Management Commands

DJ Press provides a Django management command to export your content to a flat-file Markdown format.

djpress_export

The djpress_export command exports your DJ Press blog content to Markdown files in a format compatible with static site generators.

Usage

python manage.py djpress_export [options]

Options

--output-dir DIRECTORY: Directory to export content to (default: djpress_export)
--posts-only: Export only posts, not pages
--published-only: Export only published content (excludes drafts and future posts)

Examples

Export all content (posts and pages, including drafts):

python manage.py djpress_export

Export only published content to a custom directory:

python manage.py djpress_export --output-dir my_blog_export --published-only

Export only posts (no pages):

python manage.py djpress_export --posts-only

Export only published posts to a specific directory:

python manage.py djpress_export --output-dir blog_backup --posts-only --published-only

Output Structure

The command creates the following directory structure:

output_directory/
├── content/
│   ├── posts/
│   │   ├── 2024-01-15-my-first-post.md
│   │   └── 2024-02-20-another-post.md
│   └── pages/
│       ├── about.md
│       └── contact/
│           └── _index.md

File Naming

Posts: Named as YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md using the post’s published date and slug
Pages:
- Top-level pages: slug.md
- Nested pages: parent-slug/child-slug/_index.md

Frontmatter

Each exported file includes YAML frontmatter with the following fields:

Common Fields (Posts and Pages)

title: The post/page title
date: Publication date in ISO format
lastmod: Last modified date in ISO format
draft: Boolean indicating if content is published
slug: URL slug
author: Author’s full name or username

Post-Specific Fields

categories: Array of category names (if any)
tags: Array of tag names (if any)

Page-Specific Fields

type: Always set to “page”
weight: Menu order (if not 0)
parent: Parent page slug (for nested pages)

Example Output

Post Example (2024-01-15-hello-world.md):

---
title: Hello World
date: 2024-01-15T10:30:00+00:00
lastmod: 2024-01-15T10:30:00+00:00
draft: false
slug: hello-world
author: John Doe
categories:
  - Technology
  - Django
tags:
  - blogging
  - web development
---

Welcome to my new blog! This is my first post using DJ Press.

## Getting Started

Here's how to get started with DJ Press...

Page Example (about.md):

---
title: About Us
date: 2024-01-10T09:00:00+00:00
lastmod: 2024-01-10T09:00:00+00:00
draft: false
slug: about
author: Jane Smith
type: page
---

Learn more about our company and mission.

Use Cases

Static Site Migration

Use this command when migrating from DJ Press to a static site generator:

python manage.py djpress_export --output-dir my_blog_export --published-only

Content Backup

Create a backup of all your content in a portable format:

python manage.py djpress_export --output-dir backup_$(date +%Y%m%d)

Draft Review

Export all content including drafts for review:

python manage.py djpress_export --output-dir review_content

Static Site Generator Compatibility

The exported format is designed to work with popular static site generators:

Hugo

The default output structure matches Hugo’s content organization. Files can be used directly in a Hugo site.

Jekyll

Files are compatible with Jekyll with minimal configuration changes. You may need to adjust the frontmatter format if using Jekyll-specific features.

Other Generators

Most static site generators that support Markdown with YAML frontmatter should work with the exported files.

Notes

The command preserves your original content structure and metadata
Draft posts are exported with draft: true in the frontmatter
Categories and tags are preserved as arrays in the frontmatter
Parent/child page relationships are maintained through directory structure and frontmatter
All dates are exported in ISO format for maximum compatibility
File encoding is UTF-8 to support international content