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| author | Martin Kagamino Lehoux <martin@lehoux.net> | 2026-02-09 22:35:53 +0100 |
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| committer | Martin Kagamino Lehoux <martin@lehoux.net> | 2026-02-10 05:07:11 +0100 |
| commit | 563b48869cee85f345537cce09da0f991da46a9b (patch) | |
| tree | 7d74a12495c95db577421e5e8c245b1a2186d62e /docs | |
| parent | 2ba2d3ad1547f7b3e30b94cc070f64f2940a66ca (diff) | |
Word count analysis
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/adr-word-count.md | 112 |
1 files changed, 112 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/adr-word-count.md b/docs/adr-word-count.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17945f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/adr-word-count.md @@ -0,0 +1,112 @@ +# ADR: Word Count Indication for Blog Posts + +## 0. Solution + +Two changes: + +1. **Per-post word count in Hugo template** — add `{{ .WordCount }}` to `layouts/_default/single.html` next to the existing reading time display. +2. **Post-build stats command** — add a `make stats` target that runs `hugo list all` + `hugo` to compute and print total, mean, and variance of word counts across published (non-draft) posts to the terminal. + +## 1. Context & Scope + +This is a Hugo v0.155.2 blog with 4 posts (total ~5,500 raw words across markdown files). Hugo already provides built-in `.WordCount` and `.ReadingTime` page variables — `.ReadingTime` is already displayed in `layouts/_default/single.html`. + +The goal is twofold: +- **Per-post word count** — visible to the author (and optionally readers) +- **Aggregate word count** — total words across all blog posts, for personal tracking + +Key files: +- `layouts/_default/single.html` — single post template (already shows reading time) +- `layouts/partials/list/default.html` — post card in list view +- `layouts/posts/list.html` — posts list page +- `content/posts/*/index.md` — post content + +Note: Hugo's `.WordCount` counts rendered content words (excluding front matter, code fences, HTML tags), which differs from raw `wc -w` on the markdown file. + +## 2. Goals & Non-Goals + +**Goals:** +- Show word count per blog post +- Track total word count across all posts +- Low maintenance — leverage Hugo built-ins where possible + +**Non-Goals:** +- Real-time / live-updating word count during writing (IDE concern) +- Per-section or per-heading word counts +- Historical word count tracking over time (git can do this) + +## 3. Design + +```mermaid +graph TD + subgraph "Hugo Built-in" + WC[".WordCount per page"] + end + + subgraph "Per-Post Display" + single["single.html — show word count in header meta"] + end + + subgraph "CLI Stats" + make-stats["make stats — shell script"] + make-stats --> hugo-build["hugo (build site)"] + hugo-build --> grep["grep/parse word counts from output or generated files"] + grep --> print["print total, mean, variance"] + end + + WC --> single +``` + +Two independent pieces: +- **Template change**: one line in `single.html` to show `.WordCount`. +- **Makefile target**: a `make stats` command that builds the site, extracts per-post word counts (non-draft), and prints total/mean/variance. Hugo can output word counts via a custom layout that writes to a known file, or we use a shell script that calls Hugo's template engine to dump counts. + +## 4. Alternatives (for the stats command) + +### A. Hugo custom output format (recommended) + +Add a custom output format (e.g. `stats`) that produces a plain-text or JSON file with word counts per post during `hugo build`. A shell script in `make stats` parses that file and computes total/mean/variance. + +| Pros | Cons | +|------|------| +| Word counts from Hugo's own `.WordCount` — consistent with what's displayed | Requires a custom output format + template | +| Single source of truth | Slightly more Hugo config | + +### B. Shell script with `wc -w` + +`make stats` runs `wc -w` on all non-draft `index.md` files and computes stats with `awk`. + +| Pros | Cons | +|------|------| +| No Hugo config changes | Counts differ from Hugo's `.WordCount` (includes front matter, URLs, markdown syntax) | +| Very simple | Must parse front matter to detect `draft: true` | + +### C. Python script + +Use Python (already in the project for tests) to parse markdown, strip front matter, count words, compute stats. + +| Pros | Cons | +|------|------| +| Full control, can match Hugo's counting closely | Overkill, another dependency on counting logic | +| Could reuse pyproject.toml setup | | + +## 5. Open Questions + +All resolved: + +1. ~~Where to show per-post word count?~~ → **Single post page only**, in header meta. +2. ~~Where to show aggregate?~~ → **Not displayed on site**. CLI `make stats` for total/mean/variance. +3. ~~Include drafts in aggregate?~~ → **No**, exclude drafts. +4. ~~CLI command?~~ → **Yes**, `make stats`. +5. ~~Hugo vs raw word count?~~ → **Hugo's `.WordCount`** is fine. + +**Remaining:** None — Alternative A selected for stats command. + +## 6. Parties Involved + +- **Author:** Kagamino (Martin Lehoux) + +## 7. Cross Concerns + +- **Performance:** `.WordCount` and `range` are negligible for a small blog. +- **Accuracy:** Hugo's `.WordCount` strips HTML/shortcodes and counts rendered text words. Code blocks are included in the count. This is generally more meaningful than raw `wc -w` which includes front matter YAML, URLs, and markdown syntax. |
