I’ve been building a tool that takes an export of your entire Instagram account and turns it into a static website like this one. I’m starting with a CLI, but I’d love for this to be accessible to non-technical users as well.
Problem is, I’m still very much a zig beginner and I’m finding it tough to learn the language, std lib, conventions, etc, and stay motivated on the project. Instead of using an LLM for “help”, I’m wondering of someone here might want to pair with me on the project.
No zig experience required. You could be an expert or a total newbie. I’m happy to teach you whatever I know and we can learn more together, or you could be more of a mentor.
Hard requirement: no LLMs for anything. Other than that, ideally you have some overlap with the US Eastern time zone and some free time here and there where we can code. Or, if you have a different idea on how we can collaborate, pitch it! I’d just really like to work with someone.
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What’s the current status and goals of the project? What pieces would you want outside contribution on? Any interest in integrating zine for static site generation? How do you envision making the tool usable for non technical users?
Great questions.
Current status: unzips the Instagram export, parses the json into zig objects, outputs HTML for each post. Still need to copy the media, generate index pages, and probably a couple other things I forgot.
Contributors: What I’m looking for is company and willingness to work through a problem. I think I could accomplish the technical, social, and design parts of this project alone but staying motivated is proving to be a challenge.
Zine: maybe! I actually tried it with zine once, and failed because zine did not (yet?) have a feature I needed. Possible user error, though. And, I also like the idea of as few dependencies as possible. A thought I’ve had before: if I’m willing to write text files for zine, why not just write the HTML instead?
Broad usability: Eventually, I’d like to make this into a desktop (first) or mobile (second) app where people can get instructions and then use the app to make the static site. Possibly even upload that site somewhere. This is a pretty ambitious dream. I don’t expect to get there soon, but one step at a time. Another path might be to create a website where people can upload their export. I like that less, though because I would not trust some random site to take all my Instagram pictures.
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This is a great idea!
I can’t join this time around, but this has potential of being an amazing way to connect community members and help everyone involved get better. Good luck! (And if you can, please share how it goes once you start - I’m sure you’ll find someone to join.)
Fantastic idea, really. 
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I just want to put out there that I’ve had a bit of interest and even one pairing session so far. We even added a feature! But don’t let that dissuade you; if you’d still like to connect and pair, reach out!