Minimal Wave Blog

A Django-based personal blog inspired by Simon Willison's website (simonwillison.net), featuring a dark mode minimal wave aesthetic.

Features

• Blog Posts: Create and manage blog posts with title, summary, body, publication date, and draft/live status.
• Link Blog (Blogmarks): Share and comment on external links, similar to Simon Willison's "blogmarks".
• TIL (Today I Learned): A dedicated section for short-form content, organized by topic.
• Tagging: Organize all content (posts, links, TILs) using tags.
• Markdown Support: Write content using Markdown with syntax highlighting.
• Search: Full-text search across blog posts, links, and TILs.
• Archives: Browse content by year and month.
• Atom Feeds: Separate Atom feeds for the main blog and the TIL section.
• Social Media Cards: Automatic generation of social media card metadata (Open Graph and Twitter Cards) for enhanced link sharing.
• Dark Mode: A visually appealing dark mode theme with minimal wave aesthetics (neon text, grid patterns).
• Responsive Design: Adapts to different screen sizes (desktop, mobile).
• Reading Time: Estimated reading time displayed for blog posts and TILs.
• Related Posts: Suggests related blog posts based on shared tags.
• Pagination: Paginated index and archive pages.

Local Development Setup

There are two ways to run the blog locally: using a Python virtual environment or using Docker.

Option 1: Using Python Virtual Environment (venv)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd fishwick-blog

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Apply database migrations:

   python manage.py makemigrations
   python manage.py migrate

5. Create a superuser account:

   python manage.py createsuperuser

   (Follow the prompts to set up your admin username and password)

6. Run the development server:

   python manage.py runserver

7. Access the blog: Open your web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/

8. Access the admin interface: Go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/ and log in with your superuser credentials to create content.

Option 2: Using Docker

1. Ensure Docker is installed and running.

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd fishwick-blog

3. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t fishwick-blog .

4. Run the Docker container:

   docker run -p 8000:8000 --name fishwick-blog-container fishwick-blog

   Note: This runs the container in the foreground. Use -d for detached mode.

5. Apply database migrations and create superuser (first time only):

   • Open another terminal window.

   • Execute the following commands inside the running container:

     docker exec -it fishwick-blog-container python manage.py makemigrations
     docker exec -it fishwick-blog-container python manage.py migrate
     docker exec -it fishwick-blog-container python manage.py createsuperuser

     (Follow the prompts to set up your admin username and password)

6. Access the blog: Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:8000/ or http://127.0.0.1:8000/

7. Access the admin interface: Go to http://localhost:8000/admin/ and log in with your superuser credentials.

8. To stop the container (if running in detached mode):

   docker stop fishwick-blog-container

9. To remove the container:

   docker rm fishwick-blog-container

Deployment

This project is configured for deployment to Azure App Service. See the azure_deployment_guide.md file for detailed instructions.

Project Structure

• minimalwave_blog/: Main Django project directory.
  • settings/: Contains development and production settings.
  • static/: Static files (CSS, images).
  • templates/: Base HTML templates.
• blog/: Django app for core blog posts and blogmarks.
• til/: Django app for the "Today I Learned" section.
• manage.py: Django management script.
• requirements.txt: Python dependencies.
• Dockerfile: For building the Docker image.
• azure_deployment_guide.md: Instructions for Azure deployment.
• README.md: This file.