it exists, the dialog links to it and offers to push your latest changes.

1. Choose Vercel, via GitHub

   In the deploy dialog, select Vercel, via GitHub.

2. Connect GitHub

   Select Connect GitHub. Ploof Studio shows a short code. Select Copy code and open GitHub, paste the code on the GitHub page that opens, and select Authorize. Back in Ploof Studio, the step says Connected as and your GitHub name.

3. Create a repository

   Ploof Studio fills in a Repository name from your project. Keep it or type your own. Under Who can see the code, choose Public or Private, then select Create.

4. Publish on Vercel

   Select Import on Vercel. Sign in to Vercel and select Deploy. After that, every push updates your site.

   Back in Ploof Studio, the dialog shows that Vercel is publishing, which usually takes under a minute, and then Live at with your site’s address.

The Vercel deploy guide goes through this path in more detail.

1. Choose GitHub Pages

   In the deploy dialog, select GitHub Pages.

2. Connect GitHub

   Connect GitHub the same way as on the Vercel path, with the code Ploof Studio shows. If you connected it before, this step is already done.

3. Create a repository

   Keep the suggested Repository name or type your own, then select Create. GitHub Pages repositories are public.

4. Turn on GitHub Pages

   Select Turn on GitHub Pages. GitHub publishes your site, which usually takes a minute or two, and the dialog then shows its address.

If the project’s repository is private, GitHub Pages won’t work. The last step offers Use Vercel instead, or Change visibility on GitHub to make the repository public.

The GitHub Pages deploy guide goes through this path in more detail.

1. Save your site

   In the deploy dialog, select Download ZIP, then Save ZIP. The Mac save panel opens on your Downloads folder with the project’s name filled in. Choose where to save it.

2. Drop it on Vercel

   Select Open Vercel Drop and drag the .zip file onto that page. You need a free Vercel account, and each drop creates a new project.

The ZIP is the whole site, so you can also upload it to any other host, or keep it as a copy.

After the first deploy, keep changing the site in Ploof Studio. When you open Deploy again and GitHub doesn’t have the latest version, the dialog says so. Select Push latest changes. It reads Pushed when it’s done, and Vercel or GitHub Pages updates the site.

When GitHub already has the latest version of your site, the button stays disabled.

• Public means anyone can see the code. It works with GitHub Pages too.
• Private means only you can see it. Vercel works with a private repository. GitHub Pages doesn’t.

You choose this only on the Vercel path. The GitHub Pages path always creates a public repository.

Once your site is live on Vercel or GitHub Pages, the deploy dialog shows Add your own domain. It has two tabs.

Find a domain suggests names for your site and checks which are free. Type words or a domain in Words or a domain, such as “sunny cups” or “sunnycups.com”, and select Search. Each free name shows its first-year price on Vercel and Cloudflare. Select More ideas for another batch.

You buy the domain on your own Vercel or Cloudflare account. After you select a buy link, come back and select Show me how to connect it.

Connect a domain walks you through the steps for your host. Type the domain in Your domain and it fills into the steps.

Ploof Studio never buys a domain for you and never holds one. The domain, like the site, stays on accounts you own.