You can have a blog live on the internet in under two minutes. Here’s how.

#What You Need

• A Dropbox account (free plan works)
• A text editor (any — TextEdit, iA Writer, VS Code, Obsidian, Notepad)
• Something to write about

That’s it. No hosting account. No domain registrar. No command line.

#Step 1: Sign Up and Connect Dropbox

Go to FolderPress and sign up. You’ll be asked to connect your Dropbox account. Click “Connect Dropbox” and authorize the connection.

FolderPress only accesses the Apps/FolderPress/ folder in your Dropbox. It can’t see your other files.

#Step 2: Create a Site

In the FolderPress dashboard, click “Add Site.” Give your site a name — this becomes your subdomain and your Dropbox folder name.

If you name your site “my-blog,” two things happen:

1. A folder appears in your Dropbox at Apps/FolderPress/my-blog/
2. Your site is live at my-blog.folderpress.com

#Step 3: Write Your First Post

Open the Apps/FolderPress/my-blog/ folder in your Dropbox. Create a new file called hello-world.md.

Write something:

---
title: Hello, World
---
 
# Hello, World
 
This is my first blog post. I wrote it in a text file
and saved it to Dropbox. That's the whole publishing workflow.
 
## Why I Started This Blog
 
I wanted a place to write without dealing with a CMS.
So here we are.

Save the file.

#Step 4: Check Your Site

Visit my-blog.folderpress.com/hello-world. Your post is there. Published. Live on the internet.

That’s it. Four steps. Most of the time was spent writing, which is the point.

#Organizing Your Posts

As you write more, organize your posts in folders:

Apps/FolderPress/my-blog/
  posts/
    hello-world.md                → /posts/hello-world
    on-writing-every-day.md       → /posts/on-writing-every-day
    book-reviews/
      sapiens.md                  → /posts/book-reviews/sapiens
      deep-work.md                → /posts/book-reviews/deep-work

Your folder structure becomes your URL structure. Organize files however makes sense to you.

#Working With Drafts

Not ready to publish? Name your file with .draft.md:

my-next-post.draft.md    → Not published
my-next-post.md          → Published

When you’re ready, remove .draft from the filename and save. The post goes live.

#Adding Frontmatter

Frontmatter is optional metadata at the top of your file:

---
published_at: 2026-02-15
description: "An optional summary for search engines and social cards."
---
 
# Hello, World
 
Your post content starts here.

All frontmatter is optional. Without it:

• Title comes from the first # Heading in your post, then the filename
• Description is auto-generated from your post content (~155 characters of body text)
• Date defaults to the current date when the post is first synced

#Formatting Basics

Here’s the markdown you’ll use most often:

# Heading 1 (your post title)
## Heading 2 (section headers)
### Heading 3 (subsections)
 
Regular paragraph text. **Bold** and *italic*.
 
- Bullet list
- Another item
 
1. Numbered list
2. Second item
 
[Link text](https://example.com)
 
![Image alt text](image.jpg)
 
> A blockquote for emphasis or quotes
 
`inline code` for technical terms

That covers 90% of what you’ll need. For the full picture, see the markdown blogging guide.

#Adding a Custom Domain

When you’re ready to use your own domain:

1. Go to your site settings in the FolderPress dashboard
2. Enter your custom domain (e.g., myblog.com)
3. Add a CNAME record pointing to FolderPress in your domain’s DNS settings
4. Wait for DNS to propagate (usually minutes, sometimes up to 48 hours)

Your site is now accessible at your own domain. The subdomain still works too. For a detailed walkthrough, see setting up a custom domain.

#Next Steps

• Write regularly. The blog is set up. The only thing left is the writing.
• Tell people. Share your URL. Add it to your social profiles.
• Add newsletter. Your site already has a subscribe form. Readers who subscribe get your posts as emails.
• Explore markdown. You don’t need to learn everything at once. Pick up new syntax (tables, code blocks, footnotes) as you need it. Our markdown tips for bloggers covers the most useful patterns.

The setup is done. Now the real work begins: writing consistently. FolderPress made the first part trivial so you can spend all your time on the second.