Engineering

9 Jun 2026, BST · 8 min read

Improving code blocks in Astro

Syntax highlighting, dual themes, line numbers, frames, and markers with Expressive Code

How I set up astro-expressive-code on this blog — dual themes, line numbers, editor and terminal frames, and fine-grained line and text markers, all from code fence attributes with no custom CSS or JavaScript.

28 May 2026, BST · 12 min read

Adding Mermaid diagram support to an Astro blog

Client-side rendering, a loading skeleton, theme toggle re-rendering, and a fullscreen lightbox

How I added Mermaid diagram support to this blog using a small remark plugin to bypass Expressive Code, a build-time loading skeleton, adaptive light/dark theming, and a fullscreen lightbox with no headless browser build dependency.

26 May 2026, BST · 11 min read

Adding comments to a static Astro blog with Netlify Forms

No database, no third-party widget — just Netlify Forms, three serverless functions, and an email

How I added a moderated comment system to this Astro blog using Netlify Forms as a queue, HMAC-signed approval links via email, and three serverless functions. No database.

21 May 2026, BST · 11 min read

Adding a mailing list to a static Astro blog with Resend

No third-party embed, no database — just a Netlify Function, the Resend Segments API, and a couple of components

How I added a newsletter subscription flow to this Astro site using Resend's Segments API and a Netlify serverless function — with a sidebar variant, honeypot spam protection, and accessible feedback, no external widgets required.

19 May 2026, BST · 9 min read

Scheduled publishing in Astro on Netlify

A date-aware filter, a scheduled function, and a daily build hook — no CMS needed

How I automated future-dated post publishing on this Astro blog: a central isPublished() helper that gates on both draft status and pubDate, a Netlify scheduled function that triggers a site rebuild each morning, and the one setup step required in the Netlify dashboard.

15 May 2026, BST · 6 min read

Sending new post notifications with Resend

A Node.js script that reads frontmatter, previews the email, and broadcasts to subscribers

How the post notification script works — reading frontmatter without a full Astro build, building an HTML email, sending a broadcast via the Resend Broadcasts API, and the safeguards that prevent accidentally emailing draft content.

14 May 2026, BST · 6 min read

Deploying an Astro blog to Netlify

Build config, functions, cache headers, environment variables, and deploy previews

How this blog is deployed on Netlify — the netlify.toml build configuration, the functions and edge-functions directories, cache control headers, required environment variables, and the deploy preview workflow with passcode-gated draft visibility.

8 May 2026, BST · 4 min read

Page history and credits on a static blog

Transparent revision logs, attribution as a first-class concern, and why both matter

How this blog handles two small but deliberate editorial features — a page history log that surfaces meaningful revisions, and a credits section that attributes cover images, libraries, and inspirations. Both are schema- validated optional fields in the content collection.

5 May 2026, BST · 5 min read

Building a share widget with the Clipboard API

LinkedIn, Reddit, email share URLs, async clipboard write, and accessible feedback

How SharePost.astro works: constructing LinkedIn, Reddit, and email share URLs from the post title and canonical URL, using the async Clipboard API to copy the link, and providing text feedback that degrades gracefully without extra dependencies.