Add support for status: hidden in pages

Resolves #380 If the status metadata is set to 'hidden' on a page it is translated and rendered but not linked anywhere in the site.

docs/getting_started.rst

@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ generate static pages.
 Then, use the `DISPLAY_PAGES_ON_MENU` setting, which will add all the pages to 
 the menu.
 
+If you want to exclude any pages from being linked to or listed in the menu
+then add a ``status: hidden`` attribute to it's metadata. This is useful for
+things like making error pages that fit the generated theme of your site.
+
 Importing an existing blog
 --------------------------
 

pelican/generators.py

@@ -357,10 +357,13 @@ class PagesGenerator(Generator):
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.pages = []
+        self.hidden_pages = []
+        self.hidden_translations = []
         super(PagesGenerator, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def generate_context(self):
         all_pages = []
+        hidden_pages = []
         for f in self.get_files(
                 os.path.join(self.path, self.settings['PAGE_DIR']),
                 exclude=self.settings['PAGE_EXCLUDES']):
@@ -373,15 +376,25 @@ class PagesGenerator(Generator):
                         filename=f)
             if not is_valid_content(page, f):
                 continue
-            all_pages.append(page)
+            if page.status == "published":
+                all_pages.append(page)
+            elif page.status == "hidden":
+                hidden_pages.append(page)
+            else:
+                logger.warning(u"Unknown status %s for file %s, skipping it." %
+                               (repr(unicode.encode(article.status, 'utf-8')),
+                                repr(f)))
+
 
         self.pages, self.translations = process_translations(all_pages)
+        self.hidden_pages, self.hidden_translations = process_translations(hidden_pages)
 
         self._update_context(('pages', ))
         self.context['PAGES'] = self.pages
 
     def generate_output(self, writer):
-        for page in chain(self.translations, self.pages):
+        for page in chain(self.translations, self.pages,
+                            self.hidden_translations, self.hidden_pages):
             writer.write_file(page.save_as, self.get_template('page'),
                     self.context, page=page,
                     relative_urls=self.settings.get('RELATIVE_URLS'))

samples/content/pages/hidden_page.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+This is a test hidden page
+##########################
+
+:category: test
+:status: hidden
+
+This is great for things like error(404) pages
+Anyone can see this page but it's not linked to anywhere!
+