---
title: calepin tips
date: 2012-01-19
---

I like using [calepin]; using [markdown] + [dropbox] is a great
combination.

The below is a few tips on things that I found work well:

## setting.json ##

Needs some work:

    {
      "default_date_format": "%Y-%m-%d",
      "google_analytics": "UA-27986535-1"
    }

*remember to remove the last "," or it doesn't work*

## footers ##

I add a footer to my posts like this:

    <footer><div class="metadata">...</div></footer>

## ads ##

I add ads to my site like this:
    
    <div style="z-index: 2; position: absolute; right: 10px; top: 165px;">
    ...
    </div>

I need to fix this so it works on mobile sites better.

## check ##

My file naming convention is `yyyy-mm-ddTHHMM title.md`, so I use this script to check that the title and the date matches between the file name and blog post:

**Note:** this is a work in progress!

    :::bash
    #!/bin/bash
    
    set -e
    set -u
    
    blogdir='/home/davidmarsh/Dropbox/blog'
    
    for post in *.md ; do
    
        ### check dates
        #todo, check for valid dates
        file_date="$(echo "${post}" | cut -d" " -f1)"
        blog_date="$(grep '^Date:' "${post}" | cut -d: -f2- | sed -e 's/^ //' -e 's/ /T/' -e 's/://')"
    
        if [[ "${file_date:=""}" != "${blog_date:=""}" ]] ; then
            echo
            echo "----------------------------------------"
            echo "dates are different: ${post}"
            echo
            echo "1. file date: ${file_date}"
            echo "2. blog date: ${blog_date}"
            echo
            echo -n "which one is correct [1,2]:"
            read choice
            case ${choice} in
                1)
                    #file date is correct
                    echo "you chose 1"
                    #convert file date to blog format for use later
                    new_date="$(echo "${file_date}" | sed -e 's/T/ /')"
                    echo "so im gonna change ${blog_date} to ${new_date}"
                ;;
                2)
                    #blog date is correct
                    echo "you chose 2"
                    #convert blog date to file date for use later
                    new_date="$(echo "${blog_date}" | sed -e 's/ /T/' -e 's/://')"
                    echo "so im gonna change ${file_date} to ${new_date}"
                ;;
                *)
                    echo "skipping, doing nothing for ${post}"
                ;;
            esac
        fi
    
    
        ### check titles and slugs
        file_title="$(echo "${post}" | cut -d" " -f2- | sed -e 's/\.md$//')"
        blog_title="$(grep '^Title:' "${post}" | cut -d: -f2- | sed -e 's/^ //')"
    
        if [[ "${file_title:=""}" != "${blog_title:=""}" ]] ; then
            echo
            echo "----------------------------------------"
            echo "titles are different: ${post}"
            echo
            echo "1. file title: ${file_title}"
            echo "2. blog title: ${blog_title}"
            echo
            echo -n "which one is correct [1,2]:"
            read choice
            case ${choice} in
                1)
                    #file title is correct
                    echo "so im gonna change ${blog_title} to ${new_title}"
                ;;
                2)
                    #blog title is correct
                    echo "so im gonna change ${file_title} to ${new_title}"
                ;;
                *)
                    echo "skipping, doing nothing for ${post}"
                ;;
            esac
        fi
    
    done
    
    #find drafts
    echo
    echo "----------------------------------------"
    echo "drafts:"
    for post in "$(grep -l "^Status: " *.md)" ; do
          echo "${post}"
    done

## publish ##

I publish using this script:

    :::bash
    #!/bin/bash
    #copies md and settings files from blog to calepin
    #copies /images to /Public/images

    set -e
    set -u

    uname="$(uname)"

    if [[ "${uname}" == "Darwin" ]] ; then
        homedir='/Users/davidmarsh'
    else
        homedir='/home/davidmarsh'
    fi

    blogdir="${homedir}/Dropbox/blog"
    postdir="${homedir}/Dropbox/Apps/Calepin"
    publicdir="${homedir}/Dropbox/Public"

    adfile="${blogdir}/z_ad.txt"
    footer="${blogdir}/z_footer.txt"

    function publish_posts() {
      rm "${postdir}"/*.md
      cp "${blogdir}"/*.md "${postdir}"
      
      cp "${blogdir}/settings.json" "${postdir}"

      cp -R "${blogdir}/images" "${publicdir}"
    }

    function append_posts() {
      for post in ${postdir}/*.md ; do
      echo "${post}"
      echo >> "${post}"
      echo "----" >> "${post}"
        for append in "${footer}" "${adfile}" ; do
          echo >> "${post}"
          cat "${append}" >> "${post}"
        done
      done
    }

    publish_posts
    append_posts

    if [[ "${uname}" == "Darwin" ]] ; then
        open http://calepin.co/
    fi
    
[calepin]: http://calepin.co/
[dropbox]: http://db.tt/IbOpyUM
[markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/