diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2018270..db204c1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,11 +15,13 @@ Follow the instructions after setup runs.
 ```bash
 npm run start
 ```
-You can also run this to skip checking the database version on startup.
+You can also skip checking the database version and compiling templates (if you don't use server-side rendering) on startup.
 ```bash
-npm run start -- --skip-migrate
+npm run start -- --skip-migrate --skip-compile
 # don't forget to migrate manually when you update
 npm run migrate
+# and compile templates after any changes
+npm run make-templates
 ```
 
 ## Contributing
diff --git a/install/config.example.yml b/install/config.example.yml
index c67d16b..be1a5a0 100644
--- a/install/config.example.yml
+++ b/install/config.example.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ rtmp:
 http:
   # uncomment to set HSTS when SSL is ready
   #hsts: true
+  server_side_render: false
 
 database:
   user: '<dbuser>'
diff --git a/src/cleanup.ts b/src/cleanup.ts
index 56c9dc9..4a3fd58 100644
--- a/src/cleanup.ts
+++ b/src/cleanup.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import * as db from "./database";
 import {readdirSync} from "fs";
+import { execSync } from "child_process";
 
-async function init(m?: boolean) {
-	if(!m){
+async function init() {
+	if(process.argv.indexOf('--skip-migrate') === -1){
 		console.log('Checking database version.');
 		var tmp: string[] = await db.query('show tables like \"db_meta\"');
 		if(tmp.length === 0){
@@ -17,6 +18,15 @@ async function init(m?: boolean) {
 	else {
 		console.log('Skipping database version check.');
 	}
+
+	if(!require('./config').config['http']['server_side_render'] && process.argv.indexOf('--skip-compile') === -1) {
+		console.log("Compiling templates for client-side frontend.");
+		execSync(process.cwd()+'/node_modules/.bin/nunjucks-precompile  -i [\"\\.html$\",\"\\.njk$\"] templates > site/templates.js');
+	}
+	else if(!require('./config').config['http']['server_side_render']){
+		console.log("Skipped compiling templates for client-side frontend.");
+	}
+
     //If satyr is restarted in the middle of a stream
     //it causes problems
     //Live flags in the database stay live
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 0fdeaa4..d9edb2e 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ const config: Object = {
 	  ping: 30,
 	  ping_timeout: 60 }, localconfig['rtmp']),
 	http: Object.assign({ 
-		hsts: false, directory: './site', port: 8000 
+		hsts: false, 
+		directory: './site', 
+		port: 8000,
+		server_side_render: true
 	}, localconfig['http']),
 	media: Object.assign({
 	   record: false,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 889c20f..2573948 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { config } from "./config";
 
 async function run() {
 	await initDB();
-	await clean(process.argv.indexOf('--skip-migrate') !== -1);
+	await clean();
 	await initHTTP();
 	await initRTMP();
 	await initChat();