Dekker Lab Website source

This repository contains the source code for the Dekker Lab website.

Getting Started

These instructions will guide you on how to set up and run the website locally.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (version 18 or later recommended): typically called nodejs in popular package managers. Ensure npm (Node Package Manager) is installed with Node.js.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone git@github.com:dekkerlab/labsite.git
   cd your-repository-name

   Replace git@github.com:dekkerlab/labsite.git with the URL of your Git repository.

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

   This command installs all the necessary packages listed in the package.json file, including 11ty and any plugins (like @11ty/eleventy-plugin-dates and js-yaml). The fate of the package.lock.json is less clear to me (to be figured out)...

Rendering and Serving the Website

• Build the static site:

  npx @11ty/eleventy

  This command will generate the static website files in the _site directory.

• Serve the website locally (with live reloading):

  npx @11ty/eleventy --serve

  This command will build the site and start a local development server, usually accessible at http://localhost:8080. Any changes you make to the source files will automatically trigger a rebuild and refresh in your browser. Except some of the JS-related changes require a full server restart to take effect !

Key Dependencies

• Eleventy (@11ty/eleventy): The static site generator used to build the website.
• js-yaml: Used for parsing YAML data files (e.g., _data/members.yaml).
• @11ty/eleventy-plugin-dates (optional): Provides date formatting filters in Nunjucks templates.

Updating the Copyright Year

The copyright year in the website's footer is currently generated at build time using JavaScript in the Eleventy configuration. To update the copyright year for a new year, you will need to:

1. Open the _data/site.js file.
2. Locate the getCurrentYear() function.
3. Re-run the Eleventy build process using either npm run build (or the direct Eleventy commands mentioned above) in the terminal after the year has changed.
4. Deploy the newly generated _site directory to your web hosting provider.

Note: For automatic year updates without manual rebuilding, the website uses client-side JavaScript in the _includes/layouts/base.njk file. Ensure this script remains in place for the year to update dynamically in users' browsers.

Disclaimer

gemini 2.0 was heavily involved in the website generation