I think I’ve got my system for updating this site in somewhat logical order. It’s not as slick as Facebook, or probably even Wordpress, but I prefer the final result.
I am using a few simple tools to keep things tidy, lightweight, and easy to manage: markdown for writing, Hugo for site building, PowerShell for commands, and GoodSync for uploading. I am in no way an expert in any of them, having never used any of them before this month.
Markdown
Everything starts with markdown. It’s a pretty easy way to write in plain text files with just enough formatting to keep things neat—headings, italics, links, that sort of thing. A little more control on text placement would be nice but I think I’ll have to dive into editing the theme I use for that.
Hugo
Once I’ve written a post, I use Hugo, a static site generator, to turn those markdown files into a complete website. It handles layouts, page generation, menus, and so on. At the moment I’m using a theme called Quint, with a few changes of my own.
I run Hugo using the PowerShell command-line tool. A quick hugo command builds the whole site and puts the output into a folder, ready to go.
GoodSync
After the site is built, I use GoodSync to upload the updated files to my web hosting. It compares what’s changed and only transfers the new or updated files.
Next Steps
No databases, complex tools that need updating on the server, just a few tools. I may try and work out how to automate a few more steps so I can have Hugo and GoodSync do their thing with one click.
I’ve already got my markdown file synced with Google Drive so I can add to it from my phone, so if my PC will run Hugo&GS periodically I can update the blog from my phone.