Managing Article Series with the Pelican Series Plugin

March 26, 2024

Extending Pelican: Managing Article Series with the Pelican Series Plugin

Are you a Pelican user who wants to organize and manage article series on your blog? Look no further than the Pelican Series Plugin! In this article, we will explore how this powerful plugin extends the functionality of Pelican by allowing you to join different posts into a series and provides variables to effectively manage and navigate your series in templates.

Installation and Configuration

Before getting started with the Pelican Series Plugin, you need to install it. You can easily install the plugin by running the following pip command:

#bash
pip install pelican-series-plugin

Once the plugin is installed, you need to add it to the PLUGINS section of your pelicanconf.py file. Modify the PLUGINS list to include the 'pelican.plugins.series' plugin:

#python
PLUGINS = [
    '...',
    'pelican.plugins.series',
    '...'
]

With the plugin installed and configured, you are now ready to start using the Pelican Series Plugin to manage your article series.

Joining Articles into a Series

To mark articles as part of a series, you need to add the :series: metadata to the articles. You can do this by adding the following line to the metadata section of your article:

#markdown
:series: NAME_OF_THIS_SERIES

Alternatively, you can use the following Markdown syntax:

#markdown
Series: NAME_OF_THIS_SERIES

This will indicate that the article belongs to the specified series.

Indexing and Order

By default, articles in a series are ordered by date and then automatically numbered. However, if you want to enforce a specific order, you can specify the :series_index: metadata or use the series_index: option in Markdown. The index should start from 1. Articles with enforced index are put at the beginning of the series in the specified order, and the remaining articles are ordered by date.

Variables Provided by the Plugin

The Pelican Series Plugin provides a set of variables that you can use in your templates to manage and navigate your series. Here are some of the most useful variables:

article.series.name: The name of the series as specified in the article metadata.
article.series.index: The index of the current article inside the series.
article.series.all: An ordered list of all articles in the series, including the current one.
article.series.all_previous: An ordered list of articles published before the current one.
article.series.all_next: An ordered list of articles published after the current one.
article.series.previous: The previous article in the series.
article.series.next: The next article in the series.
article.series.first: The first article in the series.
article.series.last: The last article in the series.

These variables allow you to dynamically display series information and create navigation links between articles in your templates.

Example Implementations

Now that you have a good understanding of how the Pelican Series Plugin works, let’s explore some example implementations that integrate the plugin with other software products. These implementations can enhance the functionality of your blog and provide a seamless user experience.

Implementation 1: Integrating with Pelican Themes

One popular integration is with Pelican themes. You can modify your theme’s templates to take advantage of the series-related variables provided by the Pelican Series Plugin. For example, you can create a dedicated section in your theme for displaying series information, including the series name, article index, and navigation links.

#html
{% if article.series %}
    
        {{ article.series.name }}
        This post is part {{ article.series.index }} of the series.
    
{% endif %}

Implementation 2: Creating Series Index Pages

Another useful implementation is to create series index pages that list all articles belonging to a series. You can generate these index pages using Pelican’s built-in capabilities or by using additional plugins like the Pelican Series Index Plugin. This provides your readers with an easy way to navigate through your article series and discover related content.

Implementation 3: Generating RSS Feeds for Series

If you use Pelican to generate RSS feeds for your blog, you can also generate RSS feeds specifically for each series. This allows your readers to subscribe to specific series and receive updates when new articles are published. You can achieve this by leveraging Pelican’s templating system and the provided series-related variables.

#python
from pelican import signals

def generate_series_rss_feed(content):
    if hasattr(content, 'article') and hasattr(content.article, 'series'):
        series_name = content.article.series.name
        series_rss_url = f'/series/{series_name}/feed/'
        content.settings['LINKS'].append(('Series RSS', series_rss_url))

def register():
    signals.content_object_init.connect(generate_series_rss_feed)

Conclusion

The Pelican Series Plugin provides a convenient way to manage article series in Pelican. It allows you to join related posts into a series, enforce custom order, and provides a set of variables to navigate and display series information in your templates. By integrating the plugin with other software products like Pelican themes, series index pages, and RSS feeds, you can enhance the functionality of your blog and provide a seamless user experience. Start using the Pelican Series Plugin today and take your article series management to the next level.

Remember, every little bit helps, so contributions to this plugin are welcome and much appreciated. Help improve the documentation, add missing features, fix bugs, and review existing issues to make the Pelican Series Plugin even more powerful.

Happy blogging with Pelican and the Pelican Series Plugin!

This blog article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

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