Starting over ... yet again, again!
OK, here we go! … again! Yes, I am again re-starting this blog. And yes, I’m rebuilding it on a new platform again. This time I’m using Hugo — a static site generator — and I’m hosting the site on the DigitalOcean App Platform. In addition, I’ve also created blog post templates for my Obsidian notebook/second brain/knowledgebase … I don’t know what to call it.
Either way, I’m creating a workflow that lets me write drafts in Obsidian on any platform (including phone and iPad). I can then use some plugin to push the updates to a temporary branch in git, massage the content further as needed, add media, and so on. Finally, when the content is ready, I push the updates to the main branch, which triggers a rebuild and auto-deploy to the server.
This should work fine since Obsidian supports markdown syntax and all Obsidian notes are standalone markdown files. Of course, not all pieces have been worked out in this workflow. But I can already publish to the main branch and have the site be rebuilt and redeployed automatically. In other words: the “last mile” of this process works great. The “first mile” — drafting the blog posts also works well.
However, I still need to connect “beginning” and “end” and, of course, get into a habit of writing more often and consistently. There too, though, I may have a few new things in place that may help. For one, I can now more easily publish posts of varying lengths. I have defined blog posts as “normal” length items with a cover image and possibly some embedded media. Then there are “notes,” which are meant to be short takes on virtually anything.
Finally, a series of posts can be linked together via the “series” taxonomy term. This type is meant for collections of blog posts that together form a longer story (e.g. describing a multi-day trip, etc.). These series can even get their own sub-sections in menus, etc.
There’s one more change: I have purchased a Linux-based laptop — an HP Dev One — an excellent travel companion! It’s lightweight and with enough oomph for anything I’ll ever do on it, whether writing or coding.
