Add categories and tags placeholders in create post scripts

README.md

@@ -97,9 +97,13 @@ These scripts will:
    authors:
      - chris
    categories:
-     - Category Name
+     # use existing categories when possible, in YAML list format.
+     - CATEGORY_ONE
+     - CATEGORY_TWO
    tags:
-     - relevant-tag
+     # use existing tags when possible, in YAML list format.
+     - TAG_ONE
+     - TAG_TWO
    ---
    ```
 
@@ -116,11 +120,21 @@ These scripts will:
 
 ### Categories and Tags
 
-Categories are broad topic groupings and tags are specific topic labels for filtering. New categories and tags can be added as needed — these are the ones currently in use.
+Categories are broad topic groupings and tags are specific topic labels for filtering. **Please use existing categories and tags when possible** to keep the taxonomy consistent. New ones can be added when truly needed.
 
-**Categories**: Business, Career, Community, Culture, Security, Technical
+To see all categories and tags currently in use, run:
 
-**Tags**: `administration`, `advent-of-code`, `advent-of-cyber`, `agile`, `ai`, `architecture`, `branding`, `cancelled`, `career`, `change-management`, `claude`, `code-quality`, `coding-challenges`, `coding-practices`, `community`, `conferences`, `creativity`, `ctf`, `culture`, `curriculum`, `cybersecurity`, `data`, `databases`, `design-patterns`, `devops`, `editors`, `education`, `entrepreneurship`, `ergonomics`, `estimation`, `ethics`, `events`, `finance`, `github-copilot`, `goals`, `gratitude`, `growth`, `habits`, `hacktoberfest`, `hardware`, `health`, `hiring`, `history`, `holiday`, `industry`, `infrastructure`, `innovation`, `inspiration`, `irl`, `job-market`, `learning`, `local-tech`, `marketing`, `meetup`, `meetups`, `metaphors`, `methodology`, `metrics`, `mob-programming`, `motivation`, `naming`, `networking`, `open-discussion`, `open-source`, `optimization`, `organizations`, `pair-programming`, `performance`, `philosophy`, `picoctf`, `predictions`, `priorities`, `privacy`, `productivity`, `project-management`, `prototyping`, `quality-assurance`, `reflection`, `remote-work`, `resilience`, `security`, `self-hosting`, `self-improvement`, `side-projects`, `society`, `supply-chain`, `surveys`, `swap-meet`, `systems`, `tdd`, `teaching`, `teamwork`, `technology`, `testing`, `thinking`, `time-management`, `tools`, `trends`, `unconference`, `version-control`, `watch-party`, `wellness`, `work-life-balance`, `workplace`, `workspace`, `year-in-review`
+**Bash (Linux/macOS)**:
+```bash
+python3 scripts/find_tags_categories.py
+```
+
+**PowerShell (Windows)**:
+```powershell
+python scripts/find_tags_categories.py
+```
+
+This script requires `pyyaml`, which is included in `requirements.txt`. It is also run automatically by the `create_post` scripts when scaffolding a new post.
 
 ## Project Structure
 
@@ -131,6 +145,8 @@ Categories are broad topic groupings and tags are specific topic labels for filt
 ├── docker-compose.yml         # Docker development environment
 ├── create_post.sh             # Bash script to create blog posts
 ├── create_post.ps1            # PowerShell script to create blog posts
+├── scripts/
+│   └── find_tags_categories.py # List all existing tags and categories
 ├── .github/
 │   ├── dependabot.yml         # Dependabot configuration
 │   └── workflows/

create_post.ps1

@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ title: "$title"
 date: $date
 authors:
  - chris | norm | omar
+categories:
+  # use existing categories when possible, in YAML list format.
+  - CATEGORY_ONE
+  - CATEGORY_TWO
+tags:
+  # use existing tags when possible, in YAML list format.
+  - TAG_ONE
+  - TAG_TWO
 ---
 
 TOPIC_INTRODUCTION_HERE
@@ -55,4 +63,17 @@ Everyone and anyone are welcome to [join](https://weeklydevchat.com/join/) as lo
 # Write the content to the file
 Set-Content -Path $filePath -Value $yamlContent
 
-Write-Output "Blog post template created at $filePath"
+Write-Output "Blog post template created at $filePath"
+Write-Output ""
+Write-Output "Reminder: Use existing categories and tags when possible."
+# Optionally suggest existing tags and categories using the helper script, if available
+$pythonCmd = Get-Command python -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+if ($null -ne $pythonCmd) {
+    & python "./scripts/find_tags_categories.py"
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
+        Write-Warning "python ./scripts/find_tags_categories.py exited with code $LASTEXITCODE. The blog post file was created, but tag/category suggestions may be unavailable."
+    }
+}
+else {
+    Write-Warning "Python was not found on this system. Skipping tag/category suggestion step."
+}

create_post.sh

@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Calculate the next Tuesday (or today if it's Tuesday)
-# In Linux date, weekday: 0=Sunday, 1=Monday, ..., 6=Saturday
 current_weekday=$(date +%w)              # 0=Sun ... 6=Sat
 days_to_tuesday=$(( (2 - current_weekday + 7) % 7 ))
 
-# If today is Tuesday, days_to_tuesday will be 0 → perfect
-# Add the calculated days
-tuesday=$(date -d "+${days_to_tuesday} days" +%Y-%m-%d)
+# Add the calculated days (compatible with both macOS and Linux)
+if date -v +0d &>/dev/null; then
+  # macOS (BSD date)
+  tuesday=$(date -v "+${days_to_tuesday}d" +%Y-%m-%d)
+else
+  # Linux (GNU date)
+  tuesday=$(date -d "+${days_to_tuesday} days" +%Y-%m-%d)
+fi
 
-year=$(date -d "$tuesday" +%Y)
-month=$(date -d "$tuesday" +%02m)
-day=$(date -d "$tuesday" +%02d)
+year=${tuesday%%-*}                       # 2026
+month=${tuesday#*-}; month=${month%-*}    # 02
+day=${tuesday##*-}                        # 24
 
 # Define paths
 folder_path="docs/posts/$year/$month/$day"
@@ -27,6 +31,14 @@ title: "Your Blog Post Title"
 date: $tuesday
 authors:
  - chris | norm | omar
+categories:
+  # use existing categories when possible, in YAML list format.
+  - CATEGORY_ONE
+  - CATEGORY_TWO
+tags:
+  # use existing tags when possible, in YAML list format.
+  - TAG_ONE
+  - TAG_TWO
 ---
 
 TOPIC_INTRODUCTION_HERE
@@ -36,4 +48,14 @@ Everyone and anyone are welcome to [join](https://weeklydevchat.com/join/) as lo
 ![alt text](${tuesday}_image_filename.webp)
 EOF
 
-echo "Blog post template created at $file_path"
+echo "Blog post template created at $file_path"
+echo ""
+echo "Reminder: Use existing categories and tags when possible."
+
+# Optionally suggest existing tags and categories using the helper script, if available
+if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
+    python3 "./scripts/find_tags_categories.py" || echo "Warning: tag/category suggestion script failed, but the blog post file was created."
+else
+    echo "Warning: Python 3 was not found on this system. Skipping tag/category suggestion step."
+fi
+

scripts/find_tags_categories.py

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Lists all unique tags and categories found in YAML front matter of .md files.
+Looks for both 'tags' and 'categories' keys (common variations).
+"""
+
+import yaml
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+DOCS_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "docs"
+EXTENSIONS = (".md", ".markdown", ".mkd")
+
+
+def extract_frontmatter(file_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Extract YAML front matter if present."""
+    content = file_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    if not content.startswith("---"):
+        return {}
+    try:
+        parts = content.split("---", 2)
+        if len(parts) < 3:
+            return {}
+        fm = yaml.safe_load(parts[1])
+        if not isinstance(fm, dict):
+            return {}
+        return fm
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        print(f"Warning: Invalid YAML in {file_path}")
+        return {}
+
+
+def collect_tags() -> tuple[set[str], set[str]]:
+    all_tags = set()
+    all_categories = set()
+
+    docs_path = Path(DOCS_DIR)
+    if not docs_path.is_dir():
+        print(f"Error: Directory not found: {docs_path}")
+        return all_tags, all_categories
+
+    for file_path in docs_path.rglob("*"):
+        if not file_path.is_file() or file_path.suffix.lower() not in EXTENSIONS:
+            continue
+
+        fm = extract_frontmatter(file_path)
+
+        tags = fm.get("tags") or []
+        if isinstance(tags, str):
+            tags = [tags]
+        elif not isinstance(tags, list):
+            tags = []
+        all_tags.update(str(t).strip() for t in tags if t)
+
+        cats = fm.get("categories") or []
+        if isinstance(cats, str):
+            cats = [cats]
+        elif not isinstance(cats, list):
+            cats = []
+        all_categories.update(str(c).strip() for c in cats if c)
+
+    all_tags.discard('TAG_ONE')
+    all_tags.discard('TAG_TWO')
+    all_categories.discard('CATEGORY_ONE')
+    all_categories.discard('CATEGORY_TWO')
+
+    return all_tags, all_categories
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    tags, categories = collect_tags()
+
+    print("\nExisting categories:")
+    for cat in sorted(categories):
+        print(f"  {cat}")
+    print(f"\nExisting tags:")
+    for tag in sorted(tags):
+        print(f"  {tag}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
+
+