Complete guide to creating and managing your Astrolock site

Astrolock User Guide

Welcome to Astrolock! This guide will help you create, customize, and manage your media-rich static website.

What is Astrolock?

Astrolock is a media blog static site generator designed for creators who want to share audio, images, videos, and text content with a beautiful, fast, and SEO-friendly website.

Perfect for:

🎧 DJs and music producers
📷 Photographers and visual artists
🎥 Video creators and filmmakers
📝 Writers and bloggers
🎙️ Podcasters

Key Features:

Media Collections: Organize audio, images, video, and text
VS Code Integration: Manage your site with right-click menus - no terminal required
Import Tools: Bulk import from Rekordbox, Apple Photos, Lightroom, and more
Static Site: Fast, secure, and deployable anywhere
CLI & GUI Options: Use the terminal or VS Code extension - your choice
Customizable: YAML configuration, custom themes, flexible layouts

Quick Start Guide

Tip

New to Astrolock? Follow these three steps in order for the best experience.

Quick Start Paths

VS Code Users (Recommended)
CLI Users

Best for: Non-technical users, visual learners, those who prefer GUIs

Installation - Get Astrolock installed (10 min)
VS Code Extension - Use right-click menus to manage your site (15 min)
Advanced Features - Customize collections and features (20 min)
Deployment - Publish your site (15 min)

Total: ~1 hour from zero to deployed site

Additional Resources

VS Code Extension - Right-click menus for site management
Import Tools - Bulk import from Rekordbox, Apple Photos, Lightroom
CLI Reference - Complete command documentation
Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions

How Astrolock Works

With VS Code
With CLI

1. Install Astrolock
2. Open your site in VS Code
3. Right-click .astrolock/ → Create Collection
4. Right-click collection/ → Create Content
5. Right-click anywhere → Start Development Server
6. Open http://localhost:4321 in browser
7. Right-click → Deploy

No terminal commands required!

1. Install → astrolock init
2. Configure → Edit .astrolock/astrolock.yaml
3. Create Collection → astrolock collection add
4. Create Content → astrolock content [collection] "Title"
5. Preview → astrolock write (localhost:4321)
6. Build → astrolock build
7. Deploy → astrolock deploy [target]

Documentation Structure

Core Tutorial (Start Here)

For VS Code Users:

Installation - Get Astrolock running
VS Code Extension - Right-click workflows
Advanced Features - Customize your site
Deployment - Publish to the web

For CLI Users:

Step 1: Getting Started - Install and run locally
Step 2: Advanced Features - Collections, features, configuration
Step 3: Deployment - Deploy to AWS, Netlify, or Vercel

Supporting Guides

Collections Deep Dive - Complete collections reference
Content Management - Content workflows
Rekordbox Plugin - Automated DJ mix imports

Reference Documentation

CLI Commands - Complete command reference
Collections Config - All collection options
Frontmatter - Available frontmatter fields

Import Tools

Apple Photos - Import from Apple Photos albums
Lightroom - Import Lightroom exports
Rekordbox - Import DJ mixes with cue points
Stock Images - Development placeholders

Common Tasks

VS Code
CLI

Create a collection:

Right-click .astrolock/ → “Create New Collection”
Follow the wizard

Add content:

Right-click collection folder → “Create New Content”
Enter title and edit the file that opens

Preview your site:

Right-click anywhere → “Start Development Server”
Open http://localhost:4321

Deploy:

Right-click anywhere → “Deploy Site”
Choose target (if you have multiple)

Content Creation:

# Create a collection
astrolock collection add

# Create content
astrolock content blog "My Post Title"
astrolock content mixes "Friday Night Mix"

Site Management:

# Start development server
astrolock write

# Build for production
astrolock build

# Deploy to hosting
astrolock deploy production

Example Sites

Astrolock can power many types of sites:

DJ/Music Producer

Collections: mixes, tracks, live-sets
Features: Rekordbox import, genre tagging, tracklists
Example: Weekly podcast series with automatic tracklisting

Photographer

Collections: portraits, landscapes, events
Features: Portfolio grid view, image optimization, galleries
Example: Photography portfolio with categorized work

Video Creator

Collections: tutorials, vlogs, shorts
Features: Video embedding, chapters, series organization
Example: Tutorial library with organized categories

Multi-Media Creator

Collections: blog, mixes, photos, videos
Features: All of the above combined
Example: Personal brand site with diverse content types

Getting Help

Documentation

User Guide (you are here) - Complete user documentation
Developer Guide - Technical documentation for Astrolock development
Command Reference - Run astrolock --help

Common Questions

“Where are my files?”

Content: content/[collection]/
Media: public/audio|images|video/content/[collection]/
Config: .astrolock/astrolock.yaml

“How do I deploy my site?”

See Step 3: Deployment
For advanced setup: Astrolock Documentation

“Can I customize the theme?”

Yes! Theme customization guide coming soon
Edit the astrolock.yaml values to change defaults

“How do I import from [platform]?”

Rekordbox: Rekordbox Plugin Guide
Apple Photos: astrolock import apple-photos or right-click → Import → Apple Photos
Lightroom: astrolock import lightroom or right-click → Import → Lightroom
Other platforms: Import plugins coming soon

Next Steps

New to Astrolock?

Prefer visual workflows? Start here:

Comfortable with terminals? Start here:

Already familiar?

VS Code users: Right-click .astrolock/ to create collections
CLI users: astrolock collection add to create collections
Start preview: Right-click → “Start Development Server” or astrolock write

Need help?

VS Code issues: VS Code Extension Guide
CLI reference: astrolock --help or CLI Reference
Common problems: Troubleshooting

Happy creating! 🚀