From 2fc7fb63131f7a1f0c9d67ece8cb422d3a512a09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:51:06 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/9] Add lab news page and homepage feed
---
_includes/post-info.html | 2 +-
_layouts/member.html | 12 ++++++++----
_posts/.gitkeep | 1 +
index.md | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
news/index.md | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5 files changed, 71 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 _posts/.gitkeep
create mode 100644 news/index.md
diff --git a/_includes/post-info.html b/_includes/post-info.html
index c0585d7..de1fb39 100644
--- a/_includes/post-info.html
+++ b/_includes/post-info.html
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@
{% if include.tags %}
- {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="blog" %}
+ {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="news" %}
{% endif %}
diff --git a/_layouts/member.html b/_layouts/member.html
index 034b5d0..893b098 100644
--- a/_layouts/member.html
+++ b/_layouts/member.html
@@ -39,13 +39,17 @@
{% capture search -%}
- blog/?search={{ page.name }}
+ news/?search={{ page.name }}
{%- endcapture %}
-
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/_posts/.gitkeep b/_posts/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b13789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/.gitkeep
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
index 175f172..b78dbda 100644
--- a/index.md
+++ b/index.md
@@ -7,6 +7,27 @@ Here in the VBIL within the Computer Science Department at Smith, we are interes
{% include section.html %}
+## Latest News
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+{% for post in site.posts limit: 3 %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% else %}
+Future lab announcements, milestones, publications, and event updates will appear here.
+{% endif %}
+
+{%
+ include button.html
+ link="news"
+ text="View all news"
+ icon="fa-solid fa-arrow-right"
+ flip=true
+ style="bare"
+%}
+
+{% include section.html %}
+
## Highlights
{% capture text %}
diff --git a/news/index.md b/news/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6235e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+title: News
+nav:
+ order: 4
+ tooltip: Lab updates and announcements
+redirect_from:
+ - /blog
+ - /blog/
+---
+
+# {% include icon.html icon="fa-regular fa-newspaper" %}News
+
+Use this page for lab updates, student milestones, publications, talks, and other announcements from the VBIL.
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+
+{% include search-box.html %}
+
+{% include search-info.html %}
+
+{% assign posts_by_year = site.posts
+ | group_by_exp: "post", "post.date | date: '%Y'"
+%}
+
+{% for year in posts_by_year %}
+## {{ year.name }}
+
+{% for post in year.items %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% else %}
+
+No news posts have been published yet.
+
+To publish one, add a Markdown file to `_posts/` using the filename format `YYYY-MM-DD-title.md`.
+
+{% endif %}
From 34b3da217c1681496e4f14ea034afcf6bff78627 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:52:43 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/9] Update GitHub Actions for current runtimes
---
.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml | 6 +++---
.github/workflows/build-site.yaml | 6 +++---
.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml | 12 ++++++------
.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml | 10 +++++-----
.github/workflows/update-url.yaml | 10 +++++-----
5 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
index 5284286..cd239cc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
@@ -35,13 +35,13 @@ jobs:
if: github.event.action != 'closed'
uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
with:
- ruby-version: "3.0"
+ ruby-version: "3.1"
bundler-cache: true
- name: Get Pages url
if: github.event.action != 'closed'
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
index 9b71767..a4a34b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
@@ -25,17 +25,17 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
- name: Install Ruby packages
uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
with:
- ruby-version: "3.0"
+ ruby-version: "3.1"
bundler-cache: true
- name: Get Pages url
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml b/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
index bf227f7..303da7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
branch: "gh-pages"
- name: Checkout Pages branch
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
ref: gh-pages
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ jobs:
run: echo "Placeholder homepage" > index.html
- name: Commit changes to Pages branch
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
branch: gh-pages
commit_message: "Clear branch"
- name: Checkout main branch
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
- name: Remove files user doesn't need
run: |
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ jobs:
" > README.md
- name: Personalize Jekyll config for user
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:
writeFileSync(file, contents);
- name: Personalize homepage for user
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -109,6 +109,6 @@ jobs:
writeFileSync(file, contents);
- name: Commit changed files
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Setup repo"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
index fbaf34f..03cfbc8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
- name: Setup Python
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+ uses: actions/setup-python@v6
with:
python-version: "3.11"
cache: "pip"
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
- name: Check if citations changed
id: changed
- uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v17
+ uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v20
with:
files: |
_data/citations.yaml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ jobs:
if: |
steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true' &&
inputs.open-pr != true
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Update citations"
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
if: |
steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true' &&
inputs.open-pr == true
- uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v4
+ uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v8
with:
branch: citation-update
title: Periodic citation update
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
index 9ccd9a3..6fa5200 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
@@ -25,16 +25,16 @@ jobs:
- name: Get Pages url
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
# update link to site in readme
- name: Update readme
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ jobs:
- name: Check if readme changed
id: changed
- uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v13
+ uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v20
with:
files: |
README.md
- name: Commit changed files
if: steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true'
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Update url"
From 2afc1131c21da468efff3b1e92e857f10e70063b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: rando2
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 19:11:18 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 3/9] Update citations
---
_data/citations.yaml | 4 ++--
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/_data/citations.yaml b/_data/citations.yaml
index a490099..7d913f5 100644
--- a/_data/citations.yaml
+++ b/_data/citations.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
- Nicholas R. Howe
- Halie M. Rando
publisher: American Journal of Veterinary Research
- date: '2025-02-21'
+ date: '2025-03-01'
link: https://doi.org/g85s7s
type: journal paper
tags:
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@
- Anupam Sule
- Umit Topaloglu
- Melissa A. Haendel
- publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
+ publisher: openRxiv
date: '2021-03-26'
link: https://doi.org/gjk3ng
image: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8975841/112666874-013a3400-8e33-11eb-9be9-5c74f3e397ea.png
From c9aa16162c84ed787846cd022c3138ba1fe29582 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:47:56 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 4/9] Support tagged members in news posts
---
_includes/post-excerpt.html | 1 +
_includes/post-info.html | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
_layouts/member.html | 14 ++++++++++++++
_layouts/post.html | 1 +
_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md | 15 +++++++++++++++
5 files changed, 51 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 _posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
diff --git a/_includes/post-excerpt.html b/_includes/post-excerpt.html
index 5b7d811..a824517 100644
--- a/_includes/post-excerpt.html
+++ b/_includes/post-excerpt.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
{%
include post-info.html
author=post.author
+ people=post.people
published=post.date
updated=post.last_modified_at
tags=post.tags
diff --git a/_includes/post-info.html b/_includes/post-info.html
index de1fb39..762d462 100644
--- a/_includes/post-info.html
+++ b/_includes/post-info.html
@@ -32,6 +32,26 @@
{% endif %}
+{% assign tagged_people = include.people | default: empty %}
+{% assign tagged_people = tagged_people | join: "," | split: "," | array_filter %}
+
+{% if tagged_people.size > 0 %}
+
+ Mentioned:
+ {% for person in tagged_people %}
+ {% assign member = site.members
+ | where_exp: "member", "member.slug == person"
+ | first
+ %}
+ {% if member %}
+ {{ member.name }}{% unless forloop.last %}, {% endunless %}
+ {% else %}
+ {{ person }}{% unless forloop.last %}, {% endunless %}
+ {% endif %}
+ {% endfor %}
+
+{% endif %}
+
{% if include.tags %}
{% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="news" %}
{% endif %}
diff --git a/_layouts/member.html b/_layouts/member.html
index 893b098..9eefb50 100644
--- a/_layouts/member.html
+++ b/_layouts/member.html
@@ -20,6 +20,20 @@
{{ content }}
+{% assign related_posts = site.posts
+ | where_exp: "post", "post.author == page.slug or post.people contains page.slug"
+%}
+
+{% if related_posts.size > 0 %}
+{% include section.html %}
+
+## News
+
+{% for post in related_posts %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% endif %}
+
{% assign aliases = page.aliases
| default: page.name
| default: page.title
diff --git a/_layouts/post.html b/_layouts/post.html
index 9b1641a..3b742a4 100644
--- a/_layouts/post.html
+++ b/_layouts/post.html
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ {{ page.title }}
{%
include post-info.html
author=page.author
+ people=page.people
member=page.member
published=page.date
updated=page.last_modified_at
diff --git a/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md b/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8b5adf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+title: Example News Post With Tagged Members
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+ - tana_liu
+ - zoe_plumridge
+tags:
+ - announcement
+---
+
+
+This example post shows how to tag additional lab members in a news post so the post also appears on their bio pages.
+
+
+Use the `people:` front matter field with member slugs from `_members/`.
From 34643a2d94417a84d03e9886823df7ad552f4f62 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:08:00 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 5/9] Add news post for Alina's McKinley fellowship
---
...25-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md | 17 +++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 17 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 _posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
diff --git a/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md b/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3657c2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+title: Alina Yildirim Selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+ - alina_yildirim
+tags:
+ - announcement
+ - honors
+---
+
+
+Alina Yildirim has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+
+We are excited to share that Alina Yildirim has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+The fellowship will support Alina's honors thesis work in the VBIL. More information about Smith's AEMES programs is available [here](https://www.smith.edu/academics/departments-programs-courses/aemes).
From 934b0b5685085f5a06fc7d51e0867ad46bda4e38 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:09:49 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 6/9] Add news post for Hildana's McKinley fellowship
---
...-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md | 17 +++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 17 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 _posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
diff --git a/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md b/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab9a5da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+title: Hildana Shiferaw Selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+ - hildana_shiferaw
+tags:
+ - announcement
+ - honors
+---
+
+
+Hildana Shiferaw has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+
+We are excited to share that Hildana Shiferaw has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+The fellowship will support Hildana's honors thesis work in the VBIL. More information about Smith's AEMES programs is available [here](https://www.smith.edu/academics/departments-programs-courses/aemes).
From f0af7f094b2e43936b114cfbf14d301202edca37 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:11:49 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 7/9] Add news post for Hildana thesis presentation
---
_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md | 16 ++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 16 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 _posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md
diff --git a/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md b/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7b47f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+title: Hildana Shiferaw Presents Honors Thesis
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+ - hildana_shiferaw
+tags:
+ - announcement
+ - honors
+ - thesis
+---
+
+
+Hildana Shiferaw gave an excellent presentation of her honors thesis on a urine-based screening approach for ovarian cancer.
+
+
+On Monday, April 28, 2025, Hildana Shiferaw gave an excellent presentation of her honors thesis, "System Design of a Urine-Based Screening Approach for Ovarian Cancer Informed by Computational Identification of miRNAs as Biomarkers."
From 7430c3d235b2e79eac6b5bcd84c820bd52f7128b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:23:28 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 8/9] Fix news post listing rendering
---
news/index.md | 12 +++++++++++-
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/news/index.md b/news/index.md
index 6235e81..8c91697 100644
--- a/news/index.md
+++ b/news/index.md
@@ -26,7 +26,17 @@ Use this page for lab updates, student milestones, publications, talks, and othe
## {{ year.name }}
{% for post in year.items %}
-{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html
+ title=post.title
+ url=post.url
+ author=post.author
+ people=post.people
+ date=post.date
+ last_modified_at=post.last_modified_at
+ tags=post.tags
+ content=post.content
+ excerpt=post.excerpt
+%}
{% endfor %}
{% endfor %}
From b6d5100e128f981d75753637ad3f8ec7c4310f4e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:50:43 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 9/9] Remove example news tagging post
---
_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md | 15 ---------------
1 file changed, 15 deletions(-)
delete mode 100644 _posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
diff --git a/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md b/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
deleted file mode 100644
index e8b5adf..0000000
--- a/_posts/2026-04-10-example-news-tagging.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
----
-title: Example News Post With Tagged Members
-author: halie_rando
-people:
- - tana_liu
- - zoe_plumridge
-tags:
- - announcement
----
-
-
-This example post shows how to tag additional lab members in a news post so the post also appears on their bio pages.
-
-
-Use the `people:` front matter field with member slugs from `_members/`.