IT-Journey Data Directory¶

This directory contains data files for the IT-Journey Jekyll site. These YAML files are consumed by Jekyll's Liquid templates via site.data.*.

Note: Generation scripts have been moved to scripts/generation/. See the scripts README for details.

📊 Content Statistics System¶

The content statistics system automatically analyzes all posts and generates comprehensive metrics that can be displayed throughout the site.

Data Files¶

content_statistics.yml — Auto-generated statistics data file (updated when scripts run)
statistics_config.yml — Configuration file defining categories, mappings, and display preferences
posts_organization.yml — Configuration for organizing posts by section/category
prerequisites.yml — Prerequisite definitions for quests and content
ui-text.yml — UI text strings and labels for the site theme

Usage¶

Generating Statistics¶

Run the statistics generator from the project root:

# Using Make
make stats

# Or directly
bash scripts/generation/generate_statistics.sh

# Or with Ruby
ruby scripts/generation/generate_statistics.rb

Displaying Statistics¶

Three display templates are available:

Simple Display (recommended for most uses):

{% include content_statistics/simple.html %}

Summary Cards (visual card layout):

{% include content_statistics/summary.html %}

Detailed Analysis (full statistical breakdown):

{% include content_statistics/detailed.html %}

Configuration¶

Edit statistics_config.yml to customize:

Focus area mappings - Keywords that map to content categories
Skill level detection - Terms that indicate difficulty levels
Content type classification - Rules for categorizing content
Display preferences - Limits and highlighting options

Example configuration:

focus_areas:
  "AI & Machine Learning":
    - ai
    - machine-learning
    - artificial-intelligence
  "Web Development":
    - web
    - javascript
    - jekyll

Data Structure¶

The generated content_statistics.yml contains:

generated_at: timestamp
total_posts: number
published: number
drafts: number
categories:
  category_name: count
tags:
  tag_name: count
focus_areas:
  area_name: count
skill_levels:
  level_name: count
content_types:
  type_name: count
date_range:
  earliest: year
  latest: year
  span_years: number
# ... and more

Automation¶

To automatically update statistics:

With Git Hooks - Add to .git/hooks/pre-commit:

#!/bin/bash
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
bash scripts/generation/generate_statistics.sh
git add _data/content_statistics.yml

With GitHub Actions - Add to workflow:

- name: Generate Statistics
  run: |
    bash scripts/generation/generate_statistics.sh
    git add _data/content_statistics.yml
    git commit -m "Update content statistics" || exit 0

With Make - Use the convenience command:
```
make stats-update
```

Extending the System¶

Adding New Focus Areas¶

Edit statistics_config.yml

Add new area with keywords:

focus_areas:
  "New Technology Area":
    - keyword1
    - keyword2

Custom Analysis¶

The Ruby script can be extended with new analysis methods:

def analyze_custom_metric(frontmatter)
  # Custom analysis logic
  if meets_criteria(frontmatter)
    @stats['custom_metric'] ||= 0
    @stats['custom_metric'] += 1
  end
end

New Display Templates¶

Create custom templates in _includes/content_statistics/:

<!-- _includes/content_statistics/chart.html -->
{% assign stats = site.data.content_statistics %}
<!-- Custom visualization logic -->

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues¶

Ruby not found: Install Ruby 2.6+
YAML parsing errors: Check post frontmatter syntax
File permissions: Ensure scripts are executable
Missing content: Verify the content collections under pages/ exist (pages/_quests, pages/_docs, …)

Debug Mode¶

Enable verbose output:

VERBOSE=1 ruby scripts/generation/generate_statistics.rb

Performance¶

Generation time: ~1-2 seconds for 100+ posts
File size: ~10-20KB for comprehensive statistics
Cache: Consider caching in CI/CD for large sites

The navigation/ directory contains navigation menu configurations for different sections of the site. These are used by the theme's sidebar system.

File	Purpose	Sidebar Config (`_config.yml`)	Collection/Section
`main.yml`	Main site header navigation	Default for all pages	Site-wide header
`home.yml`	Home page sidebar navigation	N/A (used in header)	`/home/` page
`about.yml`	About section sidebar	`pages/_about`	`/about/` pages
`docs.yml`	Documentation sidebar	`pages/_docs`	`/docs/` pages
`quests.yml`	Quest system navigation by level	`pages/_quests`	`/quests/` pages
`quickstart.yml`	Quick-start guides navigation	`pages/_quickstart`	`/quickstart/` pages
`notes.yml`	Notes navigation	`pages/_notes`	`/notes/` pages

Removed in the 2026 overhaul: posts.yml and hobbies.yml — the _posts/_drafts blog moved to the lifehacker.dev repo and the _hobbies collection was deleted. notes.yml was added when the notes set was slimmed.

The theme supports multiple sidebar navigation modes configured in _config.yml:

Mode	Description	Navigation Source
`dynamic`	Auto-generated from folder structure	`sidebar-folders.html`
`searchCats`	Category-based navigation	`sidebar-categories.html`
`<filename>`	Manual navigation file	`_data/navigation/<filename>.yml`

Each navigation file uses a YAML array structure:

- title: Section Name
  icon: icon-name    # Optional Bootstrap icon
  url: /section/     # Main section URL
  sublinks:          # Optional child links
    - title: Child Page
      url: /section/child/

When adding new pages or collections: 1. Add the page with proper frontmatter and permalink 2. Update the relevant navigation file in _data/navigation/ 3. If needed, update sidebar configuration in _config.yml defaults 4. Test navigation rendering locally with bundle exec jekyll serve

Last Updated: 2026-06-25

Schema Data¶

The schema/ directory contains structured data schemas used throughout the site for consistent data formatting.