LINUX, VSCODE, VSCODIUM, EXTENSION, TYPESCRIPT, JEKYLL, WORKFLOW

Jekyll Helper - My VSCode Extension

Info

I’d like to share my VSCode extension, Jekyll Helper. It automates my process of adding dates, renaming files based on titles, and moving drafts to the _posts directory. What used to take several manual steps now happens automatically, freeing up more of my time.

I don’t see myself as a professional programmer, just someone who does a little bit of scripting here and there. I was just interested in writing an extension that makes it easier for me to create my Jekyll drafts and posts.

What I have learnt

  • Creating VSCode extensions with Typescript
  • Using AI tools in my programming process
  • Diving deeper into Git
  • Publishing the extension

Credits

The extension is based on Nor-s/front-matter-gen, itself a fork of Abdillah/vscode-belikejekyll and rohgarg/jekyll-post.

Changes Made

  • Added “Title Case” Function: Implemented functionality to convert titles to title case in the front matter.
  • Added Draft Button: Introduced a button for creating new drafts.
  • Added Publish Button: Created a button for publishing drafts as posts.
  • Implemented Filename Uniqueness Checks: Ensured unique filenames by adding numeric suffixes (e.g., ‘-1’).
  • Refactored and Sanitized Core Source Code: Improved, extended, and cleaned up the core code.
  • Modified Date Filename Pattern and File Extension Configuration: Updated the filename format to include dates and customized file extension handling.

Features

  • New Explorer Context Menu Options:
    • New Jekyll Post: Creates a new blog post with front matter.
    • New Jekyll Draft: Creates a draft with front matter.
    • Publish Jekyll Draft:
      • Checking if there are unsaved changes in the draft file before proceeding.
      • Adding the current date to both the filename and the front matter.
      • Updating the filename based on the title specified in the front matter.
      • Moving the file to the _posts directory.
  • Automatic Filename Generation:
    • Adds the current date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
    • Sanitizes the title by replacing spaces with hyphens and converting it to lowercase.
    • Checks for filename uniqueness and adds numeric suffixes if necessary (e.g., -1, -2).
  • Title Case Conversion: Automatically converts the user-provided title into Title Case in the front matter.
  • Customizable Templates: Allows the use of custom templates for new posts and drafts. If no template is provided, a built-in default template is used.

Perhaps this will be useful for you too. I’ve published it on the VSCode Marketplace and on GitLab you can find the source code. I also explain how to use Jekyll Helper there.

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