diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 65ba95e..0ea52ee 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,25 +1,31 @@
 # targets that aren't filenames
-.PHONY: all clean deploy
+.PHONY: all clean deploy build serve
 
-all: _includes/pubs.html _site/index.html
+all: build
 
-BUILDARGS :=
-_site/index.html _site/wacas14/index.html:
-	jekyll build $(BUILDARGS)
-
-BIBBLE=bibble
+BIBBLE = bibble
 
 _includes/pubs.html: bib/pubs.bib bib/publications.tmpl
 	mkdir -p _includes
 	$(BIBBLE) $+ > $@
 
-_site/index.html: $(wildcard *.html) _includes/pubs.html _config.yml \
-	_layouts/default.html
+build: _includes/pubs.html
+	jekyll build
+
+# you can configure these at the shell, e.g.:
+# SERVE_PORT=5001 make serve
+SERVE_HOST ?= 127.0.0.1
+SERVE_PORT ?= 5000
+
+serve: _includes/pubs.html
+	jekyll serve --port $(SERVE_PORT) --host $(SERVE_HOST)
 
 clean:
 	$(RM) -r _site _includes/pubs.html
 
-HOST := yourwebpage.com
-PATHSVR := www/
-deploy: clean all
-	rsync --compress --recursive --checksum --itemize-changes --delete -e ssh _site/ $(HOST):$(PATHSVR)
+DEPLOY_HOST ?= yourwebpage.com
+DEPLOY_PATH ?= www/
+RSYNC := rsync --compress --recursive --checksum --itemize-changes --delete -e ssh
+
+deploy: clean build
+	$(RSYNC) _site/ $(DEPLOY_HOST):$(DEPLOY_PATH)