why zola

content/posts/2023/11/why_zola.md

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
++++
+title = "Why I moved from Wordpress to Zola"
+date = 2023-11-18
+draft = true
+[taxonomies]
+tags= ["shortnotes"]
++++
+
+I've used a few different site generators and blogging platforms over the years, including but not limited to:
+- Wordpress
+- Google Blogger 
+- Tumblr
+- Pelican
+- MediaWiki (yes, it counts)
+- DokuWiki (it counts too!)
+- Zola
+
+Each one comes with benefits and trade-offs. 
+That should go without saying. 
+This post about the *specific* trade-offs that made me switch from Wordpress to Zola. 
+
+The first and most important was the writing. 
+The topics that I like to write about often warrant the use of `monospace text` to denote commands and code. 
+Inline monospace is fine, but both the block and classic editors fail at making blocks easy to insert.
+Combined with the annoyances around making a simple table was enough for me to look elsewhere. 
+
+The second major problem was customization. 
+Wordpress *thrives* on being customized.
+Unfortuantely, it is also a pain to customize. 
+I'm not a web developer and I don't want to learn a subset of PHP to get my link colors to look right with my color scheme. 
+
+So why didn't I immediately move after making the blog? 
+Because I wanted to have the "write from anywhere" ability that Wordpress offered, while keeping ownership over the website. 
+Tumblr and Blogger let you write from anywhere, but come with a lot of caveats for custom domains (or general usage). 
+On the other hand, Pelican and Zola allow you full control over nearly every aspect, but you'd need to be able to build and deploy the website to a specific place from anywhere.
+
+My new solution (and latest accomplishment on the "I did something cool!" list) is a Jenkins host to...
+1. Poll for new commits in the repo
+2. Build the website if new commits exist
+3. Push the build if it succeeds. 
+It's my first time using any kind of CI/CD and it's been an ordeal, but I have it working. 
+We'll see where it goes from here!