Quick Reference: Adding Content

🚀 Quick Start

Want to add content? Follow these simple steps:

1. Choose your content type (Blog, Article, or How-to)
2. Create a new .md file in the right directory
3. Copy the appropriate template (see below)
4. Write your content
5. Save and preview

📁 Directory Structure

_posts/        → Blog posts (personal thoughts, news)
_articles/     → Technical articles (in-depth guides)
_howtos/       → How-to guides (step-by-step tutorials)
projects/      → Project showcases (portfolio items)

📝 Content Templates

Blog Post Template

File: _posts/2025-07-20-your-title.md

---
layout: post
title: "Your Blog Post Title"
date: 2025-07-20
categories: [blog, category-name]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
author: "Your Name"
excerpt: "Brief description that appears in previews"
---

Write your blog post content here using Markdown.

## Subheading

Your content...

Technical Article Template

File: _articles/your-topic-name.md

---
layout: post
title: "Understanding Your Topic"
date: 2025-07-20
categories: [technical, category-name]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
difficulty: "intermediate"
estimated_reading_time: "15 minutes"
author: "Your Name"
toc: true
excerpt: "In-depth explanation of your topic with examples and best practices."
---

Write your detailed technical content here.

## Introduction

Your content...

## Main Concepts

Your content...

## Conclusion

Your content...

How-to Guide Template

File: _howtos/how-to-do-something.md

---
layout: post
title: "How to Do Something Specific"
date: 2025-07-20
categories: [tutorial, category-name]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
difficulty: "beginner"
estimated_time: "20 minutes"
requirements: 
  - "Requirement 1"
  - "Requirement 2"
tools_needed:
  - "Tool 1"
  - "Tool 2"
author: "Your Name"
excerpt: "Step-by-step guide to accomplish a specific task."
---

Brief introduction to what you'll accomplish.

## Prerequisites

Before you start:
- [ ] Requirement 1
- [ ] Requirement 2

## Step 1: First Action

Detailed instructions...

## Step 2: Second Action

Detailed instructions...

## Verification

How to confirm it worked...

## Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions...

🎯 Quick Tips

File Naming Rules

• Blog posts: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md (date required)
• Articles: topic-name.md (descriptive, no date)
• How-tos: action-description.md (starts with action verb)

Content Guidelines

• Use descriptive titles that clearly indicate the content
• Add relevant tags to help readers find related content
• Include excerpts for better previews on index pages
• Set appropriate difficulty levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced)

Markdown Basics

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
`Code snippet`

[Link text](https://example.com)

- Bullet point
- Another point

1. Numbered list
2. Second item

```code
Code block

Blockquote ```

🔄 Workflow

1. Create file with proper name and location
2. Add front matter (the YAML block at the top)
3. Write content in Markdown
4. Save file - Jekyll auto-rebuilds
5. Preview at appropriate URL:
   • Blog: http://localhost:4000/blog/
   • Articles: http://localhost:4000/articles/
   • How-tos: http://localhost:4000/howtos/
6. Commit and push to GitHub when ready

🌐 URLs

Your content will be available at:

• Blog posts: /blog/YYYY/MM/DD/title/
• Articles: /articles/title/
• How-tos: /howtos/title/
• Projects: /projects/title/

✅ Checklist Before Publishing

• Front matter is complete and correct
• Title is descriptive and SEO-friendly
• Excerpt summarizes the content well
• Tags and categories are relevant
• Content is well-structured with headings
• Links work and open correctly
• Content previews correctly locally
• Spelling and grammar checked

🆘 Common Issues

Content not showing up?

• Check front matter syntax (YAML must be valid)
• Ensure file is in correct directory
• Restart Jekyll server

Wrong URL structure?

• Check filename format
• Verify permalink settings in _config.yml

Styling looks wrong?

• Ensure layout: post is in front matter
• Check for typos in layout name

🎨 Next Steps

Once you’re comfortable with basic content creation:

1. Explore advanced formatting with Mermaid diagrams
2. Add images to your content
3. Cross-reference between different content types
4. Optimize for SEO with better titles and descriptions
5. Engage readers with calls-to-action

Pro Tip: Keep this reference guide bookmarked for quick access when creating new content!