🌐 Academic Website Setup & Management Guide

This guide will help you manage and update your modernized academic website built with Jekyll and the latest Minimal Mistakes theme.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Initial Setup

Requirements

Ruby 2.5+ and Bundler
Git for version control
Text editor (VS Code, Atom, etc.)

First-time Setup

# Clone your repository
git clone https://github.com/bprelipcean/bprelipcean.github.io.git
cd bprelipcean.github.io

# Install dependencies
bundle install

# Serve locally
bundle exec jekyll serve

# Visit http://localhost:4000 to see your site

2. Key Files Overview

├── _config.yml           # Main site configuration
├── _data/
│   └── navigation.yml    # Site navigation menu
├── _pages/              # Static pages (About, CV, etc.)
├── _posts/              # Blog posts
├── _publications/       # Your publications
├── _teaching/           # Course information
├── _talks/              # Conference talks
├── _research/           # Research projects
├── files/               # PDFs, documents
├── images/              # Images and photos
└── assets/              # CSS, JS, fonts

📝 Content Management

Personal Information (_config.yml)

Update your personal details in _config.yml:

# Site Settings
title: "Your Name"
name: "Your Name"
description: "Your bio/description"
url: https://yourusername.github.io

# Author Information
author:
  name: "Your Name"
  avatar: "profile.jpg"  # Place in /images/
  bio: "Your short bio"
  location: "Your Location"
  employer: "Your Institution"
  email: "your.email@domain.com"
  googlescholar: "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YOUR_ID"
  linkedin: "https://linkedin.com/in/yourprofile"
  github: "yourusername"
  # Add other social media profiles

Adding Publications

Create files in _publications/ directory:

---
title: "Your Paper Title"
collection: publications
permalink: /publication/paper-shortname
excerpt: 'Brief description of the paper'
date: 2024-01-15
venue: 'Conference/Journal Name'
paperurl: 'http://link-to-paper.com'
citation: 'Your citation format'
---

## Abstract
Your paper abstract here...

## Key Contributions
- Contribution 1
- Contribution 2

[Download paper here](http://link-to-paper.com)

Adding Teaching Content

Create course files in _teaching/ directory:

---
title: "Course Name"
collection: teaching
type: "Undergraduate/Graduate Course"
permalink: /teaching/course-shortname
venue: "Institution Name"
semester: "Fall 2024"
credits: "3 ECTS"
enrollment: "30"
current: true  # true for current courses, false for past
date: 2024-09-01
syllabus: "/files/course-syllabus.pdf"
materials: "/teaching/course-materials/"
assignments: "/teaching/course-assignments/"
excerpt: "Brief course description"
---

## Course Overview
Detailed course description...

## Learning Objectives
- Objective 1
- Objective 2

## Assessment
- Exams: 50%
- Projects: 30%
- Participation: 20%

Adding Research Projects

Create files in _research/ directory:

---
title: "Research Project Title"
collection: research
type: "Research Project"
permalink: /research/project-name
date: 2024-01-01
status: "Ongoing" # Ongoing, Completed, Planned
funding: "Grant Agency Name"
excerpt: "Brief project description"
---

## Project Overview
Detailed description...

## Objectives
- Goal 1
- Goal 2

## Publications
- [Paper 1](/publication/paper1)
- [Paper 2](/publication/paper2)

Adding Talks

Create files in _talks/ directory:

---
title: "Talk Title"
collection: talks
type: "Conference presentation"
permalink: /talks/talk-name
venue: "Conference Name"
date: 2024-03-15
location: "City, Country"
---

## Abstract
Talk abstract...

[Download slides](http://link-to-slides.com)

🎨 Customization

Changing Theme Appearance

Modify the theme skin in _config.yml:

minimal_mistakes_skin: "default"
# Options: "air", "aqua", "contrast", "dark", "dirt", "neon", "mint", "plum", "sunrise"

Adding Custom CSS

Create or edit assets/css/main.scss:

---
# Only the main Sass file needs front matter (the dashes are enough)
---

@charset "utf-8";

@import "minimal-mistakes/skins/dark"; // skin
@import "minimal-mistakes"; // main partials

// Your custom styles here
.custom-class {
  color: #your-color;
}

Edit _data/navigation.yml:

main:
  - title: "About"
    url: /about/
  - title: "Publications"
    url: /publications/
  - title: "Teaching"
    url: /teaching/
  - title: "CV"
    url: /cv/

📁 File Management

Document Organization

files/
├── cv/
│   └── your-cv.pdf
├── publications/
│   ├── paper1.pdf
│   └── paper2.pdf
├── teaching/
│   ├── course1-syllabus.pdf
│   └── course2-materials.zip
└── talks/
    ├── talk1-slides.pdf
    └── talk2-poster.pdf

Image Management

images/
├── profile.jpg          # Your profile photo
├── bio-photo.jpg        # Alternative bio photo
├── publications/
│   ├── paper1-fig1.png
│   └── paper2-diagram.jpg
└── teaching/
    ├── course1-logo.png
    └── lab-setup.jpg

🔧 Advanced Features

Search Functionality

Search is enabled by default. Configure in _config.yml:

search: true
search_full_content: true
search_provider: lunr  # lunr, algolia, google

Analytics

Add Google Analytics in _config.yml:

analytics:
  provider: "google-gtag"
  google:
    tracking_id: "YOUR-TRACKING-ID"
    anonymize_ip: false

Comments

Enable comments in _config.yml:

comments:
  provider: "disqus"
  disqus:
    shortname: "your-disqus-shortname"

🚀 Publishing & Updates

Local Testing

Always test locally before publishing:

# Serve locally with drafts
bundle exec jekyll serve --drafts

# Build for production
bundle exec jekyll build

Publishing to GitHub Pages

# Add changes
git add .

# Commit with descriptive message
git commit -m "Add new publication: Paper Title"

# Push to GitHub
git push origin master

# Site will be live at https://yourusername.github.io in a few minutes

Regular Maintenance

Monthly Tasks

Update dependencies: bundle update
Check for broken links
Review and update CV
Add new publications/talks

Semester Tasks

Update teaching section with new courses
Archive completed courses (set current: false)
Update research project status
Refresh profile photo if needed

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Bundle Install Fails

# Update Ruby gems
gem update --system
bundle install

Site Not Building

# Check for syntax errors
bundle exec jekyll build --verbose

# Clear cache
bundle exec jekyll clean
bundle exec jekyll build

Changes Not Appearing

Clear browser cache
Check file paths (case-sensitive)
Verify YAML front matter syntax
Wait 5-10 minutes for GitHub Pages to update

Getting Help

Jekyll Documentation: https://jekyllrb.com/docs/
Minimal Mistakes Guide: https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/
GitHub Pages Help: https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages
Markdown Guide: https://www.markdownguide.org/

📋 Content Templates

Quick Publication Entry

---
title: "Paper Title"
collection: publications
date: 2024-01-01
venue: 'Journal Name'
excerpt: 'Brief description'
---

Quick Teaching Entry

---
title: "Course Name"
collection: teaching
type: "Course Type"
current: true
semester: "Fall 2024"
excerpt: 'Course description'
---

Quick Talk Entry

---
title: "Talk Title"
collection: talks
date: 2024-01-01
venue: 'Conference Name'
location: 'City, Country'
---

🎯 Best Practices

Regular Updates: Update content monthly
SEO Optimization: Use descriptive titles and excerpts
Mobile-Friendly: Test on mobile devices
Fast Loading: Optimize images (< 1MB each)
Professional Tone: Maintain consistent voice
Backup: Keep local backups of important files
Version Control: Use meaningful commit messages

Need Help? Contact: bprelipcean_at_info.uaic.ro

Dr. Bogdan Prelipcean