Gijs van Dam

Open Source

Janos

Janos is a static site generator that runs entirely in the browser. It uses Metalsmith with a bit of Webpack magic sprinkled on top, to make it all work inside a browser. It is tightly integrated with GitHub to automatically host your site, using GitHub pages. But you don't have to know all those techniques; everybody can work with Janos without knowing all the ins and outs of those technologies.

The site you are currently reading is built with Janos.

You can start your own Janos site by going to the admin of this site or any other Janos website, and completing the wizard for creating your own website. The only thing you need is a GitHub account, which you can create for free.

Every Janos site can be a starting point for creating a new Janos site. You can check out the Janos repo on Github and I sometimes write posts on Janos on this website.

Boilerplate paper

Boilerplate paper is a tool for creating scientific papers, posters and slideshows in Markdown and convert them to different formats like Pdf, Word, PowerPoint or Html. All the converting is done using Pandoc. Pandoc is open-source software created to convert documents from one format to another. Apart from Pandoc, there is more software required to be installed on your computer to make everything work. Getting all this software to work can be a bit overwhelming if you are new to this. That's why Boilerplate Paper comes with three Github Actions preconfigured. These Github Actions are automated workflows that convert your Markdown files into your final document using the Github servers. That way you can dip your toe in the water to see if writing papers like this works for you. If it does, you can install the prerequisite software on your local computer and experience the benefits of all the features Boilerplate Paper offers.

You can check out the Boilerplate paper on Github and I sometimes write posts on Boilerplate paper on this website.