#mataroa

Minimal blogging platform with export as first-class feature.

#Contributing

Feel free to open a PR on GitHub or send an email patch to ~sirodoht/public-inbox@lists.sr.ht.

On how to contribute using email patches see git-send-email.io.

#Development

This is a Django codebase. Check out the Django docs for general technical documentation.

#Structure

The Django project is mataroa. There is one Django app, main, with all business logic. Application CLI commands are generally divided into two categories, those under python manage.py and those under make.

#Dependencies

Using venv:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements_dev.txt

This project also uses pip-tools for dependency management.

#Environment variables

A file named .envrc is used to define the environment variables required for this project to function. One can either export it directly or use direnv. There is an example environment file one can copy as base:

cp .envrc.example .envrc

.envrc should contain the following variables:

export SECRET_KEY=some-secret-key
export DATABASE_URL=postgres://mataroa:db-password@db:5432/mataroa
export EMAIL_HOST_USER=smtp-user
export EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=smtp-password

When on production, also include the following variables (see Deployment and Backup):

export NODEBUG=1
export PGPASSWORD=db-password

#Database

This project uses PostgreSQL. Assuming one has set the DATABASE_URL (see above), to create the database schema:

python manage.py migrate

Also, initialising the database with some sample development data is possible with:

python manage.py populate_dev_data

#Subdomains

To develop locally with subdomains, one needs something like that in /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1 mataroalocal.blog
127.0.0.1 random.mataroalocal.blog
127.0.0.1 test.mataroalocal.blog 
127.0.0.1 mylocalusername.mataroalocal.blog

As /etc/hosts does not support wildcard entries, there needs to be one entry for each mataroa user/blog.

#Serve

To run the Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

#Docker

If Docker and docker-compose are preferred, then:

1. Set DATABASE_URL in .envrc to postgres://postgres:postgres@db:5432/postgres
2. Run docker-compose up -d.

The database data will be saved in the git-ignored directory / Docker volume db_data, located in the root of the project.

#Testing

Using the Django test runner:

python manage.py test

For coverage, run:

make cov

#Code linting & formatting

The following tools are used for code linting and formatting:

• black for code formatting.
• isort for imports order consistency.
• flake8 for code linting.

To use:

make format
make lint

#Deployment

Deployment is configured using uWSGI and Caddy.

Remember to set the environment variables before starting uwsgi. Depending on the deployment environment, this could mean directly exporting the variables or just sourcing .envrc (with all production variables — including NODEBUG):

source .envrc
uwsgi uwsgi.ini  # start djago app
caddy start --config /home/roa/mataroa/Caddyfile  # start caddy server

Note that the value of the NODEBUG variable is ignored. What matters is merely its existence in the environment.

Also, two cronjobs (used by the email newsletter feature) are needed to be installed. The schedule is subject to the administrator's preference. Indicatively:

*/5 * * * * bash -c 'cd /home/roa/mataroa && source ./venv/bin/activate && source .envrc && python manage.py enqueue_notifications'
*/10 * * * * bash -c 'cd /home/roa/mataroa && source ./venv/bin/activate && source .envrc && python manage.py process_notifications'

Documentation about the commands can be found in section Management.

Finally, certain setting variables may need to be redefined:

• ADMINS
• CANONICAL_HOST
• EMAIL_HOST and EMAIL_HOST_BROADCAST

#Backup

To automate backup, there is a script which dumps the database and uploads it into AWS S3. The script also needs the database password as an environment variable. The key needs to be PGPASSWORD. The backup script assumes the variable lives in .envrc like so:

export PGPASSWORD=db-password

To restore a dump:

pg_restore -v -h localhost -cO --if-exists -d mataroa -U mataroa -W mataroa.dump

To add on cron:

0 */6 * * * /home/roa/mataroa/backup-database.sh

#Management

In addition to the standard Django management commands, there are also:

• enqueue_notifications: create records for notification emails to be sent.
• process_notifications: sends notification emails for new blog posts of existing records.
• populate_dev_data: populate database with sample development data.

They are triggered using the standard manage.py Django way:

python manage.py enqueue_notifications

#License

This software is licensed under the MIT license. For more information, read the LICENSE file.