🎉 Your Breiss Lab Website is Ready!

What Was Created

A complete, professional academic lab website built with Jekyll and the Minimal Mistakes theme. The site is:

✅ Ready to deploy to GitHub Pages
✅ Easy to update through GitHub’s web interface
✅ Mobile-friendly and responsive
✅ Professional academic design
✅ Well-documented for non-technical users

📋 What You Have

Website Pages (All Fully Customizable)

1. Home Page (index.md)
   • Welcome message
   • Research highlights
   • Latest 3 news posts
   • Easy-to-update content
2. Research Page (_pages/research.md)
   • Space for multiple research areas
   • Key publications sections
   • Funding information
   • Collaboration details
3. People Page (_pages/people.md)
   • Principal Investigator profile
   • Postdocs section
   • Graduate students section
   • Undergraduates section
   • Alumni section
4. Publications Page (_pages/publications.md)
   • Organized by year
   • DOI links
   • PDF links
   • Preprints section
   • Book chapters section
5. Contact Page (_pages/contact.md)
   • Lab address
   • Contact information
   • Information for prospective students/postdocs
   • Directions
6. Blog/News (_posts/)
   • Sample welcome post included
   • Automatic RSS feed
   • Easy to add new posts

Documentation (For You!)

1. SETUP.md - Quick start guide (START HERE!)
2. README.md - Complete documentation
3. CONTENT_GUIDE.md - Content templates and examples
4. FILE_STRUCTURE.md - Visual guide to organization

🚀 Next Steps (In Order)

Step 1: Enable GitHub Pages (5 minutes)

Quick version: Go to your repository → Settings (top menu) → Pages (left sidebar) → Source: “GitHub Actions”

Detailed version: See GITHUB_PAGES_SETUP.md for complete step-by-step instructions with visual guides.

Your site will be live at:

https://cbreiss.github.io/breisslab/

Step 2: Customize Site Settings (10 minutes)

Edit _config.yml to add:

• Your lab name
• Your name and contact info
• Your university
• Your social media links

Step 3: Fill in Content (30-60 minutes)

Edit each page with your real content:

• index.md - Home page
• _pages/research.md - Your research
• _pages/people.md - Your team
• _pages/publications.md - Your papers
• _pages/contact.md - Your contact info

Step 4: Add Photos (15 minutes)

Upload to assets/images/:

• Team member photos
• Lab photos
• Research images

Step 5: Launch! (5 minutes)

• Review the live site
• Share the URL
• Celebrate! 🎊

📖 Quick Reference

To Edit a Page

1. Go to https://github.com/cbreiss/breisslab
2. Click on the file
3. Click the pencil icon (✏️)
4. Make changes
5. Click “Commit changes”
6. Wait 2-3 minutes to see changes live

To Add a News Post

1. Go to _posts folder
2. Click “Add file” → “Create new file”
3. Name: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
4. Add content using the template in CONTENT_GUIDE.md
5. Commit the file

To Upload Photos

1. Go to assets/images/ folder
2. Click “Add file” → “Upload files”
3. Drag and drop your photos
4. Commit changes

🎨 Customization Options

Change Color Scheme

In _config.yml, change:

minimal_mistakes_skin: "default"

Available options:

• "air" - Light and airy
• "aqua" - Blue tones
• "contrast" - High contrast
• "dark" - Dark theme
• "dirt" - Earth tones
• "mint" - Green tones
• "neon" - Vibrant colors
• "plum" - Purple tones
• "sunrise" - Warm colors

Change Navigation Menu

Edit _data/navigation.yml to add/remove menu items.

✅ Features Included

• Automatic Deployment - Changes go live automatically
• Responsive Design - Works on all devices
• SEO Optimized - Good for search engines
• RSS Feed - For news posts
• Social Media Integration - Links to profiles
• Google Scholar Integration - Link to your profile
• Professional Theme - Academic-focused design
• Easy Updates - No coding required

🆘 Need Help?

Quick Help

• SETUP.md - Getting started
• README.md - Complete guide
• CONTENT_GUIDE.md - Content templates
• FILE_STRUCTURE.md - Understanding files

Common Questions

Q: How long until changes appear?
A: 2-3 minutes after committing

Q: Can I preview changes before publishing?
A: Yes, by running Jekyll locally (see README.md)

Q: Do I need to know programming?
A: No! Everything can be done through GitHub’s web interface

Q: Can I customize the design?
A: Yes! Change colors, fonts, and layout (see Minimal Mistakes docs)

Q: How do I undo a change?
A: GitHub saves all versions - you can revert to any previous version

📚 Additional Resources

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

🎓 Built With

• Jekyll - Static site generator
• Minimal Mistakes - Professional Jekyll theme
• GitHub Pages - Free hosting
• GitHub Actions - Automatic deployment

🔒 Security

✅ Security scan completed - no vulnerabilities found
✅ All dependencies are up-to-date
✅ Safe to deploy to production

📝 Summary

Your lab website is complete and ready to use. Start with SETUP.md to enable GitHub Pages, then customize the content to make it yours. The site is designed to be easy to maintain, even if you’re not familiar with GitHub or web development.

Your website URL (after enabling GitHub Pages):

https://cbreiss.github.io/breisslab/

Remember: All the documentation you need is in this repository. Take your time, follow the guides, and don’t hesitate to refer back to the documentation files whenever you need help.

Good luck with your new lab website! 🚀