---
author: ''
category: ''
date: 2012/03/27 23:19
description: ''
link: ''
priority: ''
slug: welcome-to-nikola
tags: python,nikola,programming
title: Welcome To Nikola
type: text
updated: 2012/03/27 23:19
url_type: ''
---
If you see this, you may notice some changes in the site.

So, here is a short explanation:

* I changed the software and the templates for this blog.
* Yes, it's a work in progress.
* The new software is called Nikola.
* Yes, it's pretty cool.

Why change?
    Are you kidding? My previous blog-generator (Son of BartleBlog) was not in
    good shape. The archives only covered 2000-2010, the "previous posts" links
    were a lottery, and the spanish version of the site was missing whole sections.

So, what's Nikola?
    Nikola is a static website generator. One thing about this
    site is that it is, and has always been, just HTML. Every "dynamic" thing
    you see in it, like comments, is a third party service. This site is just
    a bunch of HTML files sitting in a folder.

So, how does Nikola work?
    Nikola takes a folder full of txt files written in
    `restructured text <http://docutils.sourceforge.net>`_, and
    generates HTML *fragments*.

    Those fragments plus some light metadata (title, tags, desired output filename,
    external links to sources) and Some `Mako Templates <http://www.makotemplates.org>`_
    create HTML pages.

    Those HTML pages use `bootstrap <http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/>`_ to not
    look completely broken (hey, I never claimed to be a designer).

    To make sure I don't do useless work, `doit <http://doit.sourceforge.net>`_
    makes sure only the required files are recreated.

Why not use <whatever>?
    Because, for diverse reasons, I wanted to keep the exact URLs I have been using:

    * If I move a page, keeping the Disqus comments attached gets tricky
    * Some people may have bookmarked them

    Also, I wanted:

    * Mako templates (because I like Mako)
    * Restructured text (Because I have over 1000 posts written in it)
    * Python (so I could hack it)
    * Easy to hack (currently Nikola is under 600 LOC, and is almost feature complete)
    * Support for a multilingual blog like this one.

    And of course:

    * It sounded like a fun, short project. I had the suspicion that with a bit of
      glue, existing tools did 90% of the work. Looks like I was right, since I
      wrote it in a few days.

Are you going to maintain it?
    Sure, since I am using it.

Is it useful for other people?
    Probably not right now, because it makes a ton of assumptions for my site. I need
    to clean it up a bit before it's really nice.

Can other people use it?
    Of course. It will be available somewhere soon.

Missing features?
    No tags yet. Some other minor missing things.