Getting started

Your NorthLuma website is in your hands. Now what?

Pick the track that matches you. The first option needs no installation, no signup, and no technical skill — just a double-click. The second gives you a real URL on the public internet without buying a domain.

60 seconds

Just want to see it?

Open preview.html in your browser. No installation, no signup.

Walkthrough

60 seconds

Need a real public URL?

Drag your folder onto Vercel, Netlify, or Cloudflare. No domain required.

Walkthrough

5 minutes

Comfortable with code?

Run npm install + npm run dev for hot reload and full editing.

Walkthrough

1

See your site instantly

30s · no install

Inside the ZIP file you downloaded, there's a file called preview.htmlat the top level. It's a single self-contained HTML file with everything inlined — no internet connection needed once unzipped.

Three steps:

  1. Unzip the file you downloaded (right-click → "Extract" on Windows, double-click on Mac).
  2. Open the unzipped folder.
  3. Double-click preview.html. Your default browser opens with your site rendered.

Use this for: showing the site to a colleague, taking screenshots, deciding if you want to keep it, copy-pasting text into your own marketing material. Limitation:this is the homepage on its own — it doesn't handle multi-page navigation. For full multi-page testing, see Track 2 or 3 below.

2

Drag-and-drop to a free host

60s · no domain

Three free hosts let you drag a folder onto their browser tab and give you back a real public URL with HTTPS. You don't need to buy a domain to start. You can attach your own domain later, when you're ready.

Option A — Vercel (recommended)

  1. Open vercel.com/newin a new tab. Sign up with email or GitHub — it's free, no credit card.
  2. On the next screen, you'll see a section to upload your project.[Screenshot placeholder: vercel.com/new upload zone — capture and replace at /img/help/vercel-step-2.png]
  3. Drag your unzipped NorthLuma folderonto the upload area. Don't drag the .zip file itself — drag the folder you got after unzipping.
  4. Vercel auto-detects Next.js and configures the build. You don't need to change anything. Click Deploy.
  5. Wait 30–60 seconds. You'll see a build log. When it finishes, you get a URL like your-business-name.vercel.app with HTTPS.
  6. That URL is live. Send it to anyone.

Custom domain? Once Vercel finishes deploying, go to Settings → Domains, click Add, type the domain you own, and follow the on-screen DNS instructions. SSL is automatic.

Option B — Netlify Drop (no signup needed)

  1. Open app.netlify.com/drop.
  2. Drag your unzipped folder onto the drop area on the page.
  3. Netlify gives you a URL like romantic-hopper-1234.netlify.app instantly. Sign up afterwards (free) to claim and rename it.

Option C — Cloudflare Pages (CDN included)

  1. Open pages.cloudflare.com and sign up (free).
  2. Click Create a project → Upload assets.
  3. Drag your unzipped folder. Cloudflare deploys it on their global CDN.
  4. You get a URL like your-project.pages.dev.
3

Run it locally as a developer

5min · for coders

If you're comfortable with the terminal, the ZIP is a full Next.js project with hot reload, ready to edit.

Inside the unzipped folder:

npm install
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. Edits to files in src/app/ hot-reload automatically.

For production deploys, see DEPLOYMENT.md in your project root for Vercel CLI, Netlify CLI, AWS S3 + CloudFront, and self-hosted Docker recipes.

Common questions

I unzipped but I don't see preview.html

On Mac and Windows, double-clicking a .zip extracts it into a same-named folder next to the .zip file. Open that folder. preview.html is at the very top level alongside README.md, package.json, and DEPLOYMENT.md.

preview.html opened but the page looks broken

Some browsers block JavaScript when opening files via file://. Try: right-click the file → Open With → Chrome or Edge. Or use Track 2 (drag onto Vercel) which gives you a proper https:// URL where everything works.

I dragged the folder onto Vercel and got a build error

Make sure you dragged the unzipped folder, not the .zip file. The folder should contain package.json at its top level. If it does and the build still fails, email [email protected] with the build log copied from Vercel and we'll debug it within 24 hours.

Do I need to buy a domain?

No. Both Vercel and Netlify give you a free subdomain (your-business.vercel.app, your-business.netlify.app) that works immediately. Buying a domain is optional and can be done later from the same dashboard.

Can I edit the design?

Yes. Use Track 3 (developer) to run the project locally, then edit files in src/app/page.tsx (homepage) and src/components/ (reusable parts). For non-developers: regenerate the site at northluma.com/builder with different inputs is often the fastest path.

Video walkthrough

A 60-second screen recording showing the full Vercel drop flow will live here. (Capture pending — embed slot reserved.)

Loom / YouTube embed placeholder

Stuck? Email us, we read every message.

Reply within 24 business hours. Include your order ID (NL-XXXXXX) if you have one.

Email support →

Last updated 2026-05-08 · NorthLuma AB · Linköping, Sweden