Bug: Create tooling and update repository layout to render new website
Status: Resolved
Priority: Normal
Resolution: Fixed
Created: 21/Aug/20 05:30
Resolved: 02/Sep/21 11:50

*We want to modernise the way the website is built*
 Rework the cassandra-website repository to generate a UI bundle containing resources that Antora will use when generating the Cassandra documents and website.

*The existing method is starting to become dated*
 The documentation and website templates are currently in markdown format. Sphinx is used to generate the Cassandra documentation and Jekyll generates the website content. One of the major issues with the existing website tooling is that the live preview server (render site as it is being updated) is really slow. There is a preview server that is really fast, however it is unable to detect changes to the content and render automatically.

*We are migrating the docs to be rendered with Antora*
 The work in CASSANDRA-16029 is converting the document templates to AsciiDoc format. Sphinx is being replaced by Antora to generate the documentation content. This change has two advantages:
 * More flexibility if the Apache Cassandra documentation look and feel needs to be updated or redesigned.
 * More modern look and feel to the documentation.

*We can use Antora to generate the website as well*
 Antora could also be used to generate the Cassandra website content. As suggested on the [mailing list|https://www.mail-archive.com/dev@cassandra.apache.org/msg15577.html] this would require the existing markdown templates to be converted to AsciiDoc as well.

*Antora needs a UI bundle to style content*
 For Antora to generate the document content and potentially the website content it requires a UI bundle (ui-bundle.zip). The UI bundle contains the HTML templates (layouts, partials, and helpers), CSS, JavaScript, fonts, and (site-wide) images. As such, it provides both the visual theme and user interactions for the documentation. Effectively the UI bundle is the templates and styling that are applied to the documentation and website content.

*The [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository can be used to generate the UI bundle*
 All the resources associated with templating and styling the documentation and website can be placed in the [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository. In this case the repository would serve two purposes;
 * Generation of the UI bundle resources.
 * Serve the production website content.

*The [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository would contain the documentation material, while the rest of the non-versioned pages would contain that material*
 * All other material that is used to generate documentation would live in the [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository. In this case Antora would run on the [cassandra/doc|https://github.com/apache/cassandra/doc] directory and pull in a UI bundle released on the GitHub [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository. The content generated by Antora using the site.yml file located in this repo can be used to preview the docs for review.
 * All other non-versioned material, such as the blogs, development instructions, and third-party page would live in the GitHub [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository. Antora will generate the full website using the site.yml located in this repo, using both as content sources the material located in both the [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] and [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repositories.

*Design, content, and layout would remain the same*
 This proposal means the roles of each repository will change. In addition, the workflow to publish material will change as well. However, the website design, content, and layout will remain the same.

As an added bonus the tooling would allow for a live preview server that is fast and responsive. However, the time to build and generate the {{nodetool}} and Cassandra YAML AssciDoc files will still take in the order of minutes to complete.

*The [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository would need to be modified*
 The following changes would need to be made to the [cassandra-website|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website] repository:
||File/Directory||Action||Reason||
|[content/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/content]|keep|Production site content served from this directory|
|[src/_data/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_data]|delete|_site.yml_ and _antora.yml_ include this info|
|[src/_includes/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_includes]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/_layout/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_layout]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/_plugins/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_plugins]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/_posts/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_posts]|move|Convert to AsciiDoc format and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/_sass/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_sass]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/_templates/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_templates]|move|Convert to AsciiDoc format (template format for blog posts) and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/blog/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/blog]|delete|Replace with _index.adoc_ that will be the initial page for blogs|
|[src/css/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/css]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/doc/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/doc]|delete|Content already generated with Antora in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/icons/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/icons]|keep|Probably needed for site generation but might be moved to a different folder|
|[src/img/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/img]|keep|Probably needed for site generation but might be moved to a different folder|
|[src/js/|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/js/]|delete|Replace with UI bundle components|
|[src/Gemfile|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/Gemfile]|delete|Replace with node modules|
|[src/Gemfile.lock|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/Gemfile.lock]|delete|Replace with node modules|
|[src/Makefile|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/Makefile]|delete|Replace build mechanism with Gulp and Docker|
|[src/README|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/README]|delete|Place information and instructions in top level README|
|[src/_config.yml|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/_config.yml]|delete|Replaced by _site.yml_|
|[src/apachecon_cfp.md|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/apachecon_cfp.md]|delete??|This file is out of date|
|[src/community.md|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/community.md]|move|Convert to AsciiDoc and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/download.md|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/download.md]|move|Convert to AsciiDoc and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/index.html|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/index.html]|keep|Might need to convert to AsciiDoc and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|
|[src/robot.txt|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/robot.txt]|keep|Needed by site|
|[src/third-party.md|https://github.com/apache/cassandra-website/src/third-party.md]|move|Convert to AsciiDoc and place in [cassandra|https://github.com/apache/cassandra] repository|