Blog: add markdown->page converter + new post "Where to search for accommodation" (EN)

tools/build_blog.py converts a Markdown source into the site's scrollspy blog
article (title, header, hero, sidebar nav from ## headings, body). First output:
the new EN post "Where to search for student accommodation in Slovenia", added at
the top of the blog index (newest first), dated 2026-08-03, SEO injected.

MK/SI of this post and the rest of the blog batch (refresh 1-5, split trilingual
posts 2-4, personal essay post 7) still to come.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

tools/build_blog.py

@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+build_blog.py  --  turn a Markdown blog source into a site blog article page.
+
+It clones an existing blog page of the SAME language (so the header, footer,
+SEO markers, scripts and layout are already correct) and swaps in:
+  - <title> and the mobile article title
+  - the article header (category + date, H1, subtitle)
+  - the hero <figure> (image + illustrative caption)
+  - the scrollspy sidebar nav (built from the ## headings)
+  - the <div class="article-body"> content (converted from Markdown)
+
+Run seo_inject.py afterwards to refresh canonical/hreflang/meta for new slugs.
+
+Usage (see tools/blog_manifest.py for the per-post config the runner passes in):
+    from build_blog import build_page
+    build_page(cfg)
+"""
+import io, os, re, html
+
+ROOT = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+
+# ---- tiny Markdown -> article-body HTML converter --------------------------
+
+_INLINE = [
+    (re.compile(r'\[([^\]]+)\]\((https?://[^)\s]+)\)'),
+     r'<a href="\2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">\1</a>'),
+    (re.compile(r'\[([^\]]+)\]\((?!https?://)([^)\s]+)\)'), r'<a href="\2">\1</a>'),
+    (re.compile(r'\*\*([^*]+)\*\*'), r'<strong>\1</strong>'),
+    (re.compile(r'(?<!\*)\*(?!\*)([^*]+)\*(?!\*)'), r'<em>\1</em>'),
+]
+
+def _inline(text):
+    text = html.escape(text, quote=False)
+    # unescape the markdown link/format markers we still need to match
+    text = text.replace("&amp;", "&")
+    for rx, rep in _INLINE:
+        text = rx.sub(rep, text)
+    return text
+
+def _slug(text):
+    s = re.sub(r'[^a-z0-9]+', '-', text.lower()).strip('-')
+    return s or "section"
+
+def preprocess(md):
+    """Strip metadata lines, the 'Hero image placeholder' section and rule lines
+    so only real article content remains."""
+    out, skip_hero = [], False
+    for ln in md.replace("\r\n", "\n").split("\n"):
+        s = ln.strip()
+        if s.startswith("## ") and re.search(r'hero image', s, re.I):
+            skip_hero = True
+            continue
+        if skip_hero:
+            if s.startswith("## ") or s == "---":
+                skip_hero = False
+                if s.startswith("## "):
+                    out.append(ln)
+            continue
+        if re.match(r'^\*\*[^*]+:\*\*\s', s) and len(s) < 90:  # metadata like "**Category:** X"
+            continue
+        if s == "---":
+            continue
+        out.append(ln)
+    return "\n".join(out)
+
+
+def parse_markdown(md):
+    """Return (title, subtitle, sections) where sections=[(id,heading,html)] and
+    the first section id may be '' for intro content before the first ##."""
+    md = preprocess(md)
+    lines = md.split("\n")
+    title = ""
+    subtitle = ""
+    # strip a leading metadata block ("**Category:** ..." lines) if present
+    body_lines, i = [], 0
+    # title = first # heading
+    for i, ln in enumerate(lines):
+        if ln.startswith("# "):
+            title = ln[2:].strip()
+            body_lines = lines[i+1:]
+            break
+    else:
+        body_lines = lines
+
+    sections = []  # list of dict(id, heading, blocks[])
+    cur = {"id": "", "heading": None, "blocks": []}
+    def flush():
+        if cur["heading"] is not None or cur["blocks"]:
+            sections.append(dict(cur))
+
+    para, list_items, list_type, quote = [], [], None, []
+    def flush_blocks():
+        nonlocal para, list_items, list_type, quote
+        if para:
+            txt = " ".join(para).strip()
+            if txt:
+                cur["blocks"].append(("p", txt))
+            para = []
+        if list_items:
+            cur["blocks"].append((list_type, list_items))
+            list_items, list_type = [], None
+        if quote:
+            cur["blocks"].append(("quote", " ".join(quote).strip()))
+            quote = []
+
+    for ln in body_lines:
+        s = ln.rstrip().strip()
+        if s.startswith("## "):
+            flush_blocks(); flush()
+            h = s[3:].strip()
+            cur = {"id": _slug(h), "heading": h, "blocks": []}
+            continue
+        if s.startswith("### "):
+            flush_blocks()
+            cur["blocks"].append(("h3", s[4:].strip()))
+            continue
+        if s.startswith(">"):
+            content = s[1:].strip()
+            if content:
+                quote.append(content)
+            continue
+        m = re.match(r'^(\d+)\.\s+(.*)', s)
+        if m:
+            if list_type not in (None, "ol"): flush_blocks()
+            list_type = "ol"; list_items.append(m.group(2)); continue
+        m = re.match(r'^[-*]\s+(.*)', s)
+        if m:
+            if list_type not in (None, "ul"): flush_blocks()
+            list_type = "ul"; list_items.append(m.group(1)); continue
+        if s == "":
+            flush_blocks(); continue
+        # normal paragraph line
+        if list_items or quote:
+            flush_blocks()
+        para.append(s)
+    flush_blocks(); flush()
+
+    # subtitle = first paragraph of the intro section (often bold lede)
+    for sec in sections:
+        for kind, val in sec["blocks"]:
+            if kind == "p":
+                subtitle = re.sub(r'\*\*|\*', '', val).strip()
+                break
+        if subtitle:
+            break
+    return title, subtitle, sections
+
+
+def render_body(sections, category, date_label, last_checked_label):
+    out = []
+    for idx, sec in enumerate(sections):
+        if sec["heading"]:
+            out.append(f'                    <h2 id="{sec["id"]}">{_inline(sec["heading"])}</h2>')
+        for kind, val in sec["blocks"]:
+            if kind == "p":
+                out.append(f'                    <p>{_inline(val)}</p>')
+            elif kind == "h3":
+                out.append(f'                    <h3>{_inline(val)}</h3>')
+            elif kind == "quote":
+                out.append('                    <aside class="guide-box guide-box--warning">')
+                out.append(f'                        <p>{_inline(val)}</p>')
+                out.append('                    </aside>')
+            elif kind in ("ul", "ol"):
+                out.append(f'                    <{kind}>')
+                for it in val:
+                    out.append(f'                        <li>{_inline(it)}</li>')
+                out.append(f'                    </{kind}>')
+    out.append(f'                    <p class="guide-last-checked">{last_checked_label}</p>')
+    return "\n".join(out)
+
+
+def build_scrollspy(sections):
+    links = []
+    first = True
+    for sec in sections:
+        if not sec["heading"]:
+            continue
+        cls = ' class="active"' if first else ""
+        links.append(f'                        <li><a href="#{sec["id"]}"{cls}>{_inline(sec["heading"])}</a></li>')
+        first = False
+    return "\n".join(links)
+
+
+def build_page(cfg):
+    """cfg keys: base (path), out (path), title, category, date_label,
+    last_checked, hero_img, hero_alt, hero_caption, md (markdown text)."""
+    title, subtitle, sections = parse_markdown(cfg["md"])
+    title = cfg.get("title") or title
+    subtitle = cfg.get("subtitle") or subtitle
+
+    base = io.open(cfg["base"], encoding="utf-8").read()
+
+    # <title>
+    base = re.sub(r'<title>.*?</title>',
+                  f'<title>{html.escape(title)} - MSOS</title>', base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+    # mobile article title
+    base = re.sub(r'(<span id="mobile-article-title">).*?(</span>)',
+                  lambda m: m.group(1) + html.escape(title) + m.group(2), base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+    # article header block
+    header = (
+        f'                    <p class="article-publish-date">{_inline(cfg["date_label"])}</p>\n'
+        f'                    <h1>{_inline(title)}</h1>\n'
+        f'                    <p class="article-subtitle">{_inline(subtitle)}</p>'
+    )
+    base = re.sub(r'<p class="article-publish-date">.*?</p>\s*<h1>.*?</h1>\s*<p class="article-subtitle">.*?</p>',
+                  header, base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+    # hero figure
+    fig = (
+        f'                <figure class="article-main-image">\n'
+        f'                    <img width="1600" height="1067" fetchpriority="high" src="{cfg["hero_img"]}" alt="{html.escape(cfg["hero_alt"])}">\n'
+        f'                    <figcaption><span class="fig-illustrative"><i class="fas fa-circle-info" aria-hidden="true"></i> {cfg["illus_label"]}</span> &middot; {cfg["hero_caption"]}</figcaption>\n'
+        f'                </figure>'
+    )
+    base = re.sub(r'<figure class="article-main-image">.*?</figure>', fig, base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+    # scrollspy nav
+    nav = '                    <ul>\n' + build_scrollspy(sections) + '\n                    </ul>'
+    base = re.sub(r'(<nav class="scrollspy-nav">\s*)<ul>.*?</ul>',
+                  lambda m: m.group(1) + nav, base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+    # article body (up to the article-footer)
+    body = ('                <div class="article-body">\n'
+            + render_body(sections, cfg["category"], cfg["date_label"], cfg["last_checked"])
+            + '\n                </div>')
+    base = re.sub(r'<div class="article-body">.*</div>\s*(<footer class="article-footer">)',
+                  lambda m: body + '\n\n                ' + m.group(1), base, count=1, flags=re.DOTALL)
+
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(cfg["out"]), exist_ok=True)
+    io.open(cfg["out"], "w", encoding="utf-8").write(base)
+    return len([s for s in sections if s["heading"]])

tools/seo_inject.py

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ HOME_CRUMB = {"en": "Home", "mk": "Дома", "si": "Domov"}
 # language-independent). Emitted as datePublished/dateModified in Article schema.
 ARTICLE_DATES = {
     "blog/how-to-open-slovenian-bank-account": {"modified": "2026-08-01"},
+    "blog/where-to-search-for-accommodation-in-slovenia": {"published": "2026-08-03"},
     "news/proof-of-means-updated-2026": {"published": "2026-08-01"},
     "projects/humanitarian-tournament-in-maribor": {"published": "2025-04-05"},
     "projects/in-memory-of-frosina-kulakova": {"published": "2025-02-08"},