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Table of Contents
07 : Blog
Sun 09/03/25 : Tweaking The Blog Setup
I've added a config value for the blog plugin
dateprefix ⇒ %Y:
This should make a sub-namespace of (e.g.) public:blog:2025 and each year's blog entries will be together in one year's sub-namspace.
Sun 09/03/25 : A New Blogging platform?
I've recently (yesterday, Saturday 8th March) set up a blogging platform on my Virtual Private Server.
I came across
- A dokuwiki https://wiki.millerjs.org/start
- A separate blog by the same person https://millerjs.org/
I was struck that he had both a blog and a wiki .
I've thought of doing the same, rather than using dokuwiki as the method of writing blog posts. I've always avoided it, as I think something like wordpress would be too large and cumbersome to install and to learn, for my miniscule blogging efforts.
After some searching I worked out that the blog was running on chyrp-lite https://chyrplite.net/ and that it appeared to be straightforward to install on a server that already had working Apache and PHP. It can be configured to use a simple sqlite3 database file if you don't want to install and configure a full-blown MySQL database server.
Installation
I downloaded the current version from github https://github.com/xenocrat/chyrp-lite/releases/tag/v2025.01.01 using wget on my VPS
wget https://github.com/xenocrat/chyrp-lite/archive/refs/tags/v2025.01.01.tar.gz
I un-tarred it, and then copied the whole directory to the webserver document root…
Then began a few minor problems….
- I had to enable
PDOin the PHP.ini file - I had to install
php-sqlite3 - I had to install
php-mbstring - I had to
chownvarious directories in thechyrpdirectorychown -R www-data:www-data chyrp-lite - I had to make a separate directory
chyrp-lite-datain/var/www(i.e. outside the webserver document root which is/var/www/html/) to hold the sqlite database andchown -R www-data:www-data chyrp-lite-datatoo. - Then the
install.phpprocess eventually completed correctly and I have a workingchyrp-liteblog
My Chyrp-Lite blog
https://gm4slv.org.uk/chyrp-lite/
After adding a few posts, I think that, yes, it's a nice simple but usable blogging platform. It does enough for my needs.
But… it's a different markup language to the one used in DokuWiki - and I've become very comfortable here that I might not want to have to learn a different markup just for blogging. This split between wiki and blog also spreads content and information between 2 different places - is it better to keep it all in one place?
So…
I've decided to stick to dokuwiki and its Blog Plugin for blogging - I don't do much, and many things I might want to write about would end up here in dokuwiki anyway.
I'll leave the chyrp-lite installation for a while but it might disappear at any time.
Thu 08/08/24 : Zettelkasten
I'm getting interested in the Zettelkasten concept again…. after looking at it last year.
I'm starting to put together some references
Thu 01/08/24 : DM41X
Calculators
I've had the DM41X homage/clone of the HP41CX for a few years now, and after an initial period where I learned some of its features and explored a some plugin modules I found it a little cumbersome with the frequent need to explicitly spell out XEQALPHAFACTALPHA the function required. In the HP41 the keys can be remapped using the USER keyboard assignment, but there are only so many unused keys to play with.
I've recently been looking at it again, and (if I can get used to the classic 41 placement of the arithmetic keys + - x ÷ ) I'm planning a month or two only using the DM41X.
It's a remarkable device. The underlying HP41CX and modules are remarkable in their own rights, and various DM41X specific features extend the usability greatly e/g. CST menu, with the ability to save and recall multiple CST configurations means regularly used functions can be much easier to access - as well as one's own programs.
I love the DM42 and DM32, as well as the DM15L of course, but the DM41X is capturing my attention at the moment, so I'll have a trip down the '41 rabbit hole for a few weeks I think.
Wed 31/07/24 : Facebook
I've gone and re-joined FaceBook.
And You Tube.
I never suffered fomo while being away from Facebook, and didn't miss the annoyances of the whole thing… but increasingly many special interest groups, small businesses and voluntary organizations (etc.) use only Facebook as a communication method. You can only stick your head in the sand for so long before you need to get on with life and go with the flow.
I wonder how long I'll stick it this time around?