Building the Autoblogger 9000

Building the Autoblogger 9000

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16 min read

The Autoblogger 9000 is a sophisticated, automated content creation and distribution system developed in Ruby. It utilises web scraping techniques to gather unique, high-ranked lists from GitHub's Gist, ensuring a non-duplicated content source.

These lists are processed into engaging articles, rewritten from the perspective of a late-thirties Australian DevOps engineer named Loftwah, incorporating additional details for a richer narrative. The Autoblogger 9000 then proofreads and localises the content to Australian English, ensuring grammatical accuracy and cultural relevance.

Once the content is generated and polished, it's automatically published to Medium, extending Loftwah's reach to a broader audience. The Autoblogger 9000 then shares the published articles on Facebook and Twitter, capitalising on the power of social media for maximum exposure.

The process is scheduled and automated through GitHub Actions, providing a hands-free blogging experience. The Autoblogger 9000 represents a powerful fusion of web scraping, natural language processing, social media integration, and task automation, all working together to make content creation and distribution seamless and efficient.

Note: This idea needs to be completed. It doesn't address the need to create an appropriate thumbnail (the exact dimensions as a YouTube thumbnail).

Step 1: Setting up the project

Start by creating a new Ruby and Ruby on Rails project. Once your project is set up, create a new GitHub repository and push your project there.

Create a new project: Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to create your new project. Then, run the following command to create a new application:

mkdir new my_project

Replace "my_project" with whatever you want to name your project. This command will create a new directory with your project name and set up a new application.

Navigate into your new project directory: Use the cd command to navigate into your new project directory:

cd my_project

Now you are inside your project directory.

Initialise a Git repository: Next, initialise a new Git repository in your project directory with the following command:

git init

Commit your project to Git: Before you push your project to GitHub, you must make an initial commit. First, add all your project files to your Git repository:

git add .

Then, make your initial commit:

git commit -m "Initial commit"

Create a new repository on GitHub: Go to GitHub in your web browser and log in to your account. Then, create a new repository for your project. Name it whatever you like, but giving it the same name as your local project is a good idea. Leave the "Initialize this repository with a README" checkbox unchecked.

Link your local repository to your GitHub repository: After creating your repository, you'll be shown a page with a URL for your repository. Copy this URL: https://github.com/loftwah/autoblogger-9000.git. Then, back in your terminal, run the following command to add your GitHub repository as a remote repository.

git remote add origin https://github.com/loftwah/autoblogger-9000.git

Replace the URL with the one for your repository.

Push your project to GitHub: Finally, push your project to your GitHub repository with the following command.

git push -u origin main

Now your project is set up and stored on GitHub.

Next, you can start working on the various components of your application. Each part should be developed and tested separately to ensure that because this ensures that they work correctly before you start integrating them.

Step 2: Scraping the website

You can use a Ruby gem like Nokogiri to scrape the Gist website. You'll need to create a script that navigates to the URL you provided, parses the HTML to find the lists, and stores them. Make sure to track which lists you've already scraped to avoid duplication.

Step 2.1: Install Necessary Gems

First, you must ensure you have the necessary Ruby gems installed. For this project, you'll need Nokogiri, a Ruby gem used for parsing HTML and XML documents, including web pages. You might also need 'open-uri' or 'httparty' for opening URLs.

Step 2.2: Open the Web Page

Next, you'll need to create a script that can open the URL of the Gist you're looking to scrape. You can use the 'open-uri' or 'httparty' gem to open the URL and fetch the HTML content.

Step 2.3: Parse the HTML with Nokogiri

After you've opened the URL and fetched the HTML, you'll need to parse this HTML with Nokogiri. This turns the raw HTML into a format that is easier to work with in Ruby.

Step 2.4: Locate the Lists in the HTML

Now that you've parsed the HTML, you can use Nokogiri's search methods to locate the lists you're interested in. To do this, you'll need to understand HTML and possibly CSS selectors. For example, if the lists are in ul or ol elements, you'll need to tell Nokogiri to find these elements.

Step 2.5: Extract the Information

Once you've located the lists, you can extract the information from them. This will again depend on the structure of the HTML, but generally, you'll be extracting text or attribute values.

Step 2.6: Store the Information

After extracting the information, you'll need to store it somewhere. This could be as simple as writing it to a file or storing it in a database. You'll need to decide on a format for storing the information. JSON or CSV might be a good choice if you store it in a file.

Step 2.7: Avoiding Duplication

To avoid scraping the same lists multiple times, you'll need to track which ones you've already scraped. One way to do this could be to store the URLs of the scraped Gists and, before scraping a Gist, check if its URL is already in your store.

Step 2.8: Error Handling

Finally, make sure to include error handling in your script. For example, the script should be able to handle scenarios where the webpage is temporarily unavailable or the structure of the webpage changes.

Step 2.9: Scheduling the Scraper with GitHub Actions

Once your script works as expected, you can run it on a schedule using GitHub Actions. For instance, you could set up a workflow that runs your script daily at a specific time.

Remember that web scraping should be done respectfully, following the website's robots.txt guidelines and terms of service. Also, be mindful of putting only a slight load on the website's server by quickly making too many requests.

Step 3: Processing the list

Once you have the list, you can pass it to a function that processes it according to your requirements. This function could do things like remove emojis, add additional details, and rewrite it from a first-person perspective.

Step 3.1: Pass the List to a Function

The first step in processing the list is to pass it to a function designed for this purpose. This function would take the list as an argument and perform various operations.

Step 3.2: Removing Emojis

Emojis, in this context, can be considered as non-alphanumeric characters. There are various ways to remove emojis in Ruby. One way could be to use a regular expression (regex) to match and remove them.

Step 3.3: Adding Additional Details

the specifics of this step will depend on what exactly you want to add. You might want to add timestamps, source URLs, or other relevant metadata to each list item per your project requirements. You'll need to design your function to accept this additional data and add it to each item in the list.

Step 3.4: Rewriting in First Person Perspective

Rewriting text in the first person perspective is a non-trivial task usually involving Natural Language Processing (NLP). However, depending on the structure and consistency of your list items, you can achieve this with simple string replacements. For example, if your list items consistently start with "John does...", you could replace "John does" with "I do".

You might need to use a library like OpenAI + Ruby in a more complex scenario.

Step 3.5: Return the Processed List

Once all the processing is done, the function should return the processed list. This could then be used as the input for another function, written to a file, or stored in a database.

Step 3.6: Test the Function

Finally, test the function with various input types to ensure it behaves as expected. You could do this manually or write automated tests using a framework like RSpec.

Remember, although Ruby is a highly flexible language, handling errors and edge cases in your processing function is essential to ensure your application is robust and reliable.

Step 4: Ensuring Linguistic Accuracy

At this point, confirming the language and grammar accuracy is crucial. For this task, you can rely on resources like the LanguageTool gem, known for its excellent grammar and spell-checking capabilities. Using LanguageTool will help ensure your content is linguistically sound and professional, enhancing its credibility and readability.

Step 4.1: Install LanguageTool Gem

LanguageTool is an open-source spelling and grammar checker in more than 20 languages. It has a Ruby gem that you can use. You must include the LanguageTool gem in your Gemfile and run bundle install to add it to your project.

Step 4.2: Initialize LanguageTool

Once the gem is installed, you can initialise LanguageTool in your script. This generally involves creating a new instance of the LanguageTool class.

Step 4.3: Preparing the Text

Before checking, prepare your text for the check. This could include converting the text to a specific format expected by LanguageTool, removing or replacing special characters, or pre-processing the text to remove any elements you don't want to check (for example, code snippets).

Step 4.4: Checking the Text

You can now use the LanguageTool instance to check your text. This typically involves calling a method on the instance and passing the text as an argument. The method will return a list of errors in the text.

Step 4.5: Handling the Errors

Once you have the list of errors, you can decide what to do with them. For example, you could:

  • Log the errors for later review.

  • Automatically correct the errors if LanguageTool provides corrections.

  • Display the errors to the user and ask them to correct them in the context of your application.

Step 4.6: Testing

As always, test your language and grammar checking function with various inputs to ensure it behaves as expected - and remember to handle any errors that might occur during the checking process.

Automated grammar services will use an API, which may have usage limits or require an API key. Be sure to review the documentation and terms of service for the tool you're using.

As with any external service, you should also consider what will happen if the service is temporarily unavailable - your application should be able to handle such scenarios gracefully.

Step 5: Going Live on Medium

Once your list is fully processed, it's time to publish it on Medium. Using Medium's API, you can directly post your processed list on their platform. Crafting a script that takes your processed list and posts it as a new story on Medium is the best way to accomplish this. This way, your work can reach a wider audience and engage with the Medium community.

Step 5.1: Get Access to the Medium API

First, you'll need to get access to the Medium API. This involves creating an application on the Medium website, which will give you an access token that you can use to authenticate your requests to the /publications API endpoint.

Step 5.2: Prepare the Data

After that, you must prepare the data you'll send to the API endpoint. This includes the publication id (the unique identifier for your publication), the title of your story, the tags you want to use for your story, and the content of your story.

Step 5.3: Post the Story

In this step, you'll make a POST request to the /publications API endpoint to post your story.

Step 5.4: Handle the Response

After the post, you'll get a response from the API endpoint. You'll have to handle this response in your code and ensure that error messages are logged and handled correctly.

Step 5.5: Error Handling

As always, make sure to include error handling in your code. For example, the script should be able to handle scenarios where the webpage is temporarily unavailable or the structure of the webpage changes.

Step 5.6: Check the Results

Finally, you should check the results of your post. You can do this by manually checking the Medium publication that you posted your story or by using the API to retrieve the post and check that the details are correct.

Remember that posting to Medium should be done respectfully, following the website's guidelines and terms of service. Also, be mindful of putting only a little load on the website's server by making too many requests quickly.

Step 6: Broadcasting the Article Across Social Media

Next, the article can be shared on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The APIs provided by these platforms offer the ability to post content on them directly. For this, you'll need to construct a script that takes the link of your new Medium story and shares it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts. This way, your work gets the maximum exposure across multiple social media channels.

Step 6.1: Get Access to the Twitter and Facebook APIs

Like with Medium, you'll need access to the Twitter and Facebook APIs. This involves creating applications on the Twitter and Facebook websites, which will give you an access token that you can use to authenticate your requests.

Step 6.2: Prepare the Data

Again, you must prepare the data sent to the API endpoints. This includes your post's text and your Medium story's URL.

Step 6.3: Post to Twitter

To post to Twitter, you'll make a POST request to Twitter's update API endpoint. This will post your message and the link to your Medium story to your Twitter account.

Step 6.4: Post to Facebook

Similarly, to post to Facebook, you'll make a POST request to Facebook's feed API endpoint. This will post your message and the link to your Medium story to your Facebook account.

Step 6.5: Handle the Response

After the posts are complete, you'll get responses from the API endpoints. You'll have to handle these responses in your code and ensure that error messages are logged and handled appropriately.

Step 6.6: Error Handling

As always, make sure to include error handling in your code. For example, the script should be able to handle scenarios where the webpage is temporarily unavailable or the structure of the webpage changes.

Step 6.7: Check the Results

Finally, you should check the results of your posts. You can do this by manually checking your Twitter and Facebook accounts or by using the API to retrieve the post and check that the details are correct.

Again, remember that posting to Twitter and Facebook should be done respectfully, following the website's guidelines and terms of service. Also, be mindful of putting only a slight load on the website's server by making too many requests quickly.

Step 7: Scheduling the script

When scheduling the script, GitHub Actions will be your platform of choice, as the script will operate from there. You can create a script that will be triggered at a scheduled time. This script can then call the functions or methods you've already written.

Step 7.1: Prepare Your Workflow File

GitHub Actions are defined in YAML files. So first, you need to prepare a workflow file. In this file, you'll define a name for your workflow and set it to run on a schedule.

Step 7.2: Define the Schedule

This is where you'll set the cron syntax for your schedule. The cron syntax allows you to define the schedule on which your workflow will run. For example, if you want to run your workflow daily at 2:15 pm, you would set the cron syntax to '15 14 * * *'.

Step 7.3: Define the Steps

After defining the schedule, you'll define the steps of your workflow. The steps are actions that GitHub will perform one after the other.

Step 7.4: Add Your Script

Add your script to your repository, then add it as a step in your workflow file. This will run your script as one of the steps in your workflow.

Step 7.5: Run the Workflow

Finally, commit and push your workflow file to your repository. GitHub will then run your workflow on the schedule you've defined.

Step 7.6: Check the Results

You can check the results of your workflow in the Actions tab of your GitHub repository. Here you can see the history of your workflow runs and download the logs for each run.

Step 7.7: Error Handling

As always, make sure to include error handling in your code. For example, the script should be able to be throughout.

Remember, scheduling with GitHub is done respectfully to the server, and the GitHub Actions should be defined in a YAML file. Lastly, test the script before committing to ensure it works as expected.

Step 7.8: Adjust as Necessary

You may need to adjust your workflow file and script to accommodate your application's specifics and the GitHub Actions requirements.

Step 7.9: Create a GitHub Action Workflow

Once you've completed these steps, you'll have a GitHub Action workflow that runs your script on a schedule. GitHub will automatically execute the workflow at the defined intervals and take the necessary actions.

This allows you to automate tasks that would otherwise require manual intervention, freeing up your time and resources for other vital tasks.

Consider what will happen if the script fails and plan for this eventuality. You should also regularly review your logs and workflow history to ensure your workflow runs as expected.

And remember to include error handling in your script so it can handle any unexpected situations.

Step 8: Refactoring your Code

Refactoring your code involves refining it to align with the conventions, patterns, and best practices specific to the Ruby programming language. This process is often called "Ruby idiomatic code" or simply "idiomatic Ruby." Idiomatic Ruby aims to enhance your code's readability, maintainability, and efficiency.

By adhering to the idioms of Ruby, your code becomes more expressive and easier to understand. It also helps maintain the code in the long run, as idiomatic Ruby is typically more straightforward to update or fix. Additionally, following these practices could lead to more efficient code execution, which is always a plus in programming.

In essence, idiomatic Ruby involves not just writing functional code but writing clean code (even in the codebase itself). The code should or even, most importantly, which the code that in a nutshell.

There are many idioms in the Ruby community. Some of them include:

  • Using meaningful naming conventions: Choose descriptive names for your methods, classes, and variables that accurately represent their purpose or the data they hold.

  • Utilizing Ruby's powerful built-in methods: Ruby has many built-in methods to help you write concise and expressive code. Make use of these methods where appropriate.

  • Memoization: This technique involves caching the results of expensive or time-consuming operations to avoid unnecessary recomputations. In Ruby, this is often achieved using the ||= operator.

  • Use of Blocks, Procs, and Lambdas: Ruby strongly emphasises closures, which allows for robust and concise code.

  • Single responsibility principle: Methods and classes should have a well-defined responsibility. This makes your code easier to understand, test, and maintain.

  • Use Modules and Classes: Organize your code into modules and classes to encapsulate related functionality and improve code organisation.

  • Write DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) code: Avoid duplicating code by reusing existing functionality and extracting common logic into separate methods or modules.

  • Follow the Ruby Style Guide: The Ruby community has developed a comprehensive style guide that provides recommendations on how to write clean and consistent code. Following these guidelines will make your code more accessible for others to read and understand.

Step 8.1: Refactor Your Code

Once you've identified areas for improvement, you can start refactoring your code. Test your code after each change to ensure it still works as expected. Be careful not to introduce new bugs while refactoring.

Step 8.2: Review Your Code

After refactoring, review your code to ensure it adheres to the principles of idiomatic Ruby. If necessary, make further refinements until your code is clean and idiomatic.

Remember, the goal of idiomatic code is not just to make it more readable and maintainable but also to make it more efficient. So always consider the performance implications of your code and strive for efficiency wherever possible.

In conclusion, the project follows a methodical process, starting from setting up the work environment, scraping data from the Gist website, and processing it as per project requirements. The linguistic accuracy of the content is then ensured using a tool like LanguageTool before publishing it on Medium. The content is further shared on social media platforms to maximize reach. With the help of GitHub Actions, the script is scheduled to run at specific times, automating the workflow. The final step involves refactoring the code to ensure it's clean, efficient, and adheres to Ruby's best practices. Overall, this complex process becomes more manageable by dividing it into these sequential steps, each addressing a specific aspect of the project.