Classroom use feedback: environment variables and better starting template feature requests #3112
Description
Hi,
I've been using Zola in the classroom for non-technical students to create their websites and learn about HTML (and get something useful out of it). This issue lists a few suggestions that were pain points from the students' feedback.
I can also create multiple issues for each of the feature requests if you prefer.
Feature request: environment variables for settings
During the class we were using mydocker (a wrapper of Docker) to set up the environment directly with zero setup on the students' side. They basically have access to a VSCode environment and a link to Zola's live preview.
Because the students are new to terminal interfaces, asking them to run the command zola serve --interface 0.0.0.0 is like a magical incantation, but it is required to access the website from the internet. Because we have access to the environment, it would be better if Zola could be configured using environment variables directly. For instance:
ZOLA_INTERFACE=0.0.0.0
Feature request: better starting template
When running zola init website, the structure of the Zola website is initialized, however, there are no files to be modified without going through the full tutorial on the Zola website.
Having the webpage of an empty Zola website as index.html as the starting point would be beneficial for use in the classroom or by non-technical users.
Anyway, thanks for the great project. After these issues were resolved with the students, they were able to create their own websites and were very happy with it. I'd be happy to submit a PR for either of these, but wanted to discuss here first before going down that path.