[HacktionLab] Workshop proposal for BarnCamp: How static HTML saved my marriage

[yossarian]

On 22/03/13 08:00, Mike Harris wrote:
> But yes, I get why CMSes came about. I just feel it has to be said 
> that perhaps some of them have gone too far....
>> static site generators keep them apart so stuff like (ruby) Jekyll,
>> (php) Phrozn are probably better?
> I've not used either, have you?

I've used Jekyll and found it a very easy way to write fairly large 
amounts of documentation, blog posts, etc. It's not for everybody though.

Markdown is pretty easy once you get going with it, and laying out a 
Jekyll site is very simple if you happen to know what an include is, but 
I don't think I'd necessarily try explaining it in a Barncamp session 
aimed at fully non-technical people. I can remember my own first 
encounter with the concept "you can insert content from Thing X into 
Thing Y which is itself inserted into Thing Z, and display them all at 
once, even if there are multiple Thing Xs and Thing Ys in play", and I 
remember it took more than a couple hours for my brain to process it.

There's a slightly more full-featured, blogger version of Jekyll, called 
Octopress, if anybody needs more of a blog than an informational website.

I've used Boostrap and Jekyll extensively and was able to lay out a full 
site which didn't look too awful with them very quickly - something I 
was never really able to do before. As I think Ekes said, I found it 
really great to have all the templating separated out from the site 
content, but without all the overheads associated with a full website.

I would be happy to run a secret, off-the-books session on Jekyll and/or 
Octopress for Mike or whoever else, without the nerd/ball/tech/geek gag 
(whatever it's now called). I am also looking forward to beers in those 
little riverside pubs.

Yoss