rehype-semantic-blockquotes

A rehype plugin to extend blockquote syntax to make it simple to mention/cite sources in a semantically correct way.

Contents

• What is this?
• When should I use this?
• Install
• Use
• API
• Security
• License

What is this?

This package is a unified (rehype) plugin to extend blockquote syntax to allow simple citation/mention of source from which the quote originates conforming to semantic HTML standards

When should I use this?

This project is useful if you want to have a simple syntax for citations in your blockquotes.

In markdown we can create blockquotes such as:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

But often times, it may be desireable to include a reference to the person that mentioned that quote.

We might think to use the <cite> element:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
> -- <cite>Albert Einstein</cite>

But that is semantically incorrect! A <cite> element should refer to work and not people. (e.g. instagram post, book, article)

Additionally, putting a <cite> element within a <blockquote> is forbidden by the HTML spec because it would make the citation a part of the quote.

So another solution could be something like this:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

-- Albert Einstein

But that feels wrong, because it would render in the following way:

<blockquote>
  <p>
    We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created
    them.
  </p>
</blockquote>
<p>-- Albert Einstein</p>

If we want to style them together we would have to wrap them within a parent element.

But there is a different approach, using the <figure> element we can create a more semantic version.

This plugin does just that.

For instance, by turning the following syntax:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
>
> @ Albert Einstein

Into this:

<figure data-blockquote-container="">
  <blockquote data-blockquote-content="">
    <p>
      We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created
    them.
    </p>
  </blockquote>
  <figcaption data-blockquote-credit="">
    <p>Albert Einstein</p>
  </figcaption>
</figure>

Then we can easily style the blockquote and the caption however we want to using CSS

[data-blockquote-container] {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  flex-gap: 8px;
}
[data-blockquote-credit]::before {
  content: "- ";
}

Or even replace with our own custom component (e.g. if we were using MDX)

export const mdxComponents: MDXComponents = {
  figure: ({ children, ...rest }) => {
    if (rest["data-blockquote-container"] === "") {
      // OK, we are only targeting the semantic blockquote
      return <MyAwesomeComponent />
    }
    
    // do nothing to non semantic-blockquotes
    return <figure {...rest}>{children}</figure>
  }
};

Install

Install with your package manager:

npm install rehype-semantic-blockquotes

pnpm add rehype-semantic-blockquotes

bun add rehype-semantic-blockquotes

deno add rehype-semantic-blockquotes

Use

Say we have the following file example.js:

import rehypeFormat from "rehype-format";
import rehypeSemanticBlockquotes from "rehype-semantic-blockquotes";
import rehypeStringify from "rehype-stringify";
import remarkParse from "remark-parse";
import remarkRehype from "remark-rehype";
import { unified } from "unified";

const markdown = `
> Better to admit you walked through the wrong door than spend your life in the wrong room.
>
> @ [Josh Davis](https://somewhere.com) <a href="https://somewhere.com"></a>
`;

const html = String(
  await unified()
    .use(remarkParse)
    .use(remarkRehype)
    .use(rehypeSemanticBlockquotes)
    .use(rehypeStringify)
    .use(rehypeFormat) // for demonstration purposes only
    .process(markdown),
);

console.log(html);

...then running node example.js yields:

<figure data-blockquote-container="">
  <blockquote data-blockquote-content="">
    <p>
      Better to admit you walked through the wrong door than spend your life in
      the wrong room.
    </p>
  </blockquote>
  <figcaption data-blockquote-credit="">
    <p><a href="https://somewhere.com">Josh Davis</a></p>
  </figcaption>
</figure>

API

This package exports no identifiers. The default export is rehypeSemanticBlockquotes.

unified().use(rehypeSemanticBlockquotes)

Adds syntax @ which places the contents in the @ into the <figcaption> element

Parameters

The attributes (data-blockquote-figure, etc.) are fully customizable. The plugin takes a parameter, opts with the following defaults:

{
    figure: "dataBlockquoteContaienr", // HTML attribute: data-blockquote-container
    blockquote: "dataBlockquoteContent", // HTML attribute: data-blockquote-content
    figcaption: "dataBlockquoteCredit", // HTML attribute: data-blockquote-credit
    syntax: "@ ",
};

[!NOTE] Even though we use camelCase here, it will output as kebab-case

See: https://github.com/syntax-tree/hast#propertyname

Returns

Transform (Transformer).

Syntax Info

In the MD blockquote, if the last line starts with an @ and the line before is an empty line then the transformation will take place. Otherwise we will just get a regular <blockquote>, the plugin won't take effect.

For example these snippets will not be affected by the plugin:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
> @ Albert Einstein

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
>
> **@ Albert Einstein**

But these would:

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
>
> @ Albert Einstein

> We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
>
> @ **Albert Einstein**

License

MIT © Nikita Revenco