Personal Blog Generator

A modern, static site generator for personal blogs built with Go. Features a clean admin interface for content management, automatic static site generation, and easy deployment.

Features

• 📝 Content Management: Create and manage blog posts, portfolio items, and static pages
• 🎨 Modern Admin UI: Clean, responsive interface built with Tailwind CSS
• ⚡ Static Site Generation: Fast, SEO-friendly static HTML output
• 🚀 Easy Deployment: Simple deployment with nginx and systemd

Quick Start

Local Development

1. Prerequisites

   • Go 1.22 or later
   • Node.js 16+ (for Tailwind CSS)
   • SQLite3

2. Installation

   # Clone the repository
   git clone <repository-url>
   cd personal-blog-generator
   
   # Install Go dependencies
   go mod tidy
   
   # Install Node.js dependencies
   npm install

3. Environment Setup

   # Create configuration directory
   mkdir -p ~/.personal-blog-generator
   
   # Create .env file with your settings
   cat > ~/.personal-blog-generator/.env << EOF
   # Database configuration
   DB_PATH=~/.personal-blog/-generatorblog.db
   
   # Server configuration
   APP_PORT=8080
   EOF
   
   # Edit .env if needed
   nano ~/.personal-blog-generator/.env

4. Run Locally

   # Build Tailwind CSS (in background)
   npx tailwindcss -i ./admin-files/input.css -o ./admin-files/css/style.css --watch &
   
   # Run the application
   go run main.go

5. Access the Application

   • Blog: http://localhost:8080
   • Admin: http://localhost:8080/admin/dashboard

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
DB_PATH	Path to SQLite database	blog.db
APP_PORT	Port for the application	8080
TEMPLATE_PATH	Path to HTML templates directory	./templates
OUTPUT_PATH	Path to generated static site directory	./html-outputs
ADMIN_USERNAME	Username for admin dashboard	admin
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Password for admin dashboard	admin
DEPLOY_HOST	SSH host for deployment	-
DEPLOY_USER	SSH user for deployment	-
DEPLOY_PATH	Remote path for deployment	-
BACKUP_PATH	Path for database backups	-

Deployment is still an idea for the future. This configuration is unused at the moment.

Admin Interface

Login

Access the admin at /admin/dashboard with basic authentication.

Features

• Posts: Create, edit, and manage blog posts with markdown support
• Portfolio: Showcase your projects and work
• Pages: Create static pages for your site
• Publishing: Generate and deploy your static site
• Backup: Automatic database backups

Content Management

• Rich text editing with markdown support
• Tag management for posts
• Image upload and management
• SEO-friendly URLs and metadata

Deployment

Deployment is still an idea for the future.

Automated Deployment

1. Configure Environment

   # Update ~/.personal-blog-generator/.env with deployment settings
   cat >> ~/.personal-blog-generator/.env << EOF
   DEPLOY_HOST=your-server.com
   DEPLOY_USER=your-user
   DEPLOY_PATH=/var/www/blog
   BACKUP_PATH=./backups
   EOF

2. Deploy

   ./deploy.sh

Manual Server Setup

1. Server Preparation

# Create user and directories
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash blog
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/blog
sudo chown -R blog:blog /var/www/blog

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx sqlite3 certbot python3-certbot-nginx

2. Application Setup

# Copy files to server
scp main blog.db .env blog@your-server.com:/var/www/blog/

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R blog:blog /var/www/blog
sudo chmod 600 /var/www/blog/.env

3. Nginx Configuration

# Copy nginx config
sudo cp nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/blog
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/blog /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Update server_name and root path in nginx.conf
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/blog

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Reload nginx
sudo systemctl reload nginx

4. SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt)

sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

5. Systemd Service

# Copy service file
sudo cp personal-blog-generator.service /etc/systemd/system/

# Reload systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable personal-blog-generator
sudo systemctl start personal-blog-generator

# Check status
sudo systemctl status personal-blog-generator

6. Service Management

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u personal-blog-generator -f

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart personal-blog-generator

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop personal-blog-generator

Project Structure

personal-blog-generator/
├── admin-files/          # Admin interface static files
├── html-outputs/         # Generated static site
├── internal/            # Go application code
│   ├── db/             # Database utilities
│   ├── generator/      # Static site generator
│   ├── handlers/       # HTTP handlers
│   ├── models/         # Data models
│   └── repository/     # Data access layer
├── static/             # Public static assets
├── templates/          # HTML templates
├── main.go             # Application entry point
├── nginx.conf          # Production nginx config
├── nginx-dev.conf      # Development nginx config
├── personal-blog-generator.service  # Systemd service file
└── README.md           # This file

Development

Building

# Build the application
go build -o main .

# Build for production
CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -a -installsuffix cgo -o main .

Testing

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run with coverage
go test -cover ./...

Code Quality

# Format code
go fmt ./...

# Vet code
go vet ./...

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Port already in use

   # Find process using port 8080
   sudo lsof -i :8080
   # Kill the process
   sudo kill -9 <PID>

2. Database connection failed

   • Check DB_PATH in .env
   • Ensure database file exists and has correct permissions
   • Run database migrations if needed

3. Admin login not working

   • Check .htpasswd file exists and has correct format
   • Verify nginx configuration includes auth directives

4. Static site not generating

   • Check file permissions on html-outputs/ directory
   • Ensure all required templates exist
   • Check application logs for errors

5. Service not starting

   # Check service status
   sudo systemctl status personal-blog-generator
   
   # View logs
   sudo journalctl -u personal-blog-generator -f

Logs

• Application logs: Check systemd journal
• Nginx logs: /var/log/nginx/
• Database logs: Check SQLite file permissions

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

For support and questions:

• Create an issue on GitHub
• Check the troubleshooting section
• Review the documentation