mcc
So this is the second time now I've seen someone make the (good!) observation that SSGs are a non-option to nontechies but here's the thing: It *should* be pretty easy to make a web editor that shows a directory listing, lets you drag in PNGs and edit Markdown files in a little box, and then feeds the directory directly into an SSG, and maybe optionally SCPs them to another server after that fact. Someone coulda made this 10 years ago. Just nobody did
https://vmst.io/@jalefkowit/113307815934062221
cc @jalefkowit
Jason Lefkowitz (@[email protected])

Like, if your pitch for a system to replace WordPress starts with "first, learn Markdown and Git," I need you to understand that you are living in a completely different galaxy than the median WordPress user

vmst·io
Oct 15, 2024 at 2:11amWeb
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
Like I'd drop everything and write that right now, if I had infinite time and energy. It is, honestly, extremely unfair that I do not have infinite time and energy
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024

The potential "SSG with training wheels" user would still need to learn Markdown and eleventy tags, or whatever, but honestly nontechies in the 00s found HTML learnable in a way git never was* so I don't think that part's a blocker

* As a Mercurial dead-ender it remains my opinion that no one should ever use git, for any purpose, ever. I do not wish to have a conversation about this

Show threadmccOct 15, 2024

A number of people are replying to this thread mentioning "Obsidian" but I don't know what that is so I can't link you anything

(A second person also mentioned "Quartz". Perhaps I misunderstood something and they were actually discussing ritual knives)

Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
POLL: Which is a better material from which to craft a ritual knife
Obsidian
81.5%
Quartz
18.5%
Poll ended at .
Show threadIrenes (many)Oct 15, 2024
@mcc quartz, it's less fragile. obsidian is for mirrors.
Show threadRobOct 15, 2024
@ireneista @mcc I’m in book two of the Mistborn series. Obsidian knives are preferred by the, well, Mistborn. 🤣
Show threadFi 🏳️‍⚧️Oct 15, 2024

@mcc

so everyone's gonna say obsidian, which has a long history in especially mesoamerican ritual tradition as a ritual implement material.

But.

The thing about quartz is that you can fuse it into arbitrary shapes, and ritual knives do not necessarily need to be monomolecular sharp.

So while a scalpel-edged obsidian knife is cool, that edge is going to need maintenance, which is going to be a huge pain in the ass.

But a fused quartz ritual knife can have a much more sturdy edge that won't fucking chip at the slightest nick against something else, and will be much safer to handle during rituals for most practitioners.

So as a practical consideration, I'd use a fused quartz ritual knife, if I weren't already a blacksmith who forged herself an iron one years ago lol.

However, for blog shit, they're prolly talking about https://obsidian.md/ which has a plugin that'll let you publish to a website.

Obsidian - Sharpen your thinking

The free and flexible app for your private thoughts.

Obsidian
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@munin Good analysis, thanks for your response
Show threaddefinitely just a musicianOct 15, 2024

@mcc @munin this example was also spun out of obsidian-- i've never used it, but the format for describing nodes/edges on graph paper is fairly straightforward

https://jsoncanvas.org/

JSON Canvas

An open file format for infinite canvas data.Infinite canvas tools are a way to view and organize information spatially, like a digital whiteboard. Infinite ...

JSON Canvas
Show threadaeriqueOct 15, 2024

@mcc @munin Can't argue with that, damn...

But Obsidian the software is nice and the people who make it as well.

Show threadcthos 🐱Oct 15, 2024
@mcc Depends on what kind of ritual, but yeah, Obsidian's a good choice as it'll wind up nice and sharp.
Show threadBill RickerOct 15, 2024
@mcc
Depends which ritual, shouldnt it?
Show threadmymOct 15, 2024
@mcc depends on the ritual though? anyway our household upgraded to a ritual laser
Show threadmymOct 16, 2024
@mcc HOLD UP they aren't knives but we are each absolutely surrounded by many, many tiny pieces of quartz all performing ritual counting of the hours
Show threadTeegOct 15, 2024
@mcc I’m partial to whatever composite stone is nearest at hand. That’s how most ritual daggers were initially chosen before being passed along as the “correct” choice
Show threadjohn spurlingOct 15, 2024
@mcc Peanut Brittle
Show threadMatt DaubneyOct 15, 2024

@mcc https://youtu.be/4hdvxIBu5HM. Quartz seems difficult.

However, why ritual knives? Why not ritual hugs, or cake? I think cake would be better

Recreating an ancient quartz crystal dagger.

YouTube
Show threadValley of the DragonOct 15, 2024
@mcc
It completely depends on what rituals.
Show threadNailsOct 15, 2024

@mcc Fused quartz for the ritual you do every day

Brittle obsidian for the ritual you’re only doing once

Show threadRon JeffriesOct 15, 2024
@mcc quartz is good, tho, if you need to hide it in a fountain so as to have a hidden weapon to surprise attack your nemesis. H/T Larry Niven, I believe.
Show threadKehvarlOct 15, 2024
@mcc
I think you use whichever is most plentiful, obviously that's what the local spirits want.
Show threada fish named dog ✡️♾️Oct 15, 2024
@mcc I've heard obsidian is for ritual murder, so it's probably more versatile.
Show threadFish Id Wardrobe ⁂Oct 15, 2024

@mcc It depends on the association you have with either material.

+1 for using obsidian as an organiser (the markdown program, not the volcanic glass).

Show threadMichael ColvinOct 15, 2024
@mcc Obsidian is an igneous rock that was used by Neolithic people for spears, knives, and arrowheads. It flakes to the sharpness of a razor. Quartz is not as hard and doesn't flake as well. Use obsidian. It is also black and beautiful.
Show threadgizmomathboy, FCOct 15, 2024

@mocolvinauthor @mcc quartz is harder than obsidian on the Mohs scale, 7 versus 5-6.

Quartz not flaking like obsidian is definitely why obsidian is the better knife material.

Show threadMichael ColvinOct 15, 2024
@gizmomathboy @mcc Thanks for the correction. My field of study was not geology, but anthropology.
Show threadMatt CengiaOct 15, 2024
@mcc Assuming you're not being facetious, @obsidian is a feature-rich markdown-based personal knowledge management system (closed source, free for personal use). I haven't bought into it fully because of the closed source bit.
Show threadOwen NelsonOct 15, 2024
@mcc can you elaborate on "dead ender" for me?
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024

@onelson i am still using mercurial instead of git, exclusively, even to access git repos

(exception: whenever i have to interact with git-lfs. which is a frustratingly increasing proportion of my projects. hg-git never got lfs support.)

Show threadOwen NelsonOct 15, 2024
@mcc so dead-ender is to say there's no path out of?
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024

@onelson i am using "dead-ender" in the sense of like, "a biden dead-ender". Someone who supports a cause which is clearly lost

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22dead-ender%22
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22biden+dead-ender%22

Bevor Sie zur Google Suche weitergehen

Show threadOwen NelsonOct 15, 2024
@mcc oh I see. This is a turn of phrase I haven't heard before now.
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@onelson i mainly hear it in politics
Show threadNeia masksOct 15, 2024
@mcc WYSIWYG editors are a well explored space. I'd include one if I were building a fully featured static site generator for less programmer-y users.
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@neia I don't think I can make that in a weekend
Show threadCthuflu, stuck in ball 🎱Oct 15, 2024

@mcc @neia prosemirror seems well put together for WYSIWYG, the time-consuming bit may be the glue code (obsidian uses another project, codemirror, for its editor)

https://prosemirror.net/

ProseMirror

In-browser structured text editing component

Show threadWayne MyersOct 15, 2024
@mcc Hmm.. I have written maybe a third to a half of something like this - enough for my dad to be able to manage his SSG driven site without needing to know too many details - he has learned Markdown just fine - but never bothered to go ahead and make it full featured. Perhaps I should
Show threadOblomovOct 15, 2024
@mcc (ikiwiki supports hg as VCS)
Show threadClaudius LinkOct 15, 2024
@mcc
☝🏻
So much 😭
Show threadarclightOct 15, 2024
@mcc Mercurial: +1
Show threadcassieOct 15, 2024
@mcc I was starting work on one 5 years ago right before I got a job that said “no don’t do open source”
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@porglezomp fuckin ip assignment agreements, should be fuckin illegal
Show threadIrenes (many)Oct 15, 2024
@mcc if we were responsible for administering a pool of time and energy we'd definitely make sure you got a bunch
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@ireneista Thanks
Show threadCassandra is only carbon nowOct 15, 2024
@mcc @jalefkowit That's more or less how FrontPage and Dreamweaver used to work back in the day. Terrible, but they at least showed that the niche exists and can work.
Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@xgranade @jalefkowit i only interacted with it briefly but dreamweaver seemed kinda good to me honestly
Show threadcthos 🐱Oct 15, 2024
@mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit I completely unironically loved Dreamweaver (I *also* loved Flash and Actionscript 2)
Show threadSwiftOnSecurityOct 15, 2024
@mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit I fucking loved dreamweaver. I can code basic HTML/CSS by hand still for a competent simple website, but it made the discovery of that so incredibly powerful. And the template system meant you didn't need a CMS or really even libraries and everything was instant. We fucked up bad.
Show threadGarrett WollmanOct 15, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit And a CMS is *literally that* but as a web app.
Show threadcondieOct 15, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit as I developer I hated dreamweaver because the designers would “code” a site that I then had to make work with the backend, and it was an unmaintainable mash of css styles and random divs. It could just be that I saw bad examples, but it seemed like dreamweaver was best for static sites that never needed dynamic content from a backend.
Show threadProtectYourWPOct 15, 2024

@condie @SwiftOnSecurity @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit

Actually, it was worse than that for me. I cut my teeth on raw HTML, and whenever I had to deal with dreamweasel generated sites I'd end up having to cut a ton and a half of redundant crap in order to fit the then-relevant pageweight rules (remember those?). I hated the bloat!

I'd rather have gotten the raw copy and hand-coded it. It would have saved me time.

Show threadVirginicusOct 15, 2024
@ProtectYourWP “pageweight” - now there’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time. </obiwan>
Show threadHeliographOct 15, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity we used ColdFusion and the evolution to DW was just glorious @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit
Show threadGavin AndereggOct 15, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit I don’t think I ever loved Dreamweaver, but holy frog did it ever make the “mess of tables” HTML designs of the late-90s/early-aughts easier! I built some zany things with 10+ nested layers of tables, and it was close to impossible to do without a nice visualization. Kids today don’t know how different life was before CSS and Firebug!
Show threadAcesabeOct 15, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity
Check #Webflow - It's been around for 10 years already and seems to pick up where Dreamweaver left off but web based, and then some, but seems nobody's heard of it...
@mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit
Show threadKaran JOct 16, 2024
@SwiftOnSecurity @mcc @xgranade @jalefkowit now you’ve got me missing dreamweaver :(
Show threadWorking Class GamesOct 15, 2024
@xgranade @mcc @jalefkowit Netscape even had a wysiwyg editor built-in, Composer. That's what I used to make student org websites in the nineties :)
Show threadMimirOct 15, 2024

@mcc how would this look different from GitHub Pages (with the GitHub web UI flow)?

I guess that still exposes things like the idea of commits and a whole bunch of stuff that's irrelevant for this usecase, but...

Show threadmccOct 15, 2024
@mimir It would not require you to create a GitHub account. The GitHub Pages web edit flow is actually pretty good but for a nontech person it is intimidating as feck because there are like 200 links/buttons on every single page and if you're doing the GitHub Pages web edit flow 198 of them are totally irrelevant to your use case