CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

This is a Jekyll-based academic portfolio website for Zhilin Shi, a Geography M.S. student at Texas A&M University. The site uses the Minimal Mistakes theme hosted on GitHub Pages and showcases research, teaching, and professional information.

Development Commands

Local Development

bundle exec jekyll serve

Start local development server (usually runs on http://localhost:4000)

Build Site

bundle install
bundle exec jekyll build

Install dependencies and build the site for production

Update Dependencies

bundle update

Update Ruby gems to latest compatible versions

Site Architecture

Content Structure

• Pages (_pages/): Main site pages (research.md, cv.md, teaching.md, etc.)
• Research Projects (_research/): Individual research project pages using Jekyll collections
• Posts (_posts/): Blog posts (currently minimal usage)
• Data (_data/navigation.yml): Site navigation configuration
• Assets (assets/): Images, PDFs, CSS, and other static files

Key Configuration

• _config.yml: Main Jekyll configuration using Minimal Mistakes remote theme
• Gemfile: Ruby dependencies for GitHub Pages deployment
• index.html: Homepage with custom splash layout and card-based design

Theme and Styling

• Uses mmistakes/minimal-mistakes remote theme
• Custom skin: “dirt” theme variant
• Custom CSS in assets/css/custom.css for additional styling
• Responsive card-based layout on homepage

Collections

• research collection configured in _config.yml with permalink structure /projects/:name/
• Research projects are individual markdown files in _research/ directory

Navigation

Configured in _data/navigation.yml with main menu items:

• Research Interests
• Research
• Teaching
• CV

Content Management

Adding Research Projects

1. Create new markdown file in _research/ directory
2. Use proper YAML front matter with title, permalink, layout settings
3. Link from main research page (_pages/research.md)

Asset Organization

• Research images: assets/research_images/
• CV and documents: assets/cv/ and assets/misc/
• Profile images: assets/images/
• Teaching photos: assets/teaching_photos/

Author Profile

Configured in _config.yml under author: section with bio, avatar, and social links.

Deployment

Site deploys automatically to GitHub Pages when changes are pushed to the main branch. Uses GitHub Pages’ built-in Jekyll processing with the github-pages gem.