Overview

The source code to this website is publicly available as a template repository, so anyone can generate a new repository with the same directory structure and files, and quickly create their own academic website. The code might also be helpful to anyone who wishes to recreate specific features of this website.

The website is built with Hugo , which is a very fast, open-source static website generator. The website design is based on PaperMod , which is a minimalist, fast, and flexible Hugo theme. The theme design has been customized for academic websites. The first goal was to obtain a minimalist website that is easy to navigate, fast to load, and easy to maintain. The second goal was to obtain a website that focuses on the research and teaching material.

Download

Installation

Upon cloning the source code to your local machine, make sure to update the parameters that are specific to your website in the configuration file config.yml. Such parameters include:

  • baseURL
  • title
  • social:twitter
  • params:author
  • params:description
  • params:googleAnalyticsID
  • params:profileMode:title
  • params:profileMode:subtitle
  • params:profileMode:imageTitle
  • all the URLs under params:socialIcons

Features

The PaperMod theme is tailored to be more adapted to academic websites.

Content organization

The content of the website is organized in three categories, which are available from any page through the navigation menu and from the home page through buttons:

  • Papers – List of published and unpublished research papers, with links to individual paper pages
  • Courses – List of undergraduate and graduate courses taught, with links to individual course pages
  • Design projects – List of various design projects, with links to individual project pages
  • It is easy to add new categories from here (code, data, and so on).

Tags and archive

Two automatically generated lists are added to the website:

  • Tags – List of all the keywords for papers and courses
  • Archive – Chronological list of all papers, courses, and design projects

Search page

A search page can also be added to the website:

  • Place archetypes/search.md into content/
  • Add the following snippet below menu:main: in config.yml:
- name: Search  
  url: /search/  
  weight: 6

Social icons

The website includes new social icons specific to academia:

  • Office hours – Use name: Office Hours below params:socialIcons: in config.yml
  • Zoom – Use name: Zoom below params:socialIcons: in config.yml
  • Substack – Use name: Substack below params:socialIcons: in config.yml
  • Google Scholar – Use name: Google Scholar below params:socialIcons: in config.yml
  • All the icons are located in layouts/partials/svg.html

The website does not have a footer, but it is possible to add one:

  • Set hideFooterto false in config.yml.
  • Customize email address and link to newsletter in layouts/partials/footer.html

Other modifications

  • The page metadata is tailored to the academic context, with a simple date format and permalinks for published articles and other projects.
  • Color scheme, font, and general appearance are personalized.
  • The template also comes with archetypes for paper pages and course pages.

Hosting

The website is hosted on GitHub Pages and deployed with GitHub Actions , which is a simple way to deploy a website hosted in a GitHub repository.

Domain name

The website’s domain name (https://pascalmichaillat.org/ ) is registered with Google Domains , which offers simple way to register your domain name and link it to your website .