/hubpress.io

A web application to build your blog on GitHub

Primary LanguageCSSMIT LicenseMIT

HubPress

What Is HubPress?

editor

HubPress is a free, open source tool to build your future awesome blog!

Created and maintained by Anthonny Quérouil (twitter @anthonny_q).

Note
 HubPress is actually in preview, if you find some bugs come to see us.

Documentation is rapidly evolving as the project gains momentum. Check back regularly for more tips on how to use HubPress.

Browser compatibility

HubPress is compatible with Chrome and Chrome for Android.

Chrome Beta and Firefox will be compatible soon, actually we encountered some bugs with IndexedDB, for the preview you should prefer use Chrome.

Getting Started

Installation

Fork the repository

Click the Fork icon Fork to create a copy of this repository within your GitHub account.

Use the github.io domain

If you have never used your GitHub Pages domain before, you can use this procedure to quickly set up HubPress. With this method, only a few steps are required to get HubPress deployed and ready for use.

Important
 If you are currently using your username.github.io GitHub Pages domain for another project, or if you want to use a custom domain name, skip to the next procedure for instructions.

  1. Rename your repository to <username>.github.io

  2. Set values in hubpress/config.json

    Edit config

    The following parameters are mandatory :

    • username, which is your GitHub user name,

    • repositoryName, which is the new name of the repository fork, <username>.github.io.

  3. Commit the changes, and open the GitHub Pages domain: https://<username>.github.io/.

  4. The following screen indicates you have correctly configured HubPress

    Install complete

Use a Custom Domain or GitHub Page Domain Already In Use

If you want your blog to be available on a custom domain, or you are already using your GitHub Pages domain to host another project, some extra configuration is required.

  1. In the repository settings, set the default branch to gh-pages :

    Settings gh-pages

  2. Switch your repository to the branch gh-pages

    Install complete

  3. Set the required values in `hubpress/config.json

    Edit config

    The following parameters are mandatory :

    • username, which is your GitHub user name,

    • repositoryName, which is the repository fork. For example, hubpress.io if you did not rename it.

  4. Commit the changes, and open the GitHub Pages domain: https://<username>.github.io/<repositoryName>/.

  5. The following screen indicates you have correctly configured HubPress

    Install complete

Administration Console

The HubPress Administration Console is available at /hubpress

Log Into the Administration Console

Install complete

Enter your GitHub credentials to log into HubPress Admin.

Once you authenticate, a personal token is created for future calls from HubPress to the GitHub API.

This is synchronized across all sessions of HubPress, so if you open the Administration Console on your PC and then your Tablet, the token is applicable to all devices.

Settings Page

You can configure basic blog settings (such as CNAME and Pagination) and social media accounts you want to connect to your blog.

Meta

This section contains basic information configured in the /hubpress/config.json file.

The Git CNAME field is configurable, and lets you specify a custom domain name for your blog. See https://help.github.com/articles/setting-up-a-custom-domain-with-github-pages/ for instructions about setting up a CNAME for your blog.

Site

Title and Description

The Title and Description fields allow you to give your blog a name, and tell visitors what they can expect from your blog posts.

The Logo and Cover Image fields can be used the following ways:

  • A HTML link to an image hosting service. For example gravatar.

  • A link to an image committed to the /images directory of your blog repository.

Note
 See the /images/README.adoc file for tips about embedding images into your blog posts.
Theme

The Theme is selectable from the list of themes stored in the /themes directory. Specify it according to it is spelled in it’s containing folder.

Google Analytics

The Google Analytics field takes the unique Google Analytics code generated for the site.

Disqus Shortname

The Disqus shortname field takes your Disqus URL/shortname that is specified when you register a new site for Disqus. Only the shortname is required, not a link to your profile page.

Social Network

All fields in this group require full URLs to your public profile page. The way these values are rendered on your blog depends on the theme selected.

Managing Posts

When you first start HubPress, the Posts view is empty. As you create blog posts, the page populates with the list of posts on the left, and a live preview of the blog post itself on the right.

Writing A Blog Post with HubPress

Note
 If you have never used AsciiDoc before to write content, the AsciiDoctor Writer’s Guide should be your first stop in your journey. The guide provides both basic and advanced mark-up examples for you to copy and use.

HubPress Editor displays the AsciiDoc code on the left, and the live preview on the right.

Blog Title, and Headings

The blog title is always Level 1 in an AsciiDoc post. For example, = Blog Title sets the name of the Blog Post to Blog Title.

A = Blog Title is required for saving it successfully.

If you want a first-level heading you use == First Level Heading, and so on to create other nested headings.

HubPress Parameters

HubPress allows you to alter characteristics of each blog post using attributes.

:hp-image: for Blog Post Cover Images

If you want to add a cover image to your Blog Post, set the hp-image attribute.

  1. :hp-image: Example

= Blog Title
:hp-image: https://<repositoryName>/images/a-cover-image.jpg

TiP: You may want to consider creating a /covers folder in your repository to group the covers together. Naming the cover images consistenty will make it very easy to apply to every post. If you have a theme to your blog, this allows your readers to get a visual clue as to what the post is about.

Currently the themes that support blog post cover images are:

  • Saga

:published_at: to alter the Publication Date

By default, the publication date is the date you created the Blog Post. You can force the publication date by adding the :published_at: attribute.

  1. :published_at: Example

= Blog Title
:published_at: 2015-01-31

:hp-tags: for Metadata Tags

Note
 Categories are not supported.

Add tags by using the hp-tags attribute.

  1. :hp-tags: Example

= Blog Title
:hp-tags: HubPress, Blog, Open Source,

Troubleshooting

If something is not working as you expect, some of these tips may help.

Resetting Blog Database on Android

Sometimes the HubPress local database becomes out-of-sync with your published blog. This can happen because you are editing your blog on your PC, then switch over to your tablet.

HubPress works on a locally-stored database specific to your Browser, so if you switch devices — and subsequently switch browsers — you lose the synchronicity between browsers.

To return your instance of HubPress to that of the published blog, clear the browser Cache and Data in Settings > Apps. When you do this, HubPress is forced to rebuild the local database, and will reflect the state of the blog in GitHub.

Credits

Thanks to Jared Morgan for initially tidying up the README you see here, and continuing to be the "docs guy" for HubPress. Thanks to takkyuuplayer to have translated the README into Japanese