$ initializing alanops _

How AlanOps.com Became a DevOps Playground: My Journey to Frictionless Blogging

A behind-the-scenes look at how I transformed my WordPress blog into a fully automated, DevOps-powered publishing platform that lets me blog directly from the terminal.

The Problem: Blogging Friction

Like many DevOps engineers, I found myself caught in an ironic situation. While I spent my days automating complex infrastructure deployments and CI/CD pipelines, my own blog remained frustratingly manual. Every time I wanted to publish an article, I had to:

  • Switch from my terminal to a web browser
  • Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  • Deal with the visual editor’s quirks
  • Manually format code snippets
  • Fight with inconsistent styling
  • Hope nothing broke during the process

As someone who lives in the command line, this felt like using a screwdriver to hammer nails. There had to be a better way.

The Evolution: From Manual to Automated

Over the past year, I’ve gradually transformed AlanOps.com from a traditional WordPress blog into what I like to call a “DevOps playground” – a fully automated publishing platform that embraces Infrastructure as Code principles.

Phase 1: The WordPress REST API Revolution

The first breakthrough came when I discovered the power of the WordPress REST API combined with Python automation. Instead of writing posts in the WordPress editor, I could now:

# Publish directly from the terminal
python wordpress_publisher.py

# Or publish specific articles
python publish_graphql.py
python publish_blog_evolution_article.py

This simple change eliminated the context switching between terminal and browser, but it was just the beginning.

Phase 2: GitOps for Content Management

The real game-changer was implementing GitOps principles for my blog. Every change now follows the same workflow I use for infrastructure:

  1. Write content in my favorite editor
  2. Commit changes to Git with proper commit messages
  3. Push to GitHub to trigger automated deployment
  4. Let the pipeline handle everything else

This approach brings all the benefits of version control to content creation:

  • Complete change history for every article
  • Easy rollbacks if something goes wrong
  • Collaborative editing via pull requests
  • Automated deployment via GitHub Actions

Phase 3: CI/CD Pipeline Integration

The current deployment pipeline is a thing of beauty. Every push to the main branch triggers a GitHub Actions workflow that:

name: Deploy to Hostinger

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: Checkout code
      uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
    - name: Prepare deployment package
      run: |
        mkdir -p deployment
        cp -r themes deployment/
        cp -r plugins deployment/
        
    - name: Deploy to Hostinger
      env:
        SSH_KEY: ${{ secrets.HOSTINGER_SSH_KEY }}
      run: |
        # SSH deployment with automatic backups
        # Cache clearing and permission fixes
        # Verification and rollback capabilities

The DevOps Toolkit Behind the Scenes

Automated Content Publishing

I’ve built several Python scripts that handle different aspects of content management:

  • wordpress_publisher.py: Main publishing script with authentication
  • check_broken_links.py: Scans all 161+ posts for broken links
  • fix_broken_links.py: Automatically repairs broken links via the API
  • update_post.py: Updates existing posts with new content

These scripts transform content management from a manual chore into automated workflows.

Quality Assurance Automation

The blog now includes comprehensive testing and monitoring:

  • Playwright Testing: Cross-browser compatibility testing
  • Broken Link Monitoring: Automated link health checks
  • Performance Testing: Accessibility and load time validation
  • Mobile Responsiveness: Multi-device testing automation
# Run comprehensive tests
npm test

# Test across multiple browsers and devices
npm run test:headed

# Debug test failures
npm run test:debug

Infrastructure as Code

Even the blog’s infrastructure follows IaC principles:

  • Version-controlled themes and plugins
  • Automated backup creation before each deployment
  • Environment-specific configurations
  • Rollback mechanisms for failed deployments

The AI Integration Layer

Perhaps the most exciting development has been integrating AI tooling into the blog workflow. Using Claude Code, I can now:

  • Generate complete articles from simple prompts
  • Fix technical issues automatically via GitOps
  • Analyze and repair broken links across the entire site
  • Create and deploy emergency fixes in minutes

This article itself was generated, published, and deployed using AI-assisted automation – a perfect example of the frictionless blogging experience I was aiming for.

Real-World Example: Emergency Link Fixing

Recently, I discovered 21 broken links across 13 blog posts. Instead of manually fixing each one, here’s what happened:

  1. AI Analysis: Automated scan identified all broken links
  2. Smart Fixing: AI determined appropriate fixes for each link type
  3. Batch Updates: All posts updated via WordPress REST API
  4. GitOps Deployment: Changes committed and deployed automatically
  5. Verification: Automated testing confirmed all fixes worked

Total time: Under 10 minutes. Manual effort: Nearly zero.

The Technical Architecture

Content Flow Pipeline

Local Writing → Git Commit → GitHub Push → GitHub Actions → 
Hostinger Deployment → Cache Clearing → Verification → Done

Key Components

  • WordPress REST API: Programmatic content management
  • GitHub Actions: CI/CD pipeline automation
  • SSH Deployment: Secure file transfer to Hostinger
  • Python Scripts: Content processing and API interactions
  • Playwright Testing: Quality assurance automation
  • Claude Code Integration: AI-powered content and maintenance

Security and Reliability

The system includes several safety mechanisms:

  • Automated backups before each deployment
  • SSH key rotation and secure credential management
  • Error handling and rollback capabilities
  • Health checks after each deployment
  • Version control audit trail for all changes

The Results: Frictionless Publishing

Before vs. After

Aspect Before (Manual) After (Automated)
Article Publishing 15-20 minutes 30 seconds
Link Health Checks Never (too tedious) Automated continuous monitoring
Site Updates Manual, error-prone GitOps with automatic rollback
Quality Assurance Manual testing Automated cross-browser testing
Emergency Fixes Hours of manual work Minutes via automation

Unexpected Benefits

Beyond the time savings, this DevOps approach has brought unexpected advantages:

  • Higher Publishing Frequency: Lower friction = more content
  • Better Content Quality: Automated proofreading and link checking
  • Learning Laboratory: Every blog improvement teaches new DevOps techniques
  • Portfolio Showcase: The blog itself demonstrates DevOps skills
  • Community Value: Open-source scripts help other developers

Lessons Learned

What Worked Well

  • Starting Small: Began with simple API scripts, evolved gradually
  • GitOps Principles: Treating content like code paid huge dividends
  • AI Integration: Claude Code accelerated development dramatically
  • Testing Automation: Caught issues before they reached users

What I’d Do Differently

  • Earlier Investment in Testing: Automated tests would have saved time from day one
  • Better Documentation: More comprehensive CLAUDE.md from the start
  • Monitoring First: Should have implemented broken link checking earlier

The Future: What’s Next

The blog continues to evolve. Here’s what’s on the roadmap:

Enhanced AI Integration

  • Content Analysis: AI-powered SEO optimization
  • Auto-categorization: Intelligent tagging and categorization
  • Performance Optimization: AI-driven site speed improvements

Advanced DevOps Features

  • Multi-environment Deployments: Staging and production pipelines
  • Content A/B Testing: Data-driven content optimization
  • Advanced Monitoring: Comprehensive site health dashboards

Community Contributions

  • Open Source Templates: Share the automation scripts
  • Documentation: Complete setup guides for others
  • Workshops: Teaching DevOps principles through blogging

Why This Matters

This isn’t just about making blogging easier – it’s about applying DevOps principles to every aspect of digital life. The same automation, testing, and infrastructure-as-code approaches that make enterprise systems reliable can transform personal projects.

More importantly, it demonstrates that DevOps isn’t just about managing applications – it’s a mindset that can be applied to any workflow that involves:

  • Repetitive manual tasks
  • Quality assurance requirements
  • Version control needs
  • Deployment automation opportunities

Getting Started: Your Own DevOps Blog

If you’re inspired to automate your own content workflow, here’s where to start:

  1. Begin with the WordPress REST API: Simple Python scripts for publishing
  2. Implement GitOps: Version control your content and configuration
  3. Add CI/CD: Automate deployment with GitHub Actions
  4. Include Testing: Automated quality assurance from the start
  5. Integrate AI Tools: Use Claude Code or similar for acceleration

Remember: start small, automate gradually, and always apply the same rigor to personal projects that you would to production systems.

⚠️ Work in Progress Disclaimer

I should mention that this entire setup is very much a work in progress! I’m still ironing out the kinks and experimenting with different approaches. If you notice a “dev mode” indicator somewhere on the site (you might spot it in the bottom corner), that’s your hint that some features may not work exactly as expected.

This is part of the beauty of treating your blog as a DevOps playground – it’s a safe space to experiment, break things, fix them, and learn from the process. Every deployment teaches me something new about automation, every failed experiment leads to a better solution.

The imperfections are features, not bugs. They represent the continuous improvement mindset that’s at the heart of DevOps culture.

Conclusion

Transforming AlanOps.com from a traditional blog into a DevOps-powered publishing platform has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve undertaken. It perfectly embodies the DevOps principle of “eating your own dog food” – using the same tools and practices I advocate professionally to solve personal challenges.

The result is a blog that not only serves as a platform for sharing DevOps knowledge but also demonstrates those principles in action. Every automated deployment, every AI-assisted fix, and every GitOps workflow reinforces the core message: DevOps isn’t just about managing infrastructure – it’s about creating frictionless, reliable, and maintainable systems everywhere.

Whether you’re managing Kubernetes clusters or just trying to publish a blog post, the principles remain the same: automate the tedious, version control everything, test relentlessly, and never stop iterating.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to commit this article to Git and watch it deploy automatically. Because that’s how we roll in 2025. 🚀

Want to see the code behind this automation? Check out the GitHub repository where all the scripts and workflows are open source.

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