Agent Log

This file tracks what was created, why it was created, and what each part does.

2026-06-02

Goal

Create a mobile-first Jekyll theme for alexx.fyi that can be uploaded to GitHub Pages.

Created

_config.yml: central settings for title, author, navigation, social links, permalink structure, plugins, and defaults.
Gemfile: uses the github-pages gem so local builds stay close to GitHub Pages.
_layouts/default.html: base frame with head, header, main content, and footer.
_layouts/home.html: homepage with intro block and the latest blog posts.
_layouts/archive.html: blog archive for all posts.
_layouts/post.html: blog template with date above the title and categories below the title.
_layouts/page.html: template for regular pages.
_includes/header.html: logo, site name, and main menu.
_includes/footer.html: footer with Font Awesome icons for Threads, RSS, and mail.
_includes/post-card.html: reusable block for post listings.
_sass/_alexx.scss: all theme styling, mobile-first and commented by section.
assets/css/main.scss: Jekyll entry file for SCSS.
assets/img/logo.svg: simple editable sample logo.
index.md: homepage using the home layout.
blog.md: blog archive page.
_pages/about.md: example regular page.
Seven dummy blog posts in _posts/.
manual.md: guide for editing, posting, and publishing.

Why This Structure

The site is structured as a complete Jekyll site that also works as a reusable theme pattern. Layouts and includes keep structure and reusable parts separate. The SCSS is intentionally concentrated in one clear file so colors, fonts, spacing, and components are easy to find.

What It Does

The homepage shows the logo at the top, the site name beside it, the menu below, an intro block, and then blog posts. Blog posts automatically show the date, title, and categories. Regular pages use a calm article layout. The footer shows social links with Font Awesome.

Update: English, Dark Mode, and Dummy Content

Changed the site language to English.
Updated the regular page navigation to use About.
Replaced the Dutch example page with _pages/about.md.
Added seven total dummy blog posts.
Changed the visual style to a centered, narrow dark mode layout.
Added Tanker for headings, post titles, and the menu.
Initially added DM Sans for page and blog content; later replaced it with the old Pika-style font stack.

Update: GitHub Pages Visibility Fix

Moved dummy post dates to dates on or before 2026-06-02, because Jekyll hides future-dated posts by default.
Added a small inline dark fallback in _layouts/default.html so the page remains dark even before the compiled stylesheet loads.
Added post excerpts to homepage cards so dummy post content is visible on the homepage.

Update: GitHub Pages Custom Domain

Set url to https://www.alexx.fyi and baseurl to an empty string.
Added a root CNAME file with www.alexx.fyi so GitHub Pages keeps the custom domain attached to the repository.

Update: Old Pika Style

Read the pasted old Pika CSS and translated its visual system to the Jekyll theme.
Changed the palette to dark purple-black, neon pink, yellow, and purple.
Added Jersey 10 for the site name, Space Grotesk for body content, and Pixelify Sans for metadata, tags, and footer details.
Kept Tanker for headings, post titles, and the menu.
Added the old pixel-style yellow site-name shadow, pink tags, purple metadata, yellow content links with purple underlines, and pink regular page titles.

Update: Avatar Logo

Changed logo in _config.yml from /assets/img/logo.svg to /assets/img/avatar.png.
The header now uses the uploaded avatar image as the site logo.

Update: CSS Cache Busting

Added a build-time version query to the main.css link in _layouts/default.html.
This helps GitHub Pages and browsers load the latest compiled CSS instead of a cached older stylesheet.

Update: Layout Alignment

Increased --content-width from 38rem to 44rem.
Left-aligned the header brand, menu, homepage post titles, page titles, blog titles, tags, and intro block.
Removed the Latest posts heading from the homepage.
Removed homepage post excerpts so the line below tags no longer appears.

Update: Microposts

Added support for type: micropost in post front matter.
Microposts render as full-content clickable blocks in the homepage post list.
Micropost detail pages hide the title.
Added one sample micropost at _posts/2026-06-02-micro-note-after-rain.md.
Adjusted the sample micropost timestamp to the start of the day so Jekyll does not treat it as a future post during GitHub Pages builds.

Update: Content Preview Post Type

Added excerpt_separator: "" in _config.yml.
Added support for type: content in post front matter, with type: excerpt kept as a backwards-compatible alias.
Content preview posts render on the homepage as title, content before , optional continue reading link, categories, and date.
Converted _posts/2026-05-29-making-a-quieter-homepage.md into an example content preview post.
Switched the homepage preview for content posts from post.excerpt to post.content split on , so front matter excerpts do not override the visible preview.

Changed the header to a two-column layout with avatar on the left and title/menu stacked on the right.
Made the title slightly smaller.
Increased the menu text size.
Sized the avatar to visually match the height of the title plus menu.

Update: Micropost Design

Removed  from the example content post so it shows fully on the homepage for now.
Updated homepage micropost cards to show avatar on the left and tags/content on the right.
Moved micropost date to the bottom-right of the box in muted grey.
Removed hover border styling from micropost boxes.
Applied the same micropost box layout to individual micropost pages.
Removed underline hover styling from homepage blog title links.

Update: Smaller Titles and Intro Box

Made homepage post titles, blog page titles, and regular page titles smaller and consistent.
Removed the avatar from the header/menu.
Moved the avatar into the homepage intro box.
Removed the visible Intro label from the homepage intro box.
Changed the intro box to a blue/purple panel using the existing purple accent.

Update: Archive and Header Row

Made intro box text white.
Changed the blog page into a yearly archive grouped by post year.
Rendered archive posts as a compact bullet list with pixel-style square bullets.
Changed the header to place the site name on the far left and the menu on the far right.
Moved the nav outside the title wrapper and made the header a two-column grid so the menu can actually align right.
Removed the small-screen stacking fallback and made the header/menu nowrap so the title and menu stay on one row.

Update: Video Content Post

Added _posts/2026-06-02-youtube-embed-test.md as a type: content post with full homepage content.
Added responsive .video-embed styling for YouTube iframes.
Moved the YouTube embed markup into _includes/youtube.html so posts can embed videos with a clean Liquid include.
Changed the video post timestamp to the start of the day so Jekyll does not hide it as a future post.

Update: Visual Simplification

Simplified YouTube embed styling by removing colored borders and shadows.
Made tag labels smaller across mobile and desktop.
Removed the border around the homepage intro box.
Removed the line underneath the header/menu.
Added _includes/date.html for written English dates with ordinal suffixes.
Removed circular borders/backgrounds around footer social icons.

Update: YouTube Loading

Added loading="lazy", fetchpriority="low", fixed width/height, and referrerpolicy to _includes/youtube.html.
Added preconnect hints for YouTube embed/static hosts in _layouts/default.html.
Removed the optional YouTube title parameter from post/manual examples; the include keeps a default iframe title internally.

Update: Intro Include

Moved homepage intro content from _config.yml to _includes/intro.html.
Updated _layouts/home.html to include _includes/intro.html.
Updated the manual to explain that intro content can use regular HTML.

Update: Homepage Post Rhythm

Increased the homepage post list gap slightly.
Added extra top spacing when a micropost is followed by a regular/content post, so short boxed updates feel visually separate from longer blog entries.

Update: Colophon Page

Added _pages/colophon.md with the hardware, software, apps, author, and gaming colophon content from the old static page.
Added colophon-specific two-column definition list styling to _sass/_alexx.scss, adapted to the current alexx.fyi color, font, and spacing variables.

Update: Avatar Variants

Added the 2025 avatar variants for the theme colors #2e2c37, #ff0073, and #5200ff to assets/img/.
Added micro_logo to _config.yml and set micropost cards/pages to use the purple #5200ff avatar variant.
Made micropost avatar crops explicitly square and circular so the non-round source images render as round avatars.

Update: Micropost Typography and Layout

Added Roboto Mono to the Google Fonts import and exposed it as --font-micro.
Updated micropost cards and micropost pages so the text sits on the left, the smaller avatar sits on the right, and the categories/date sit together at the bottom-left.

Update: Micropost External Links

Added optional external-link support for homepage micropost cards.
A micropost front matter external_url value links the homepage box to the external source, such as Threads; without it, the box links to the local micropost page.
Avoided using url for this because Jekyll reserves url for each post’s generated permalink.

Update: Currently Box

Added _includes/currently.md for editable homepage “currently” items.
Added a dark pink currently box below the intro block with Font Awesome icons and one squared-off lower-left corner.
Changed the currently content to a single sentence with a small // currently system-style label.
Updated the homepage to render the currently include through markdownify, so Markdown formatting works inside the currently content.
Adjusted the intro/currently corner radii so the intro has a squared lower-right corner and the currently box has a squared upper-right corner.

Added configurable mobile_nav and social_links entries to _config.yml.
Added a mobile-only hamburger menu that slides in full-width from the right and includes configured social links.
Reused social_links for the footer icons.
Added automatic Threads/Bluesky source icons for micropost cards when external_url points to those services.
Added a 1.5rem lower-right cut corner to micropost boxes.

Update: Homepage Limit, Article Content, and Footer

Added home_post_limit to _config.yml and applied it to the homepage post loop.
Styled headings, bullet lists, numbered lists, and blockquotes inside post/page content.
Reworked the footer into two layers: a yellow pixel-font tagline above a copyright/social row.

Update: Favorites Poster Grid

Added reusable favorites sections and poster cards to _pages/favorites.md.
Styled favorites grids with 3 columns on mobile and 5 columns on desktop.
Added bottom-aligned posters, rounded poster corners, ellipsis titles, and metadata styling.

Update: Post Type Split

Replaced the overloaded post type concept with homepage_type for homepage card rendering and blogpost_type for individual post page rendering.
_includes/post-card.html now reads homepage_type, with old type kept as a fallback.
_layouts/post.html now reads blogpost_type, with old type kept as a fallback.
Added default homepage_type: standard and blogpost_type: standard for posts in _config.yml.

Update: Basic SEO Metadata

Added jekyll-sitemap to _config.yml so GitHub Pages can generate /sitemap.xml.
Added robots.txt with a sitemap reference generated through absolute_url.
Added description front matter to existing pages and posts for better snippets and social metadata through jekyll-seo-tag.