A simple static site generator written in Bash

Key Features

Getting Started with the Editor

1. Open the Editor: Simply open bssg-editor.html in your web browser
2. Start Writing: Fill in the post metadata in the sidebar and start writing
3. Auto-Save: Your work is automatically saved every 10 words or after 5 seconds
4. Export: When ready, export your post as a .md file with proper BSSG formatting
5. Build: Place the exported file in your src/ directory and run ./bssg.sh build

Keyboard Shortcuts

Available Commands

Usage: ./bssg.sh [--config <path>] command [options]

Commands:
  post [-html] [draft_file]
                               Interactive: create/edit post or continue a draft.
  post -t <title> [-T <tags>] [-s <slug>] [--html] [-d] {-c <content> | -f <file> | --stdin} [--build]
                               Command-line: create post non-interactively.
  page [-html] [-s] [draft_file]
                               Create a page or continue a page draft.
  edit [-n] <file>             Edit an existing post/page/draft (updates lastmod).
  delete [-f] <file>           Delete a post/page/draft.
  list                         List all posts.
  tags [-n]                    List all tags. Use -n to sort by post count.
  drafts                       List all draft posts.
  backup                       Create a backup of posts, pages, drafts, and config.
  restore [backup_file|ID]     Restore from a backup (options: --no-content, --no-config).
  backups                      List all available backups.
  build [options]              Build the site (run './bssg.sh build --help' for full options).
  server [options]             Build and run local server (run './bssg.sh server --help').
  init <target_directory>      Initialize a new site in the specified directory.
  help                         Show help.

BSSG includes a simple but powerful built-in web server to help you preview your site locally during development. This eliminates the need for setting up a separate web server for testing.

Starting the Server

./bssg.sh server

Running the server command will:

1. Automatically build your site: The command runs the build process first, ensuring you're always previewing the latest version.
2. Temporarily adjust SITE_URL: During the build, it sets SITE_URL to match the local server address (e.g., http://localhost:8000), ensuring all links work correctly in the preview. Your configuration files remain unchanged.
3. Start the server: It serves files from your configured OUTPUT_DIR and provides a URL for local access.

Server Options

# Examples:
./bssg.sh server --port 8080
./bssg.sh server --host 192.168.0.2
./bssg.sh server --no-build

Example Workflow

# Create a new post
./bssg.sh post

# Start the development server to preview changes
./bssg.sh server

# In a different terminal, edit your post
./bssg.sh edit src/your-post.md

# Stop the server with Ctrl+C and restart with changes
./bssg.sh server

BSSG_SERVER_PORT_DEFAULT=8080
BSSG_SERVER_HOST_DEFAULT="192.168.0.2"  # Serve on specific local IP

BSSG includes a wide variety of themes to customize the look of your site. Set your chosen theme in the config.sh.local file:

# Example config.sh.local entry
THEME="your-theme-name"

Or override it temporarily during build:

./bssg.sh build --theme minimal

You can also apply a custom CSS file on top of any theme by placing it in your static/ directory and setting CUSTOM_CSS in your config.

Theme Categories

BSSG includes a script to generate previews of all available themes. This helps you see how each theme looks with your content before deciding which one to use.

Generate Theme Previews

./generate_theme_previews.sh

This will create a directory called example/ containing subdirectories for each theme, along with an index.html file that allows you to navigate between them.

Custom Site URL

Set a custom base URL for the previews, useful if hosting the example gallery in a subdirectory.

./generate_theme_previews.sh --site-url "https://example.com/blog/example"

You can also point the preview generator at a site-specific config file:

./generate_theme_previews.sh --config /path/to/site/config.sh.local

BSSG configuration is resolved in this order:

1. Command line argument (--config)
2. BSSG_LCONF environment variable
3. Local config file (config.sh.local)
4. Main config file (config.sh)

Enable RAM Build Mode

Set it in your config or use a command-line flag:

# In config.sh.local
BUILD_MODE="ram"

# Or per-build:
./bssg.sh build --build-mode ram

Enable Parallel Processing

For the fastest builds, especially on multi-core systems, install GNU parallel:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install parallel

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install parallel

# FreeBSD
pkg install parallel

BSSG automatically detects and utilizes parallel if present, falling back gracefully otherwise.

Enable Asset Precompression

# In config.sh.local
PRECOMPRESS_ASSETS="true"

# Optional tuning:
# PRECOMPRESS_GZIP_LEVEL=9
# PRECOMPRESS_MAX_JOBS=0    # 0=auto based on CPU
# PRECOMPRESS_VERBOSE=false

BSSG will include an admin interface for managing your blog with these planned features: