Building blocks for building blogs
Documenting the technologies and tools behind this blog; it began life as a fork-it-and-go template, but has grown into something more substantial.
Introduction
This site began life as a clone of the Next.js Blog with Draft Mode template offered by Vercel.
The design and functionality have diverged from that template, but if you were to pop the hood and take a gander, you'd see that those foundations are still there.
When I started this project, my basic pitch was: "All you need is some command-line familiarity to set things up, and not much else."
That's still 100% true if you just want to fork the template, write some stuff, and hit the big green PUBLISH button.
But I'm pleased to say this site has grown into something more substantial, a sandbox where I can test out ideas for code and content, and it's been a fun journey to get from there to here.
That process is written about in the following entries.
Rebuilding this site with Claude as my copilot
The Blogger's Blueprint
Fundamentals
Out of the box, this template is built using:
Next.js | JavaScript Framework
Contentful | Digital Experience Platform
TailwindCSS | CSS Framework
The glue that holds it all together is GitHub, where I'm learning about the value of version control and creating a branch from your main repo before you go and do something silly like exposing your API keys.
The blog is hosted on Vercel, with some additional features like domain management, web analytics and speed insights.
Fun with GenAI
The cover images are made with Midjourney, and Claude is my collaborator on the code and the early drafting of copy.
Just to be absolutely clear, however: the published words, and the editorial decisions behind them, are purely mine.
Where a post leans on a prompt worth sharing, you'll find it included.
Feel free to contact me here if you have advice, feedback, or suggestions.
Prompt for key visual
Midjourney: "Editorial illustration of a paper carton overflowing with popcorn"
