On that DIY Fanfic Archive Generator idea

[flamebyrd]

I've been sick this week, which has sapped most of my physical ability so I've been mostly sitting around resting, but mentally I'm... not fine, but functional, so I've been poking at the idea I mentioned in my last post about using a static site generator to manage your personal fanfic archive (a la Melannen's tutorial).

The biggest hurdle I'm hitting is that I'm not actually sure what I want to create. Is it:
a) A script and tutorial for importing an existing collection of AO3-generated HTML files into Hugo (or something similar), extracting the metadata from the AO3 files and reformatting it for use in Hugo, with sample HTML templates and tips for how to manage the site in Hugo going forwards, or
b) An entirely customised static site generator (based on makesite.py that works on a folder of AO3-generated HTML files (and potentially non-AO3 generated files too) and generates the entire site based on the metadata in those files, with granular options for how things should be grouped/sorted/etc.

Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to both! Option b) is going to be a lot more work, both initially and ongoing, so naturally that's what I've been focusing on so far. But I feel probably option a) is the more sensible direction to go?

If this idea sounds interesting to you, what would you want out of it? You don't need to work off my suggested options, just share your vision!

Comments

[tielan]

The idea of something that I could use to transfer my fics from AO3 over to another site would be amazing, although I suspect I'd still have to painstakingly put in the 900+ page links to load it up one way or the other...

Probably Option A, tbh.

[flamebyrd]

If you're looking for a way to download your works the AO3Downloader project looks really neat - https://github.com/nianeyna/ao3downloader. I haven't used it yet myself but it seems like it would handle that side of the equation pretty well! What I'm working on will just make the "build the page listing of all your works" part a lot faster (along with easier templating for works).

[alias_sqbr]

They both sound useful to me, as long as A had reasonable painless options for adding new works after the initial setup.

[flamebyrd]

Definitely as painless as the static site generator supports, which would usually be "add a text file (in markdown or HTML) with some metadata to a directory and run the generator" - it's hard for me to gauge how comfortable most people are with formatting such a file, but I expect that can be worked around by either providing a webform to enter all the info and generate the file, or a way to reformat an AO3 work.

[cimorene]

Probably B, if I didn't already have a site myself. But really, I think the fic itself is the most important part. That is the vast majority of pages on a site and hence work that goes into it. And building in a nice readable basic format would do a favor for potential future readers.

[flamebyrd]

Ah, content, the bane of the web developer (and designer)'s existence ;) So you think the key feature should be good, usable default themes that make an easy reading experience for most people?

[cimorene]

I guess I do! The list of file links probably too, that seems like a clear candidate for automation.