ZIMWRITERFS(1)

🌸 ZIMWRITERFS(1) 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to zimwriterfs 💖 it's a User Command, it lives in section 1 of the manual, and it is literally the glow-up your plain ol' folder of HTML deserves. Let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

zimwriterfs — creates ZIM files from a locally-stored directory. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

zimwriterfs [mandatory arguments] [optional arguments] HTML_DIRECTORY
ZIM_FILE

so yeah, mandatory stuff first, optional stuff after, and then two positional besties at the end. no cap. ✨

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

🌈 Mandatory arguments:

these are not optional, babe. you need them. periodt.

• -w, --welcome — the path of the default/main HTML page. and listen, the path has to be relative to HTML_DIRECTORY. no absolute paths, no exceptions, iykyk. 🌸
• -f, --favicon — the path of the ZIM file favicon. this path must also be relative to HTML_DIRECTORY, and the image needs to be a 48x48 PNG. yes, exactly 48 by 48. the icon is the main character, let it serve. 👑
• -l, --language — the language code of the content, in ISO639-3. that's the three-letter one, bestie. 🌍
• -t, --title — the title of the ZIM file. give it a name, it deserves one 💖
• -d, --description — a short description of the content. short!! don't write an essay. 🍓
• -c, --creator — the creator(s) of the content. plural is allowed, go off. ✨
• -p, --publisher — the creator of the ZIM file itself. which is... not the same thing as the content creator, so don't mix them up 🙈
• HTML_DIRECTORY — the path of the directory containing the HTML pages you want to put in the ZIM file. this is your source material, your raw material, your moment. 📁
• ZIM_FILE — the path of the ZIM file you want to obtain. this is the output. the final look. the reveal. 💅

🎀 Optional arguments:

these are the little extras, the accessories to the outfit, the cherry on top. lowkey the best part tbh.

• -v, --verbose — prints processing details on STDOUT. she's chatty and we love that for her. 🗣️
• -h, --help — prints this help. a classic. an icon. 🫶
• -m, --minChunkSize — number of bytes per ZIM cluster. the default is 2048. don't touch it unless you know what you're doing, fr fr.
• -x, --inflateHtml — tries to inflate HTML files before packing (*.html, *.htm, ...). note the word "tries" — it's doing its best. 🌸
• -u, --uniqueNamespace — puts everything in the same namespace 'A'. and btw this might be necessary to avoid problems with dynamic/javascript data loading, so if your JS is acting up, this is your girl. 🔥
• -r, --redirects — the path to the TSV file with the list of redirects. the format is url, title, target_url, tab separated. keep the tabs, bestie, the tabs are load-bearing. 🦋
• -i, --withFullTextIndex — index the content and add it to the ZIM. searchable content, we stan. ⭐
• -a, --tags — tags, semicolon separated. so many tags. tag it up. 🏷️
• -n, --name — a custom (version independent) identifier for the content. version independent!! she doesn't change when the version does. iconic. 👑

🧚 EXAMPLE 🧚

here's the moment you've been waiting for, the actual real-life usage, no edits:

zimwriterfs --welcome=index.html --favicon=m/favicon.png --language=fra
--title=foobar --description=mydescription --creator=Wikipedia
--publisher=Kiwix ./my_project_html_directory my_project.zim

look at that. --language=fra, title foobar, description mydescription, creator Wikipedia, publisher Kiwix, directory ./my_project_html_directory, output my_project.zim. chef's kiss, ate, no crumbs. 💖

💀 REPORTING BUGS 💀

found a bug? not the cute kind? report it to <https://github.com/openzim/zimwriterfs> 🐛 (yes, the angle brackets are part of it, that's just how it's written, don't @ me).

and that's the whole page bestie!! 🌈 this manual page is from OpenZIM, dated June 2018 — a vintage serve, honestly, and it still hits. now go make some ZIM files, you've got this 💅✨🦋💜