diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 11b7bdd..d37c865 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ pip-audit
 
 # local dev
 django-debug-toolbar
+django-distill
 
 # tests
 pytest
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/electricity/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/electricity/urls.py
index 3196869..671588e 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/electricity/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/electricity/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 
 app_name = "electricity"
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/about/index.html b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/about/index.html
index a1e1c47..f2b6482 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/about/index.html
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/about/index.html
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 {% block page_title %}{% view_attr 'page_title' %}{% endblock %}
 
 {% block page_body %}
-    {% bs_breadcrumb 'vision:home-index' 'vision:about-index' %}
+{#    {% bs_breadcrumb 'vision:home-index' 'vision:about-index' %}#}
 
     <h3>About</h3>
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/home/index.html b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/home/index.html
index 39b38b5..ef6f82a 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/home/index.html
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/home/index.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 {% block page_title %}{% view_attr 'page_title' %}{% endblock %}
 
 {% block page_body %}
-    {% bs_breadcrumb 'vision:home-index' %}
+{#    {% bs_breadcrumb 'vision:home-index' %}#}
 
     <div class="row row-cols-1 row-cols-md-2 g-4">
         <div class="col">
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ <h5 class="card-title">Public transport notices</h5>
                     <p class="card-text">
                         Provided in iCalendar (ics), web page, csv, and json api formats.
                     </p>
-                    <a href="{% url 'vision:transport-index' %}" class="card-link">
-                        Check the notices
-                    </a>
+{#                    <a href="{% url 'vision:transport-index' %}" class="card-link">#}
+{#                        Check the notices#}
+{#                    </a>#}
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ <h5 class="card-title">Online petitions</h5>
                         Keeps track of the number of signatures for petitions over time.
                         Can reveal the growth pattern of signature counts.
                     </p>
-                    <a href="{% url 'vision:petitions-index' %}" class="card-link">
-                        Follow the signature counts
-                    </a>
+{#                    <a href="{% url 'vision:petitions-index' %}" class="card-link">#}
+{#                        Follow the signature counts#}
+{#                    </a>#}
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@ <h5 class="card-title">Electricity outages</h5>
                         Shows how long outages lasted for and
                         any changes in the number of customers affected.
                     </p>
-                    <a href="{% url 'vision:outages-index' %}" class="card-link">
-                        Have a look at the outages
-                    </a>
+{#                    <a href="{% url 'vision:outages-index' %}" class="card-link">#}
+{#                        Have a look at the outages#}
+{#                    </a>#}
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ <h5 class="card-title">Music playlists</h5>
                         Builds music playlists for music streaming services
                         from a number of online music charts.
                     </p>
-                    <a href="{% url 'vision:playlists-index' %}" class="card-link">
-                        See which tracks are on the playlists
-                    </a>
+{#                    <a href="{% url 'vision:playlists-index' %}" class="card-link">#}
+{#                        See which tracks are on the playlists#}
+{#                    </a>#}
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/layout.html b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/layout.html
index ccf8c2f..e85430d 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/layout.html
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/templates/explore/layout.html
@@ -37,27 +37,27 @@
         <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarCollapse">
             <ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-md-0">
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:transport-filter' transport_filter='all' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:transport-filter' transport_filter='all' %}#}
                 </li>
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:playlists-index' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:playlists-index' %}#}
                 </li>
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:petitions-index' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:petitions-index' %}#}
                 </li>
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:outages-index' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:outages-index' %}#}
                 </li>
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:contact-tracing-index' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:contact-tracing-index' %}#}
                 </li>
             </ul>
             <ul class="navbar-nav">
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:about-index' 'About' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'vision:about-index' 'About' %}#}
                 </li>
                 <li class="nav-item">
-                    {% bs_nav_link 'admin:index' 'Admin' %}
+{#                    {% bs_nav_link 'admin:index' 'Admin' %}#}
                 </li>
             </ul>
         </div>
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/urls.py
index 1002209..a1e3b1a 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/explore/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 from django.views.decorators.cache import cache_page
 
 from gather_vision.apps.explore.views.general import HomeIndexView, AboutIndexView
@@ -8,14 +9,16 @@
 app_name = "explore"
 
 urlpatterns = [
-    path(
+    distill_path(
         "",
         cache_page(_cache_sec)(HomeIndexView.as_view()),
         name="home-index",
+        distill_file=f"{app_name}/index.html",
     ),
-    path(
+    distill_path(
         "about/",
         cache_page(_cache_sec)(AboutIndexView.as_view()),
         name="about-index",
+        distill_file=f"{app_name}/about/index.html",
     ),
 ]
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/legislatures/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/legislatures/urls.py
index f47b929..ff15163 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/legislatures/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/legislatures/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 
 app_name = "legislatures"
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/music/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/music/urls.py
index 8902cd0..817861b 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/music/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/music/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 
 app_name = "music"
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/transport/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/transport/urls.py
index f98ae21..0c7a3d9 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/transport/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/transport/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 
 app_name = "transport"
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/apps/water/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/apps/water/urls.py
index 8bc84b1..8b87a73 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/apps/water/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/apps/water/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.urls import path
+from django_distill import distill_path
 
 app_name = "water"
 
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/proj/settings.py b/src/gather_vision/proj/settings.py
index ee341b7..10fc379 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/proj/settings.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/proj/settings.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 # Set debug or default to false.
 DEBUG = env.get_bool(key="DEBUG", default=False)
+USE_DEBUG_TOOLBAR = env.get_bool(key="USE_DEBUG_TOOLBAR", default=False)
 
 # secret key
 SECRET_KEY = env.get_str(key="SECRET_KEY")
@@ -58,26 +59,33 @@
     "gather_vision.apps.water.apps.WaterAppConfig",
 ]
 
-if DEBUG is True:
+if USE_DEBUG_TOOLBAR is True:
     INSTALLED_APPS.append("debug_toolbar")
 
+if DEBUG is True:
+    # distill for static site generation needs to be after django apps
+    # and before the local apps
+    for index, installed_app in enumerate(INSTALLED_APPS):
+        if installed_app.startswith("gather_vision.apps."):
+            INSTALLED_APPS.insert(index, "django_distill")
+            break
+
 
 MIDDLEWARE = [
     "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
-    "debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware",
 ]
 
-if DEBUG is True:
+if USE_DEBUG_TOOLBAR is True:
     MIDDLEWARE.insert(
         MIDDLEWARE.index("django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware"),
-        "debug_toolbar",
+        "debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware",
     )
 
 
@@ -157,6 +165,7 @@
 STATICFILES_DIRS = [
     BASE_DIR / "static",
 ]
+STATIC_ROOT = LOCAL_DIR / "staticfiles"
 
 # Default primary key field type
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/ref/settings/#default-auto-field
diff --git a/src/gather_vision/proj/urls.py b/src/gather_vision/proj/urls.py
index 98f7cd2..ff5e603 100644
--- a/src/gather_vision/proj/urls.py
+++ b/src/gather_vision/proj/urls.py
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@
     2. Add a URL to urlpatterns:  path('blog/', include('blog.urls'))
 """
 
-import debug_toolbar
+
 from django.contrib.auth import views as auth_views
-from django.urls import path, include
+from django.urls import include, path
+from django_distill import distill_path
+from gather_vision.proj import views, settings, admin
 
-from gather_vision.proj import views
-from gather_vision.proj.admin import admin_site
 
 urlpatterns = [
     path(
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     ),
     path(
         "admin/",
-        admin_site.urls,
+        admin.admin_site.urls,
     ),
     path(
         "electricity",
@@ -74,13 +74,19 @@
         "explore",
         include("gather_vision.apps.explore.urls", namespace="explore"),
     ),
-    path(
+    distill_path(
         "",
         views.HomePageView.as_view(),
         name="index",
     ),
-    path(
-        "__debug__/",
-        include(debug_toolbar.urls),
-    ),
 ]
+
+if settings.USE_DEBUG_TOOLBAR:
+    import debug_toolbar
+
+    urlpatterns.append(
+        path(
+            "__debug__/",
+            include(debug_toolbar.urls),
+        )
+    )
diff --git a/templates/layout/nav.html b/templates/layout/nav.html
index e0337c3..f8fc6e6 100644
--- a/templates/layout/nav.html
+++ b/templates/layout/nav.html
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@
 {#                <li class="nav-item">#}
 {#                    <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="{% url 'finances:index' %}">Finances</a>#}
 {#                </li>#}
-                <li class="nav-item">
-                    <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="{% url 'finances:accounts' %}">Accounts</a>
-                </li>
-                <li class="nav-item">
-                    <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="{% url 'finances:categories' %}">Categories</a>
-                </li>
+{#                <li class="nav-item">#}
+{#                    <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="{% url 'finances:accounts' %}">Accounts</a>#}
+{#                </li>#}
+{#                <li class="nav-item">#}
+{#                    <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="{% url 'finances:categories' %}">Categories</a>#}
+{#                </li>#}
             </ul>
             <ul class="navbar-nav">
                 <li class="nav-item">