The letters archive
Use with: build-website. Resume line when done: Built {project_name}, a searchable digital archive of {count} family letters with scanned originals — live at {url}
Brief
Transcribe a grandparent's letters, postcards, or diary into pages you can search and read, with the scanned originals alongside each transcription. Permission comes first: it is their story, and they decide what goes in and what stays private.
Personalize
- Their yes, in advance. Ask before scanning anything, show them the site before it goes anywhere, and honor every cut they request. A private, password-shared version is a fine outcome.
- The collection you can reach. One shoebox is enough. Twenty transcribed letters with scans beat two hundred loose scans.
- Their voice, preserved. Transcribe exactly, spelling quirks and all. Your notes and explanations go in a visibly separate spot on the page.
Milestones
- Get permission and agree on the ground rules: what is in, what is out, who can see it.
- Scan or photograph every item; name the files by date so the set sorts itself.
- Transcribe each item into its own page, original image alongside; mark unreadable words as unreadable rather than guessing.
- Add structure: an index ordered by date, and tags for people and places mentioned.
- Read the whole archive through with the owner; make their corrections and cuts.
- Publish (or share privately) and give them the first link.
Done means
- Every published item has both scan and transcription
- The owner reviewed the site and approved what appears
- Transcriptions are faithful; your commentary is visibly separate
- Index and tags make any letter findable without scrolling everything
- Unreadable or uncertain words are marked, never invented
- SESSIONS.md has an entry per session, written by you