Marmite now supports Series - a powerful feature for organizing related content into chronological sequences. Perfect for tutorials, guides, or any multi-part content that should be read in order.

What are Series?

Series allow you to group related posts together with automatic chronological ordering and navigation. Unlike tags or streams, series content is always ordered from oldest to newest, making them ideal for:

Tutorial series (like step-by-step guides)
Course content (progressive learning materials)
Multi-part articles (book chapters, long-form content)
Sequential documentation (installation → configuration → usage)

Basic Usage

Adding Content to a Series

Simply add a series field to your content's frontmatter:

---
title: "Python Tutorial - Part 1: Getting Started"
date: 2024-10-30
series: python-tutorial
tags: ["python", "tutorial", "programming"]
authors: ["marmite"]
description: "First part of our comprehensive Python tutorial series"
---

Series Naming Conventions

Use lowercase, hyphenated names: python-tutorial, web-development-basics
Keep names descriptive but concise
Use consistent naming across all parts of the series

Combining Series with Streams

Series can be used in combination with streams for advanced content organization:

---
title: "Python Tutorial - Part 1: Getting Started"
date: 2024-10-30
series: python-tutorial
stream: tutorial
tags: ["python", "tutorial", "programming"]
authors: ["marmite"]
description: "First part of our comprehensive Python tutorial series"
---

When both series and stream are set:

Series navigation takes precedence - next/previous links follow series order
Content appears in stream feeds - but maintains series chronological order
Flexible visibility control - use streams to exclude series content from main blog listing while keeping it organized in dedicated stream pages

Generated Pages

Marmite automatically generates several pages for your series:

Individual Series Pages

Each series gets its own page at serie-{series-name}.html showing all posts in chronological order (oldest to newest).

Series Index Page

A master series.html page lists all available series with post counts and links.

RSS/JSON Feeds

Each series automatically generates:

serie-{series-name}.rss - RSS feed for the series
serie-{series-name}.json - JSON feed for the series

Configuration

Series Display Names

Configure friendly display names in marmite.yaml:

series:
  python-tutorial:
    display_name: "Python Tutorial"
    description: "A comprehensive Python programming tutorial series"
  web-dev-basics:
    display_name: "Web Development Basics"
    description: "Essential skills for modern web development"

Adding Series to Navigation

Add series to your site navigation:

menu:
  - ["Pages", "pages.html"]
  - ["Tags", "tags.html"] 
  - ["Archive", "archive.html"]
  - ["Authors", "authors.html"]
  - ["Streams", "streams.html"]
  - ["Series", "series.html"]  # Add this line

Template Features

Series Information Display

Content that's part of a series automatically shows:

A series link at the top: "Published as part of 'Python Tutorial' series."
No related content section (series navigation takes precedence)

Navigation Behavior

Series content gets special navigation treatment:

Next/Previous links follow series chronology instead of publication date
Series order takes precedence over stream navigation
Chronological flow ensures readers follow the intended sequence

Template Functions

Series Display Name Function

Use series_display_name() in templates:

<!-- Shows configured display name or falls back to series name -->
{{ series_display_name(series=content.series) }}

Accessing Series Data

In templates, access series information:

{% if content.series %}
  <p>Part of the <a href="{{ url_for(path='serie-' ~ content.series ~ '.html') }}">
    {{ series_display_name(series=content.series) }}
  </a> series</p>
{% endif %}

Best Practices

Content Organization

Plan your series structure before creating content
Use consistent dating to ensure proper ordering
Write clear descriptions for each series part
Cross-reference related series when appropriate

SEO Considerations

Each series page gets proper meta tags and structured data
Series RSS feeds improve content discoverability
Chronological navigation helps search engines understand content relationships

User Experience

Clear series indicators help readers understand they're in a sequence
Consistent numbering in titles (Part 1, Part 2, etc.)
Series completion indicators in descriptions when finished

Example: Complete Series Setup

Here's how to set up a complete tutorial series:

Configuration (marmite.yaml):

series:
  python-tutorial:
    display_name: "Python Programming Tutorial"
    description: "Learn Python from basics to advanced concepts"

Content files:

# 2024-10-30-python-tutorial-part-1.md
---
title: "Python Tutorial - Part 1: Getting Started"
date: 2024-10-30
series: python-tutorial
tags: ["python", "tutorial", "programming"]
---

# 2024-11-05-python-tutorial-part-2.md
---
title: "Python Tutorial - Part 2: Data Types"  
date: 2024-11-05
series: python-tutorial
tags: ["python", "tutorial", "programming", "data-types"]
---

Generated URLs:

Series page: /serie-python-tutorial.html
Series RSS: /serie-python-tutorial.rss
Series JSON: /serie-python-tutorial.json
Series index: /series.html

Migration from Other Systems

From Tags/Categories

If you have tutorial content currently tagged:

Keep existing tags for discoverability
Add series field to group related content
Update frontmatter gradually

From Manual Navigation

Replace manual "Next/Previous" links - Marmite handles this automatically for series content.

Technical Details

Series content is sorted chronologically (oldest first) unlike other content
Related content sections are automatically disabled for series posts
Series navigation takes precedence over stream navigation
All series data is available in templates via the site_data.series object

The Series feature makes Marmite perfect for educational content, documentation sites, and any scenario where content order matters. Start organizing your related content today!

Please consider giving a ☆ on Marmite Github repository, that helps a lot!

Organizing Content with Series in Marmite