signing up publishes a site. there is no build step and nothing to configure first.
1. sign in
go to tinydot.com and sign in with Apple. you can also start from the Mac or iPhone app.
2. pick a username
that is the whole setup. your username becomes your address:
nicola→nicola.tinydot.com
the site is live before you write anything — it starts with a first page and a photo already in it, so there is something to look at and something to edit. letters, numbers and dashes only.
3. open the folder
install the Mac or iPhone app and your site appears as an ordinary folder:
~/Library/CloudStorage/tinydot/your-site/it is a real folder. Finder, Terminal, any editor, any agent. put a file in it and it is on the web; every save publishes.
you can also work entirely on the web at tinydot.com — the file browser edits, uploads and organises without the app.
4. how files become pages
| file | url |
|---|---|
about.md |
/about |
notes/today.md |
/notes/today |
notes/index.md |
/notes |
index.md |
the home page |
folders become paths. an index.md supplies that folder's page instead of the file list.
markdown is rendered in your site's design. an .html file is served exactly as you wrote it, with no tinydot chrome around it — see files for the full list of types, and make a hand-written site if that is what you are after.
5. make it yours
- customization — colours, fonts, menus, logo, dark mode
- custom domains — your own address
- drafts — keep a page private while you write it
- access control — restrict who can read the site
where to go next
- publish from Obsidian — point a vault at the folder
- make a docs site — like this one
- import your blog — bring an existing site over
- markdown and wikilinks — syntax and linking
- what is not published — drafts, dotfolders, system files