Website Verification Checklist

Use this checklist to verify that everything is working correctly.

✅ Pre-Deployment Checks

Files Present

• _quarto.yml - Configuration file
• index.qmd - Home page
• about.qmd - CV/About page
• research.qmd - Research page
• outreach.qmd - Outreach page
• notebook.qmd - Lab notebook listing
• gallery.qmd - Image gallery
• posts/_template.qmd - Template file
• posts/2024-01-15-welcome.qmd - Sample entry
• .github/workflows/publish.yml - Deployment workflow
• README.md - Documentation
• QUICKSTART.md - Quick guide
• DEPLOYMENT.md - Deployment guide

Build Test

cd /home/runner/work/website/website
quarto render

Expected output: - ✅ No errors - ✅ docs/ folder created - ✅ All HTML files generated - ✅ notebook.xml RSS feed created

✅ Deployment Checks

GitHub Pages Setup

1. Repository pushed to GitHub
2. Go to repository Settings
3. Navigate to Pages section
4. Source set to “GitHub Actions”
5. No errors in Actions tab

First Deployment

1. Push to main branch triggered
2. Workflow “Deploy Quarto Website to GitHub Pages” started
3. Build job completed successfully
4. Deploy job completed successfully
5. Site accessible at https://ahuffmyer.github.io/website/

✅ Website Functionality Checks

Navigation

• Home page loads
• All menu items work (CV/About, Research, Outreach, Notebook, Gallery)
• Navigation bar appears on all pages
• GitHub icon links to profile
• Footer displays correctly

Home Page

• Title displays correctly
• Quick links work
• Content renders properly

CV/About Page

• Page loads
• Template content visible
• Table of contents works

Research Page

• Page loads
• Template sections visible

Outreach & Education Page

• Page loads
• Template sections visible

Lab Notebook Page

• Page loads
• Sample entry appears in listing
• Categories shown (getting-started, tutorial, setup)
• “Order By” dropdown works
• “Filter” search box present
• Click on entry opens detail page

Sample Notebook Entry

• Entry page loads (posts/2024-01-15-welcome.html)
• Title and metadata display
• Categories are clickable links
• Table of contents appears
• All sections render correctly
• Code examples display properly

Gallery Page

• Page loads
• Template instructions visible

Search Functionality

• Search icon appears in navigation
• Search box opens when clicked
• Can search across site content

RSS Feed

• notebook.xml accessible at /notebook.xml
• Contains sample entry
• Valid XML format

✅ Customization Checks

After Editing Content

1. Edit a .qmd file locally
2. Run quarto render (optional - test locally)
3. Commit and push to main
4. Workflow runs automatically
5. Changes appear on live site

Creating New Notebook Entry

1. Copy template: cp posts/_template.qmd posts/test-entry.qmd
2. Edit metadata (title, date, categories)
3. Add some content
4. Commit and push
5. Entry appears in notebook listing
6. Entry is searchable
7. Categories work

✅ Performance Checks

Build Time

• Local build completes in < 30 seconds
• GitHub Actions build completes in < 5 minutes
• No timeout errors

Page Load

• Pages load quickly
• No 404 errors
• Images load (if added)
• CSS styles apply correctly

🐛 Troubleshooting

Build Fails Locally

• Check that Quarto is installed: quarto --version
• Look for errors in .qmd files
• Ensure YAML frontmatter is valid
• Check that code blocks with executable code have eval: false

GitHub Actions Fails

• Check Actions tab for error messages
• Verify workflow file syntax
• Ensure repository is public or has GitHub Pages enabled
• Check that .qmd files render locally

Site Not Updating

• Verify workflow completed successfully
• Clear browser cache
• Wait a few minutes for CDN update
• Check that changes were pushed to main branch

404 Error on Site

• Verify GitHub Pages source is set to “GitHub Actions”
• Check that workflow deployed successfully
• Ensure repository is public (or you have GitHub Pro)

Search Not Working

• Verify search.json was generated
• Check browser console for errors
• Try refreshing the page

Categories Not Filtering

• Ensure categories are specified in entry frontmatter
• Check that categories are in array format: [cat1, cat2]
• Verify listings.json contains category data

✅ Success Indicators

All of these should be true for a successful deployment:

1. ✅ Quarto builds locally without errors
2. ✅ GitHub Actions workflow completes successfully
3. ✅ Site is accessible at the GitHub Pages URL
4. ✅ All navigation links work
5. ✅ Lab notebook listing displays entries
6. ✅ Search and filter functionality works
7. ✅ Individual notebook entries display correctly
8. ✅ Categories are clickable and filter entries
9. ✅ RSS feed is accessible
10. ✅ Pages are customizable by editing .qmd files

📝 Notes

• Build artifacts (docs/ folder) are excluded by .gitignore
• GitHub Actions handles the build and deployment
• Local builds are optional but useful for testing
• All content is version controlled in Git

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Last Updated: 2024 Status: Ready for deployment ✅