File Exclusion

Control which files are copied during the build process with the excludeFiles configuration option in CampsiteJS.

The excludeFiles configuration option allows you to skip specific files or patterns when copying from the public/ directory during the build process. This is useful for excluding large files, work-in-progress content, or files that shouldn’t be deployed to production.

Overview

By default, CampsiteJS copies all files from the public/ directory to your output directory during the build process. The excludeFiles option gives you fine-grained control over what gets excluded, helping you:

• Reduce build times by skipping unnecessary files
• Prevent deployment of draft or work-in-progress content
• Exclude large files like PDFs or ZIP archives
• Skip development files that aren’t needed in production

Configuration

Add the excludeFiles array to your campsite.config.js:

export default {
  // ... other config options
  excludeFiles: ['.pdf', '*.zip', 'draft-*']
};

Pattern Types

Extension Patterns

Exclude all files with a specific extension:

excludeFiles: [
  '.pdf',      // Exclude all PDF files
  '.zip',      // Exclude all ZIP files
  '.psd',      // Exclude Photoshop files
  '.ai'        // Exclude Adobe Illustrator files
]

Variations:

// With or without dot - both work
'.pdf'   // Recommended
'pdf'    // Also works

// With asterisk
'*.pdf'  // Also works

Exact Filename Matches

Exclude specific files by exact name:

excludeFiles: [
  'draft.html',
  'README.md',
  'notes.txt',
  'temp-backup.json'
]

Wildcard Patterns

Use wildcards (*) for flexible matching:

excludeFiles: [
  'draft-*',        // Matches: draft-post.html, draft-page.md
  '*-backup',       // Matches: site-backup, data-backup
  'temp-*',         // Matches: temp-file.txt, temp-image.jpg
  '*-WIP.*'         // Matches: project-WIP.pdf, design-WIP.psd
]

Mixed Patterns

Combine different pattern types:

excludeFiles: [
  // Extensions
  '.pdf',
  '.zip',
  '.psd',
  
  // Exact names
  'README.md',
  'CHANGELOG.md',
  
  // Wildcards
  'draft-*',
  '*-backup.*',
  'temp-*'
]

Common Use Cases

Exclude Document Files

export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    '.pdf',
    '.docx',
    '.xlsx',
    '.pptx'
  ]
};

Exclude Draft Content

export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    'draft-*',
    '*-draft.*',
    'wip-*',
    '*-WIP.*'
  ]
};

Exclude Development Files

export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    'README.md',
    '.DS_Store',
    'Thumbs.db',
    '*.map',
    '*.orig'
  ]
};

Exclude Large Assets

export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    '.zip',
    '.tar',
    '.gz',
    '.mp4',
    '.mov',
    'large-*'
  ]
};

Exclude Design Files

export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    '.psd',
    '.ai',
    '.sketch',
    '.fig',
    '.xd',
    'design-*'
  ]
};

Complete Example

Here’s a comprehensive configuration:

export default {
  siteName: "My Campsite",
  srcDir: "src",
  outDir: "dist",
  templateEngine: "nunjucks",
  markdown: true,
  
  // File exclusion
  excludeFiles: [
    // Document formats
    '.pdf',
    '.docx',
    
    // Archives
    '.zip',
    '.tar',
    '.gz',
    
    // Draft content
    'draft-*',
    '*-draft.*',
    'wip-*',
    
    // Development files
    'README.md',
    '.DS_Store',
    
    // Design files
    '.psd',
    '.ai',
    '.sketch'
  ],
  
  // Other settings
  minifyCSS: true,
  minifyHTML: true,
  cacheBustAssets: true
};

Build Output

When files are excluded, you’ll see confirmation in the build output:

camper build

Example output:

🏕️ Building your Campsite...
📝 Processing pages... (23 pages)
🎨 Copying public files...
  ⏭️  Skipping excluded file: project.pdf
  ⏭️  Skipping excluded file: design-mockup.psd
  ⏭️  Skipping excluded file: draft-blog-post.html
  ⏭️  Skipping excluded file: backup.zip
✅ Build complete! Output: ./dist/

Directory Structure Example

Before Build (public/ directory):

public/
  images/
    hero.jpg
    logo.png
  documents/
    guide.pdf          ← Will be excluded
    manual.pdf         ← Will be excluded
  drafts/
    draft-post.html    ← Will be excluded
  style.css
  script.js
  README.md            ← Will be excluded

Configuration:

excludeFiles: ['.pdf', 'draft-*', 'README.md']

After Build (dist/ directory):

dist/
  images/
    hero.jpg
    logo.png
  documents/
    (empty - PDFs excluded)
  style.css
  script.js

Pattern Matching Examples

Exclusion vs. Photo Compression

When using both excludeFiles and photo compression, files are excluded before compression:

export default {
  excludeFiles: ['draft-*.jpg'],  // Exclude draft photos
  compressPhotos: true,
  compressionSettings: {
    quality: 80,
    formats: ['.webp']  // Won't process excluded files
  }
};

Excluded files:

• Are not copied to output directory
• Are not processed for compression
• Don’t appear in build statistics

Gitignore Comparison

The excludeFiles option is similar to .gitignore, but works differently:

Example Workflow

// .gitignore
node_modules/
.env
*.log

// campsite.config.js
export default {
  excludeFiles: [
    '.pdf',        // Keep PDFs in Git, exclude from build
    'draft-*',     // Keep drafts in Git, exclude from build
    '*.psd'        // Keep design files in Git, exclude from build
  ]
};

Best Practices

1. Document Your Patterns

Add comments explaining exclusion patterns:

excludeFiles: [
  // Large documents not needed on site
  '.pdf',
  '.docx',
  
  // Work-in-progress content
  'draft-*',
  'wip-*',
  
  // Development/design files
  '.psd',
  'README.md'
]

2. Use Consistent Naming

Adopt naming conventions that make exclusion easy:

draft-blog-post.html    // Prefix with "draft-"
design-wip.psd          // Suffix with "-wip"
temp-backup.json        // Prefix with "temp-"

3. Test Your Patterns

Build and verify excluded files aren’t in output:

camper build
ls -la dist/  # Check output directory

4. Keep Production Clean

Exclude anything not needed in production:

excludeFiles: [
  // Documentation
  'README.md',
  'CONTRIBUTING.md',
  'LICENSE',
  
  // Development artifacts
  '*.map',
  '*.orig',
  '.DS_Store',
  'Thumbs.db'
]

5. Consider Build Time

Excluding files can speed up builds, especially with large files:

excludeFiles: [
  '.zip',     // Large archives
  '.mp4',     // Large videos
  '.iso'      // Very large files
]

Troubleshooting

Files Still Being Copied

Check pattern syntax:

// ✅ Correct
excludeFiles: ['.pdf']

// ❌ Incorrect (invalid syntax)
excludeFiles: '*.pdf'  // Should be an array

// ❌ Incorrect (regex not supported)
excludeFiles: [/\.pdf$/]

Pattern Not Matching

Verify the pattern:

// Match extensions
'.pdf'      // ✅ Matches: file.pdf
'pdf'       // ✅ Also works
'*.pdf'     // ✅ Also works

// Match prefixes
'draft-*'   // ✅ Matches: draft-post.html
'*draft*'   // ✅ Matches: mydraft.html, draft-post.html

// Case sensitivity
'Draft-*'   // ❌ Won't match "draft-file.txt" (lowercase)
'draft-*'   // ✅ Matches lowercase

Excluding Nested Directories

The excludeFiles option works on file names, not paths:

// ✅ Excludes all PDFs in any directory
excludeFiles: ['.pdf']

// ✅ Excludes all files starting with "draft-"
excludeFiles: ['draft-*']

Examples by Project Type

Blog/Content Site

excludeFiles: [
  'draft-*',
  '*-draft.*',
  'README.md',
  '.DS_Store'
]

Portfolio Site

excludeFiles: [
  '.psd',
  '.ai',
  '.sketch',
  'original-*',
  '*-highres.jpg'
]

Documentation Site

excludeFiles: [
  '*.map',
  '.DS_Store',
  'Thumbs.db',
  'TODO.md'
]

Corporate Site

excludeFiles: [
  '.pdf',           // Large documents
  '.docx',          // Word documents
  'internal-*',     // Internal files
  '*-confidential.*' // Confidential files
]

Additional Resources

• Photo Compression - Optimize images during build
• Configuration - All config options
• Build Command - Understanding the build process

Next Steps:

• Photo Compression - Optimize images
• Deploying - Deploy your site
• CLI Commands - Build and development commands