Generate pages from yml data files

support
1

I have several yml files that contain data that I need to transform into pages.
Let’s say:

/data/people.yml

---
people:
  - name: Jane
    email: jane@doe.com
    description: hello
  - name: Joe
    email: joe@black.com
    description: hi
---

I want something that generates these files:

/content/people/jane.md
/content/people/joe.md

And each file should look like:

---
title: Jane
email: jane@doe.com
---
Hello

Is there any official way to do this?

I normally do this with a ruby script, but I would like to do this with a node package or at least a gulp task.

I read some old posts that say that there is no way, but since they’re old, I’m wondering if there is a new way.

2

I was going to say Hugo doesn’t do that, but as I was typing, I remembered that there is such a thing as Custom Output formats https://gohugo.io/templates/output-formats/

Check that out. You “might” be able to make a custom output format for the markdown. HOWEVER, I doubt this would be made into html pages. So, not sure what you are trying to accomplish here.

3

hugo doesn’t do this, so you can create any script or task you prefer to create those files.

4

yea if you want that markdown rendered into a page, you need to do it apart from hugo. but if you literally want to create markdown files as an output, you can do that with the custom outputs.

5

That’s… kinda weird to say. Because you still need source markdown files to generate the output.

So perhaps I misunderstood the OP. @guayom, you wanted those markdown files in the people section of your content folder in order to generate web pages, ne?

6

I’m trying to do like a generator that literally creates .md files. I’m not sure hat I can use custom outputs for that, but I’ll check it out.

I don’t have any .md files to begin with. I want them to be generated automatically. I think you understood correctly @maiki.

7

Okay, cool, then you know what you need to do (use a separate task/script to generate those in content).

I will add one thing: you can be really terse with the markdown files. For instance, you can generate a content file for each record in your data file, and make the title of the content match a value in the data. Then in that section’s single template you can pull the rest of info over.

So you’d have a file at /content/people/jane.md read:

---
title: Jane
date: 2007-11-02T02:06:46+00:00
---

And then in your /layouts/section/people.html pull in the other info, via named value.

I suggest this, because then you can edit your people info in one file, and the creation task should be a little simpler. :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

Yea I’m wrong. Can’t build a page with any output without an md file to start the process

9

@maiki I kinda like your idea for some things. That’s a good idea.

For the specific task I have in mind, what I’m trying to do is basically import the content pulled from another database. After that, I will just have to maintain this new files that I generated. I could basically delete the yml databases.

10

Oh cool. Yeah, you’ll need to convert it to the markdown files in content, but it is only a one time deal, so you are on the right track.

Make sure to share yer script in #tips-tricks once you’ve go it working! :slight_smile:

11

@guayom Also @budparr 's excellent article might be a source of inspiration:

https://www.thenewdynamic.org/article/migrate-from-any-cms-to-markdown/

1 Like
12

Some very good tips there! Nice article! Thanks a lot man!

1 Like