Blog Content Guide

Blog Content Guide

This guide explains how to organize and add content to your Jekyll blog.

How Your Blog is Organized

Your Jekyll blog uses a simple but powerful structure:

Current Structure:

• Home page (index.md) - Uses _data/menu.yml to display navigation and post listings
• Section pages - experiences.md, books.md, about.md (already created!)
• Posts directory - _posts/ contains all your blog posts
• Menu configuration - _data/menu.yml controls what appears on the home page

Step-by-Step Guide to Adding Blog Content

STEP 1: Update Your Home Page Menu

Edit _data/menu.yml to create your three-section structure:

entries:
  - title: about
    url: about.html

  - title: experiences
    post_list:
      category: experiences
      limit: 5
      show_more: true
      show_more_text: see all experiences →
      show_more_url: experiences.html

  - title: books
    post_list:
      category: books
      limit: 5
      show_more: true
      show_more_text: see all books →
      show_more_url: books.html

  - title: rss
    url: feed.xml

STEP 2: Update Section Pages

Each section page (experiences.md, books.md) should list all posts in that category:

For experiences.md:

---
layout: page
title: experiences
---

Things I've tried, courses I've completed, work experiences, and life reflections.<ul><li>
          <span>2026-04-21</span>
          
          <a href="/finishing-uefa-c-coaching-course.html">finishing uefa c coaching course</a>
          
        </li></ul>```

**For `books.md`:**
```yaml
---
layout: page
title: books
---

Notes and thoughts on books I've read.<ul><li>
          <span>2026-05-05</span>
          
          <a href="/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick.html">the mom test</a>
          
        </li><li>
          <span>2026-04-28</span>
          
          <a href="/zero-to-one-peter-thiel.html">zero to one</a>
          
        </li><li>
          <span>2026-04-28</span>
          
          <a href="/the-lean-startup-eric-ries.html">the lean startup</a>
          
        </li><li>
          <span>2026-04-28</span>
          
          <a href="/pitch-anything-oren-klaff.html">pitch anything</a>
          
        </li><li>
          <span>2026-04-28</span>
          
          <a href="/never-split-the-difference-chris-voss.html">never split the difference</a>
          
        </li></ul>```

**For `about.md`:**
Keep it as is - it's your personal introduction page.

### STEP 3: Create Blog Posts

**File naming convention:** `YYYY-MM-DD-title-slug.md` in the `_posts/` directory

**For experiences posts:**
```markdown
---
layout: post
category: experiences
title: "My First Week at Company X"
date: 2026-03-25
---

Your content here...

For books posts:

---
layout: post
category: books
title: "Notes on Shoe Dog by Phil Knight"
date: 2026-03-20
---

Your content here...

STEP 4: Writing Posts - Best Practices

Front matter (required):

• layout: post - Always use this for posts
• category: - Use experiences or books
• title: - Your post title (optional if filename is descriptive)
• date: - Publication date (optional, defaults to filename date)

Content tips:

• Use markdown formatting (headings, lists, code blocks, etc.)
• Add images: ![alt text](/assets/img/your-image.jpg)
• Use front matter to organize and filter posts

Quick Workflow for Adding New Content

1. Write a new post: Create _posts/2026-03-25-my-post-title.md
2. Add front matter: Set layout, category, and title
3. Write content: Use markdown
4. Preview locally: Run bundle exec jekyll serve
5. Commit and push: Your site will rebuild automatically

Example: Adding Your First Experience Post

Create the file:

_posts/2026-03-25-finishing-stanford-machine-learning.md

With content:

---
layout: post
category: experiences
title: "Finishing Stanford's Machine Learning Course"
---

After 3 months of dedication, I finally completed Andrew Ng's Machine Learning course.

## What I Learned
- Linear regression and gradient descent
- Neural networks from scratch
- Practical tips for ML projects

## Key Takeaways
The most valuable lesson was...

Summary Checklist

• Update _data/menu.yml with your three sections
• Update experiences.md to show all experience posts
• Update books.md to show all book posts
• Keep about.md as your personal intro
• Start writing posts in _posts/ with proper categories
• Use category: experiences or category: books in front matter
• Preview changes with bundle exec jekyll serve

Categories Reference

Your blog uses two main categories:

• experiences - Things you tried, courses, work experiences, life reflections
• books - Notes and thoughts on books you’ve read

Posts are automatically filtered and displayed on their respective section pages based on the category field in the front matter.

That’s it! This theme is designed to be simple - just write markdown files and the theme handles the rest. Your home page will automatically show recent posts from each category with links to see more.