Insertr

The Tailwind of CMS - Zero-configuration content editing for any static site

Insertr adds editing capabilities to any HTML website by simply adding class="insertr" to elements. No complex setup, no architectural changes, no framework dependencies. Just mark what should be editable and get a production-ready CMS.

✨ Zero Configuration Philosophy

Just Add a Class

<!-- Individual elements -->
<h1 class="insertr">Main Title</h1>
<p class="insertr">Description text</p>  
<a href="/contact" class="insertr">Contact Us</a>

<!-- Container expansion -->
<section class="insertr">
  <h1>Hero Title</h1>
  <p>Hero description</p>
  <button>Call to Action</button>
</section>

That's it! No manual IDs, no configuration files, no schema definitions.

Container Expansion

Containers with class="insertr" automatically make their viable children editable:

• Viable children: Elements containing only text (h1-h6, p, span, a, button)
• Automatic detection: Skip complex nested elements
• Semantic convenience: One class enables section-wide editing

🎯 Three User Experiences

1. Regular Visitors (99% of traffic)

• Pure static HTML performance
• Zero editor assets loaded
• No runtime overhead

2. Content Editors (Authenticated users)

• Rich editing interface loads on demand
• Click-to-edit any marked element
• Smart input types: text, textarea, link editor, markdown
• Changes saved to database

3. Developers (You)

• Add class="insertr" to any element
• Use HTML id attributes for complex cases
• Never see or manage generated content IDs
• Works with any static site generator

🚀 Current Status

✅ Go CLI Parser Complete

• Container expansion: div.insertr auto-expands to viable children
• Smart content detection: Automatic text/markdown/link classification
• ID generation: Context-aware, collision-resistant identifiers
• Development server: Live reload with Air integration

🔄 In Development

• Content injection engine (database → HTML)
• Smart asset loading (editor only for authenticated users)
• Production deployment examples

🛠️ Quick Start

Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd insertr

# Start development server with live reload
cd insertr-cli
air

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see enhanced demo site with live reload.

Parse Existing Site

cd insertr-cli

# Analyze HTML for editable elements
go run main.go parse ../demo-site/

# Development server with parsing
go run main.go servedev -i ../demo-site -p 3000

📊 Parser Output Example

🔍 Parsing HTML files in: ../demo-site/

📊 Parse Results:
   Files processed: 2
   Elements found: 40
   Container expansions: 3
   Generated IDs: 34

📝 Content Types:
   text: 19      # Headlines, short content
   markdown: 19  # Rich content, paragraphs  
   link: 2       # Buttons, navigation

🎯 Container Expansions:
   hero-section → 3 children (h1, p, button)
   services-grid → 6 children (3×h3, 3×p)

🏗️ Architecture: Build-Time Enhancement

Enhancement Pipeline

Static Site Build → Insertr CLI Enhancement → Enhanced Deployment
     ↓                       ↓                       ↓
  Pure HTML            Parse + Inject Content    Smart Loading
                       Auto-generate IDs          (Auth-dependent)

Smart Loading Strategy

<!-- Regular visitors: zero overhead -->
<h1 class="insertr">Welcome to Our Site</h1>

<!-- Authenticated editors: rich editing -->
<h1 class="insertr" data-content-id="hero-title-abc123" 
    data-editor-loaded="true">Latest Content From Database</h1>

Benefits:

• Performance: Zero runtime cost for regular visitors
• Framework agnostic: Works with Hugo, Next.js, Jekyll, etc.
• Zero configuration: No schema files or content mappings
• Developer friendly: Stay in HTML markup, no context switching

📚 Integration Examples

GitHub Actions Workflow

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
- name: Build static site
  run: hugo --minify

- name: Enhance with Insertr
  run: insertr enhance ./public --output ./dist

- name: Deploy enhanced site
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    publish_dir: ./dist

Container vs Individual Elements

<!-- Semantic convenience: entire section editable -->
<section id="hero" class="insertr">
  <h1>Dynamic Title</h1>           <!-- → text input -->
  <p>Dynamic description</p>       <!-- → textarea -->  
  <button>Dynamic CTA</button>     <!-- → link editor -->
</section>

<!-- Granular control: specific elements -->
<nav>
  <h1 class="insertr">Site Name</h1>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="/" class="insertr">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="/about" class="insertr">About</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Content Type Detection

• Headlines (h1-h6) → Text input with character limits
• Paragraphs (p) → Markdown textarea for rich content
• Links/Buttons (a, button) → Text + URL fields
• Containers (div, section) → Expand to viable children

🔧 Development Workflow

Live Development

cd insertr-cli

# Air watches Go files and rebuilds CLI
# Post-build: starts development server
air

# Edit parser code → Auto rebuild → Server restart
# Visit localhost:3000 → Refresh to see changes

Content ID Management

Development Phase:

• Generated IDs are disposable and change freely
• Focus on markup, ignore content persistence
• Use HTML id attributes for complex cases

Production Phase:

• Preserve existing content mappings for stability
• CLI warns about orphaned content
• Simple migration tools for structural changes

📖 Documentation

• Development Guide - Setup and contribution workflow
• Research Document - Strategic analysis and market positioning
• Parser Documentation - CLI usage and API reference

🎯 Market Position: "The Tailwind of CMS"

Tailwind CSS Approach:

• Utility-first classes: class="text-lg font-bold"
• Zero configuration, build-time optimization
• Framework agnostic, developer workflow integration

Insertr CMS Approach:

• Content-first classes: class="insertr"
• Zero configuration, build-time enhancement
• Framework agnostic, developer workflow integration

Shared Principles:

• Stay in markup, don't context switch
• Build-time optimization, zero runtime overhead
• Works with any framework or generator
• Developer experience focused

🤝 Contributing

This project follows the "Tailwind philosophy" of developer-first design:

1. Zero configuration - Markup-driven approach
2. Build-time optimization - No runtime performance cost
3. Framework agnostic - Works with any tech stack
4. Developer friendly - Minimal cognitive overhead

See DEVELOPMENT.md for technical setup and contribution guidelines.

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

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Built with ❤️ for developers who want powerful editing without the complexity