Website Modernization Summary

Overview

Your personal website has been modernized with a fresh, nature-inspired design while maintaining the same simple workflow for adding content.

What Changed

1. Visual Design Updates

Color Scheme

• Nature-inspired palette: Forest greens (#2d5f3f) and sky blues (#4a90a4)
• Better contrast: Improved text readability with darker text (#2c3e50)
• Subtle backgrounds: Light gray background (#fafbfc) instead of pure white
• Accent colors: Sky blue for links, forest green for highlights

Typography & Spacing

• Bolder headings: Section headers now use forest green with stronger weights
• Better line spacing: Improved readability with 1.6 line height
• Modern font hierarchy: Clearer visual distinction between heading levels

Modern UI Elements

• Rounded corners: 12px border radius on cards and images
• Smooth shadows: Subtle box shadows (0 2px 8px) that lift on hover
• Smooth transitions: 0.3s cubic-bezier animations for all interactions
• Hover effects: Scale transforms and color changes on interactive elements

2. Homepage (about.md)

Structure

• Section headers: Green bordered headers for “About Me” and “Latest News”
• Improved spacing: Better margins and padding throughout
• Styled image: Quebec forest image now has rounded corners and shadow

News Section

• Structured layout: Date badges on the left, content on the right
• Better typography: Dates in italic forest green, content in readable font
• Clean borders: Subtle separators between news items
• Clickable links: Styled in sky blue with hover effects

3. Code and Data Page

New Grid Layout

• 2-column responsive grid: Displays projects as cards on larger screens
• Project cards: Each project shows:
  • Large teaser image with hover zoom
  • Project title
  • Description excerpt
  • “View Project” button
• Hover effects: Cards lift and images scale on hover

Files Modified

• _pages/codeanddata.html: Updated to use grid layout
• _includes/project-card.html: New card template for projects

4. Publications Page

Enhanced Layout

• Section headers: “Recent Publications” and “PhD Thesis” sections
• Better formatting: Improved spacing and typography
• Maintained content: All your publication data preserved exactly as is

5. New Reusable Components

Card Components (_sass/_cards.scss)

• Publication cards: Ready to use for future publication displays
• Project cards: For code/data projects
• Feature cards: For highlighting key achievements
• News items: Structured news layout

Modern Buttons (btn-modern)

• Primary: Forest green background
• Secondary: Sky blue outline with hover fill
• Outline: Subtle border with hover effects

6. Updated Base Styles

Variables (_sass/_variables.scss)

• New color palette variables
• Modern shadow definitions
• Smoother transition settings
• Larger border radius values

Archive Styles (_sass/_archive.scss)

• Better hover effects
• Improved typography
• Modern spacing
• Image zoom on hover

Page Styles (_sass/_page.scss)

• Forest green page titles
• Better font weights

Sidebar (_sass/_sidebar.scss)

• Avatar hover effect
• Thicker border
• Subtle scale animation

Buttons (_sass/_buttons.scss)

• Forest green “Follow” button
• Lift effect on hover

Masthead (_sass/_masthead.scss)

• Stronger border
• White background

How to Use

Adding New Publications

No change to your workflow! Continue adding publications to:

• _pages/publications.md - Add entries in markdown format as you do now

Adding New Projects/Code

No change to your workflow! Continue adding to:

• _codeanddata/ - Create new markdown files with frontmatter:

  ---
  title: "Your Project Title"
  excerpt: "Brief description<br/><img src='/images/teaser.png'>"
  collection: codeanddata
  ---
  

Adding News Items

Edit _pages/about.md and add new items in this format:

<div class="news-item">
  <span class="news-item__date">MM/YYYY</span>
  <div class="news-item__content">Your news content with <a href="#">links</a></div>
</div>

Testing Locally

Run your site locally to see the changes:

bundle exec jekyll serve

Then visit http://localhost:4000

Files Created

1. _sass/_cards.scss - New card component styles
2. _includes/publication-card.html - Publication card template
3. _includes/project-card.html - Project card template

Files Modified

1. _sass/_variables.scss - Color scheme and design tokens
2. _sass/_archive.scss - Archive page styling
3. _sass/_page.scss - Page typography
4. _sass/_sidebar.scss - Sidebar avatar styling
5. _sass/_buttons.scss - Button colors
6. _sass/_masthead.scss - Header styling
7. assets/css/main.scss - Import new card styles
8. _pages/about.md - Homepage structure and news layout
9. _pages/publications.md - Section headers
10. _pages/codeanddata.html - Grid layout for projects

Key Benefits

✅ Modern, professional appearance ✅ Nature-inspired colors matching your research ✅ Better readability and visual hierarchy ✅ Smooth animations and interactions ✅ Responsive design for all devices ✅ Same simple update workflow ✅ All content preserved exactly as is

Next Steps

1. Test locally: Run bundle exec jekyll serve to preview
2. Review changes: Check all pages look correct
3. Commit and push: Deploy to GitHub Pages as usual
4. Optional tweaks: Adjust colors in _sass/_variables.scss if desired

Color Reference

• Forest Green: #2d5f3f - Primary color for headers, buttons
• Sky Blue: #4a90a4 - Accent color for links
• Text: #2c3e50 - Main text color
• Light Text: #5a6c7d - Secondary text
• Background: #fafbfc - Page background
• Border: #e1e4e8 - Subtle borders

Enjoy your modernized website! 🌲