Fix: Theme Compatibility Validation for Blog and Personal Sites #29

MarkAC007 · 2025-10-07T11:21:17Z

Fixes

Closes #19

Problem

Users could set incompatible themes (e.g., blog themes on personal sites), causing the serve/build commands to fail with:

Error: Failed to render personal index template

This occurred because blog themes require templates like post.html, archive.html, etc., which personal sites don't use, and vice versa.

Solution

This PR adds theme type validation to prevent incompatible themes from being set, providing clear error messages and guidance when users attempt to use an incompatible theme.

Changes

1. Theme Type Classification (`blogr-themes/src/lib.rs`)

Added site_type: String field to ThemeInfo struct
Categorizes themes as either "blog" or "personal"

2. Updated All Theme Implementations

Blog themes: minimal-retro, obsidian, terminal-candy → site_type: "blog"
Personal themes: dark-minimal, musashi, slate-portfolio, typewriter → site_type: "personal"

3. Theme Set Validation (`blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs`)

Validates theme compatibility with site type before setting
Provides clear error messages listing compatible themes
Offers actionable suggestions (choose compatible theme or change site type)

4. Enhanced Theme List Display (`blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs`)

Groups themes by type in blogr theme list output
Shows separate sections: "📝 Blog Themes" and "👤 Personal Website Themes"
Makes theme selection more intuitive

Before This Fix

$ blogr init --personal my-site
$ blogr theme set minimal-retro
✅ Theme set to: minimal-retro
$ blogr serve
Error: Failed to render personal index template

❌ Fails during build/serve with confusing template error

After This Fix

$ blogr init --personal my-site
$ blogr theme set minimal-retro
Error: ❌ Theme 'minimal-retro' is a blog theme, but your site is configured as a personal site.

Blog themes: minimal-retro, obsidian, terminal-candy
Personal themes: dark-minimal, musashi, slate-portfolio, typewriter

💡 To use this theme, either:
1. Choose a compatible personal theme from the list above
2. Change your site type in blogr.toml: [site] site_type = "blog"

✅ Fails fast with clear guidance at theme-setting time

Enhanced Theme List Output

$ blogr theme list
📋 Available themes:

📝 Blog Themes (for traditional blogs with posts):
  📦 minimal-retro - An artistic, minimal theme focused on content...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 2.0.0
  📦 obsidian - Adopts Obsidian community themes to style...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0
  📦 terminal-candy - A quirky terminal-inspired theme...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0

👤 Personal Website Themes (for portfolios and personal sites):
  ✅ dark-minimal (active) - A dark, minimal theme...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0
  📦 musashi - An elegant monochrome theme...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0
  📦 slate-portfolio - A sleek, modern dark portfolio theme...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0
  📦 typewriter - A vintage typewriter-inspired theme...
      👤 Author: Blogr Team | 📦 Version: 1.0.0

Testing

✅ Test 1: Personal site with blog theme (reproducing original issue)

$ blogr init --personal test_site
$ blogr theme set minimal-retro
# Result: Clear error with suggestions ✅

✅ Test 2: Blog site with personal theme

$ blogr init test_blog
$ blogr theme set dark-minimal
# Result: Clear error with suggestions ✅

✅ Test 3: Compatible themes work correctly

$ blogr theme set musashi  # Personal theme on personal site
$ blogr build              # Builds successfully ✅

$ blogr theme set obsidian # Blog theme on blog site
$ blogr build              # Builds successfully ✅

✅ Test 4: Theme list displays categorized output

$ blogr theme list
# Result: Themes grouped by type ✅

Benefits

Prevents confusing errors - Users can't set incompatible themes
Better UX - Clear error messages explain the issue and provide solutions
Fail-fast validation - Issues caught at theme-setting time, not during build/serve
Improved discoverability - Categorized theme list helps users find compatible themes

Breaking Changes

None. This is a backward-compatible enhancement that only adds validation.

Checklist

Code compiles without errors
No linter warnings
All scenarios tested (personal→blog theme, blog→personal theme, compatible themes)
Error messages are clear and actionable
Documentation updated in code comments

…ahdotsh#19) This commit resolves issue bahdotsh#19 where users could set incompatible themes (blog themes on personal sites or vice versa), causing 'Failed to render personal index template' errors during serve/build. Changes: - Added 'site_type' field to ThemeInfo struct to categorize themes - Updated all theme implementations with appropriate site_type: * Blog themes: minimal-retro, obsidian, terminal-candy * Personal themes: dark-minimal, musashi, slate-portfolio, typewriter - Added validation in 'blogr theme set' to check theme compatibility - Enhanced 'blogr theme list' to display themes grouped by type - Provides clear error messages with suggestions when incompatible theme is selected Before this fix: $ blogr init --personal my-site $ blogr theme set minimal-retro $ blogr serve Error: Failed to render personal index template After this fix: $ blogr theme set minimal-retro Error: ❌ Theme 'minimal-retro' is a blog theme, but your site is configured as a personal site. [Lists compatible themes and provides guidance] Testing: - Verified blog themes cannot be set on personal sites - Verified personal themes cannot be set on blog sites - Verified compatible themes work correctly - Verified builds succeed with compatible themes Fixes bahdotsh#19

blogr-themes/src/lib.rs

blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs

bcorey · 2025-10-07T14:10:48Z

Excited to see this change! Nice Improvement to the UX.

bahdotsh · 2025-10-08T13:36:32Z

Thank you so much for the PR!!

@bcorey thank you so much for taking time to review this!

@bcorey

…mic theme lists This commit addresses code review feedback from @bcorey on PR bahdotsh#29: 1. Replace String with SiteType enum (PR comment bahdotsh#1) - Added SiteType enum with Blog and Personal variants - Implemented std::fmt::Display for user-friendly output - Updated ThemeInfo struct to use SiteType instead of String - Provides type safety and better IDE support 2. Derive theme lists dynamically (PR comment bahdotsh#2) - Removed hardcoded theme list strings in error messages - Implemented dynamic theme list generation from get_all_themes() - Theme lists automatically update when new themes are added - Single source of truth - reduces maintenance burden Changes: - blogr-themes/src/lib.rs: Added SiteType enum with Display impl - All theme modules: Updated to use SiteType::Blog or SiteType::Personal * Blog themes: minimal-retro, obsidian, terminal-candy * Personal themes: dark-minimal, musashi, slate-portfolio, typewriter - blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs: Dynamic theme list generation Benefits: - Compile-time type safety for site types - No maintenance needed for theme lists - Better error messages that always reflect current themes - More maintainable and self-documenting code Testing: - All code compiles successfully - No linter warnings or errors - Backward compatible with existing config files

MarkAC007 · 2025-10-13T07:55:20Z

@bcorey for your review. :)

bahdotsh

Small nits on the type comparisons.

bahdotsh · 2025-10-13T08:01:27Z

blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs

-            let is_active = current_theme.as_ref() == Some(&name);
-            let status_icon = if is_active { "✅" } else { "📦" };
-            let status_text = if is_active { " (active)" } else { "" };
+            if info.site_type.to_string() == "blog" {


Compare directly with the enum type instead of converting to a string.

if info.site_type == SiteType::Blog { // preferred: type-safe and efficient }

bahdotsh · 2025-10-13T08:06:34Z

blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs

+    let site_type = &config.site.site_type;
+
+    if theme_info.site_type.to_string() != *site_type {


Instead of converting theme_info.site_type to a string and creating a separate site_type binding, compare the enum values directly:

if theme_info.site_type != config.site.site_type { }

Avoids unnecessary allocations and keeps the comparison type-safe

bahdotsh · 2025-10-13T08:06:51Z

blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs

+
+        for (theme_name, theme_obj) in all_themes {
+            let info = theme_obj.info();
+            if info.site_type.to_string() == "blog" {


Please use enum type for comparison as mentioned above

bahdotsh · 2025-10-13T08:09:28Z

blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs

+            blog_themes,
+            "Personal",
+            personal_themes,
+            site_type,


Here you can convert to string as its the intent is clear

MarkAC007 mentioned this pull request Oct 7, 2025

"Error: Failed to render personal index template" after switching themes for a personal site #19

Open

Fix: Remove trailing whitespace for CI formatting check

356fbd7

bcorey reviewed Oct 7, 2025

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blogr-themes/src/lib.rs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

bcorey reviewed Oct 7, 2025

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bcorey mentioned this pull request Oct 12, 2025

Swap themes & edit theme config from TUI #31

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bahdotsh reviewed Oct 13, 2025

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bcorey mentioned this pull request Oct 20, 2025

Choose & configure theme from config TUI #36

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		let site_type = &config.site.site_type;

		if theme_info.site_type.to_string() != *site_type {

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MarkAC007 commented Oct 7, 2025

Fixes

Problem

Solution

Changes

1. Theme Type Classification (blogr-themes/src/lib.rs)

2. Updated All Theme Implementations

3. Theme Set Validation (blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs)

4. Enhanced Theme List Display (blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs)

Before This Fix

After This Fix

Enhanced Theme List Output

Testing

Benefits

Breaking Changes

Checklist

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1. Theme Type Classification (`blogr-themes/src/lib.rs`)

3. Theme Set Validation (`blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs`)

4. Enhanced Theme List Display (`blogr-cli/src/commands/theme.rs`)