Initial Assessment and Path Forward

Problem Identified: Theme was cloned instead of properly installed as a gem, creating a “Frankenstein” setup.

Decision Made: Clean up current repo and install the awesome-jekyll-theme as a gem following the “Advanced Installation” method from the theme’s README.

Rationale:

• Keep existing AWS S3/CloudFront/Decap CMS integration
• Avoid unnecessary GitHub Pages files and settings
• Maintain full control over deployment pipeline
• Proper gem-based installation for cleaner maintenance

Planned Approach:

1. Clean up current repo (remove old theme files, keep content and config)
2. Install theme as a gem (update Gemfile and _config.yml)
3. Test locally in WSL environment
4. Deploy to S3 as usual

Summary of Changes Made

Infrastructure Changes

• Migrated from “Frankenstein” theme installation to proper gem-based setup
• Restructured repository from site/ subfolder to root-level organization
• Updated deployment workflow to build from repository root

Configuration Updates

• Gemfile: Added awesome-jekyll-theme gem, removed conflicting themes
• _config.yml: Set proper theme configuration and site metadata
• admin/config.yml: Updated all folder paths to match new structure
• .gitattributes: Enforced LF line endings for Markdown files

Content Migration and Creation

• Converted all .markdown files to .md for CMS consistency
• Created missing page files (blog.md, projects.md)
• Enhanced homepage with proper front matter and personalized content
• Fixed image paths from relative to absolute for cross-page compatibility

Theme Customizations

• Strategic file copying: Only copied theme files that needed customization
• String localization: Fixed missing theme string keys
• Contact channels: Removed unwanted GitHub icons
• Footer: Removed attribution text, added personalized content

Bug Fixes

• Line endings issue: Identified and resolved CRLF/LF problem affecting excerpt display
• Path inconsistencies: Fixed all file and folder references
• CMS integration: Aligned DecapCMS configuration with new structure

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Files Modified

Root Level

• Gemfile - Added theme gem
• _config.yml - Theme and site configuration
• .gitattributes - Line ending enforcement
• index.md - Homepage enhancement
• blog.md - Created new
• projects.md - Created new

Admin/CMS

• admin/config.yml - Updated all folder paths

Theme Customizations

• _data/en/strings.yml - Fixed missing localization strings
• _includes/contact_channels.html - Removed GitHub section
• _includes/footer.html - Removed attribution, added personalization

Content

• All .markdown → .md conversions
• Multiple project files with line ending fixes