How to Install Chowdown.io on Linux Mint

Chowdown.io is a Python-based tool that helps you to manage and generate static websites from Markdown and YAML files. In this tutorial, we are going to install Chowdown.io on Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

Before starting with the installation process of Chowdown.io, make sure that you have the following prerequisites:

  • A running Linux Mint system
  • Python 3.x or higher version installed on your system

Step 1: Install pip

Chowdown.io requires pip installation to install and manage its dependencies. You can install pip by using the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install python3-pip -y

Once the installation of pip is completed, check the pip version using the following command:

$ pip3 --version

Step 2: Install virtualenv

We recommend using a virtual environment to install Chowdown.io. It is used to isolate the project dependencies from the other system dependencies. Use the below command to install virtualenv on your system:

$ sudo apt-get install virtualenv -y

Step 3: Create a virtual environment

Now, let's create a virtual environment to install Chowdown.io. For that use the below command:

$ virtualenv venv

It will create a virtual environment called "venv". Activate the virtual environment using the following command:

$ source venv/bin/activate

Step 4: Install Chowdown.io

Once you have set up the virtual environment, you can proceed to install Chowdown.io. Use the below command to install Chowdown.io:

$ pip3 install chowdown

It will install all the required dependencies for Chowdown.io.

Step 5: Verify Chowdown.io installation

You can check the version of Chowdown.io installed on the system using the following command:

$ chowdown --version

It will display the installed version of Chowdown.io.

Step 6: Start generating a site

Now, let's generate a site using Chowdown.io.

  • Create a new folder to store your website files
  • Create a new file named "recipes.yml" and add a recipe to it
  • Create a new file named "index.md" with the content of the home page
  • In the command line, navigate to the folder that contains these files
  • Use the following command to generate the site:
$ chowdown serve

After the site is generated, you can access it in your web browser by typing "localhost:4000" in the address bar.

Conclusion

We have successfully installed Chowdown.io on Linux Mint and generated a static website using it. You can now create more recipes and pages using Markdown and YAML files in your site folder. Chowdown.io will automatically generate your site with the changes.