Launch Your Media Library
LightNet’s tooling is open-source and free to use. If you have a developer in your team, you can easily spin up your own media library.
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Are you interested in what we are doing or have more questions? We would love to hear from you.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is LightNet?
LightNet is an open-source tool designed for web developers to create digital media libraries. It’s also a community of people working together to empower ministries to run their own media libraries and share gospel content effectively.
Why are you building LightNet?
We’re building LightNet to empower ministries to share the gospel and strengthen believers within their communities. LightNet is a tool that helps ministries make media easily accessible to those they serve. We also use LightNet for our own media distribution.
How can I join the LightNet community?
We’d love to have you join us! Just send us a message to get the conversation started. Whether you’re a ministry leader, developer, or simply interested in what we’re building, connecting with the community is a great way to stay updated, share ideas, and get support. We’re excited to welcome you!
How can I contribute to LightNet?
You can contribute to LightNet in whatever way fits your skills and resources. This could mean improving the open-source codebase, joining discussions about future features, offering financial support, or sharing your testimony of how you’ve used it. Even simply using LightNet to share the gospel is a meaningful contribution. If you’re using LightNet, we’d love to connect—just send us a message to start the conversation!
What’s the cost to run a LightNet media library?
The LightNet tools are free to use. The main cost is the domain name—in our case, this is around $15 per year.
How much time does it take to set up a LightNet media library?
An experienced developer can set up a new LightNet media library in about one day.
Why do I need a developer to run LightNet?
We’re building LightNet in a sustainable way that doesn’t rely heavily on our small core team. That’s why we encourage involving developers who can help set it up and adapt it to your needs. Our goal is to foster a resilient, self-sustaining community around the project. At the same time, we’re working hard to keep the setup as simple as possible, so a single developer can get started with minimal effort.
What skills are needed for a developer to run LightNet?
To create a LightNet media library, a developer should be familiar with the basics of HTML, Git, JSON, and at least one programming language. You don’t need to be an expert—just comfortable enough to work with code and follow documentation.
How can you help me to run LightNet?
While we don’t offer direct development services, we do provide several forms of support to help you run your own LightNet instance. For ministries, we can help connect you with volunteer developers and offer a framework that fits the capacity of a volunteer-led development. For developers, we provide comprehensive documentation, example projects to learn from, and access to our developer community server. If you’d like more details on how we can support you, just reach out—we’d be happy to help.
Why do developers love using LightNet?
We believe that making developers happy is key to LightNet’s long-term success. That’s why we’ve built it to be easy to use, yet flexible enough to extend when needed. LightNet is built with modern technologies that developers enjoy working with—like Astro, Vite, and Tailwind CSS—so it feels fast, intuitive, and fun to develop with.
How does LightNet work?
LightNet uses static site generation, built with the Astro framework. It generates a folder of static files that can be easily hosted anywhere.
What are the limitations for a media library built with LightNet?
Since a LightNet media library is hosted as static files, it doesn’t include features like user login, personalised content, or user-based permissions. It also doesn’t offer built-in engagement tools such as chat or comment sections. LightNet is designed to be lightweight and easy to host, focusing on easy-to-use, accessible media distribution.
What do you mean by it is "reliable and secure against hacking"?
LightNet is hosted as static files, meaning there’s no running backend application, database, or authentication server that could be compromised or require ongoing maintenance. This drastically reduces the attack surface and eliminates many common vulnerabilities. Static file hosting is inherently stable and secure, which is why our media libraries have experienced zero downtime to date.
What do you mean by "no advertising and tracking"?
LightNet does not include any advertising or track visitors to your site. You are free to add your own analytics solution if desired. However, be aware that embedding content from external platforms like YouTube may allow those platforms to track your visitors. Additionally, internet service providers (ISPs) can still see who visits your site.
How does LightNet compare to WordPress?
LightNet is a purpose-built solution designed specifically for running media libraries, while WordPress is a general-purpose platform for building a wide variety of websites. Although it would have been possible to build LightNet on top of WordPress, we chose not to. WordPress requires more setup and ongoing maintenance, including managing a database and a PHP server.
How does LightNet compare to YouTube?
LightNet is not a hosted platform like YouTube. Instead, it’s a self-hosted solution that gives you full control over your content. Unlike YouTube, which focuses solely on video, LightNet supports a wide range of media formats—including audio, documents, and images. You decide exactly what content is available in your media library, and you can offer a more focused and powerful search experience tailored to your own content.
How many items can be added to a LightNet media library?
LightNet supports up to 10,000 items in a media library.
What kind of content does LightNet support?
LightNet supports linking to all types of files and external websites. Certain links — such as those for YouTube, Vimeo, MP4 videos, and MP3 files — can be embedded directly into your media library. Other types of links, including PDF files, will open in your browser; and if your browser is unable to display them, the files will be downloaded to your device.
What technical infrastructure is needed to run a LightNet media library?
LightNet can be hosted on any file server—whether it’s your ministry’s existing server or even a Raspberry Pi. If you don’t have a preferred hosting setup, we can guide you through using a modern, globally available content delivery network that’s free to use. LightNet is designed to be infrastructure agnostic, so you can choose the solution that best fits your needs and resources.
Can I customise or extend LightNet?
Absolutely. LightNet is designed to be flexible and adaptable, so you can customize it to fit your community’s specific needs. Whether you're adjusting the design, adding new features, or integrating with other tools, LightNet gives you the freedom to make it your own.
Can I use my own branding?
Sure. LightNet does not add any of its own branding to your media library—your library will fully reflect your community’s unique identity.