ben-cliff.github.io 🕊️ 🤲

Today I Learned

A personal knowledge base from a Data Engineer working in Berlin's startup ecosystem. This site is built with Pelican using the Elegant theme.

Purpose

As a Data Engineer working with startups in Berlin, I encounter new challenges, tools, and insights daily. This blog serves as my digital garden of knowledge snippets, technical discoveries, and data engineering learnings. By documenting these experiences, I create a searchable archive that helps reinforce my learning and might help other data professionals facing similar challenges.

Topics typically include:

• Data Engineering best practices
• Data Infrastructure and Architecture
• ETL/ELT Pipelines
• Cloud Technologies
• Startup Tech Stack Decisions
• Performance Optimization
• Data Modeling

Directory Structure

today-i-learned.github.io/
├── content/                  # All content lives here
│   ├── articles/            # Blog posts/TIL entries
│   └── pages/              # Static pages (About, Contact)
├── output/                  # Generated site (not in git)
├── themes/                  # Theme submodules
│   └── elegant/            # Elegant theme
├── pelicanconf.py          # Pelican configuration
└── README.md               # This file

Setup

1. Create a Python virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

2. Install dependencies:

python -m pip install "pelican[markdown]"

3. Clone the Elegant theme:

git submodule add https://github.com/Pelican-Elegant/elegant.git themes/elegant

Local Development

1. Generate the site:

python -m pelican content

2. Start the development server:

python -m pelican --listen

3. View the site at http://localhost:8000

Writing New Articles

Create a new markdown file in content/articles/ with the following format:

Title: Your Title Here
Date: YYYY-MM-DD
Category: Topic
Tags: tag1, tag2
Slug: unique-url-name

Your content here...

Configuration

The site configuration is managed in pelicanconf.py. Key settings include:

AUTHOR = 'Your Name'
SITENAME = 'Today I Learned'
SITESUBTITLE = 'Daily Learning Journal'
THEME = "themes/elegant"

Deployment

The site is automatically deployed to GitHub Pages when changes are pushed to the main branch.

License

Content is licensed under CC-BY-4.0 unless otherwise specified.