Story Generation System

Overview

Automatically generates placeholder story markdown files for all cover photos to prevent 404 errors and improve loading performance.

Script

Location: scripts/generate-placeholder-stories.js

What it does:

1. Scans /public/covers/ for all cover image files (cover-XXX.png/jpg/JPG) 2. Checks /public/covers/stories/ for existing story files 3. Creates placeholder story-XXX.md files for any missing stories 4. Sets published: false by default so they don't appear publicly

Template Format:

markdown

---
title: "Story XXX"
subtitle: "This story is coming soon"
description: "A story inspired by cover XXX"
author: "unparty"
date: "YYYY-MM-DD"
category: "STORIES"
published: false
---

# Coming Soon

This story is currently being written.

Check back soon for updates!

Build Integration

Added to package.json build script:

json

"build": "... && npm run generate-placeholder-stories && ..."

This ensures placeholder stories are always created before the Next.js build runs.

Manual Usage

Generate stories manually:

bash

npm run generate-placeholder-stories

Or run directly:

bash

node scripts/generate-placeholder-stories.js

Current Status

Total Covers: 25

Generated Stories: 26 (includes story-001 through story-019, plus story-033, story-034, story-035, story-036, story-037, story-042, story-300)

Published Stories: Only manually edited stories have published: true

Benefits

1. No 404 Errors: Every cover has a corresponding story file 2. Better Performance: StorySchema can load metadata without errors 3. Development Ready: New covers automatically get placeholder stories on build 4. Safe Defaults: All generated stories are unpublished (published: false) 5. Easy Editing: Simply edit the placeholder file and set published: true

Workflow

1. Add new cover image to /public/covers/cover-XXX.png 2. Run build or npm run generate-placeholder-stories 3. Edit /public/covers/stories/story-XXX.md with your content 4. Set published: true when ready to publish 5. Story appears in gallery and story pages

How stories currently work in the app

Story files live in /public/covers/stories/story-XXX.md with frontmatter metadata.

Story pages are routed at /story/[coverId] (example: /story/cover-001).

StorySchema maps story IDs and cover IDs (story-001 ↔ cover-001) and loads metadata/content.

A story only renders on its route when published: true; unpublished stories resolve to not found.

now appears on /src/app/page.tsx and lists published stories with direct row navigation to /story/[coverId].

Files Modified

package.json - Added generate-placeholder-stories script to build

scripts/generate-placeholder-stories.js - New script (created)

Notes

Script is idempotent (safe to run multiple times)

Never overwrites existing story files

Uses current date for generated stories

All placeholder stories use "unparty" as author

Category is always "STORIES" for consistency