Comprehensive Site Maintenance Guide • Nathan Lane, PhD

This is your comprehensive guide for maintaining all aspects of your Lane website. This guide covers everything from daily content updates to advanced configuration changes.

Quick Start: Common Tasks

Adding New Content

Blog Posts

Create a new .md or .mdx file in /src/content/post/

Include required frontmatter:

---
title: "Your Post Title"
description: "Brief description for SEO"
publishDate: "2025-07-16"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
draft: false
---

Write your content using Markdown

Research Papers

Create a new .md file in /src/content/research/

Include research-specific frontmatter:

---
title: "Paper Title"
description: "Abstract or summary"
authors: "You, Co-author Name"
paperDate: "2025"
status: "working-paper" # or "published", "work-in-progress"
type: "paper"
publication: "Journal Name (optional)"
link: "https://link-to-paper.com"
download: "https://download-link.pdf"
featured: false
tags: ["economics", "research-topic"]
---

Updating Personal Information

All personal/professional information is centralized in /src/site.config.ts:

export const siteConfig = {
  // Basic info
  author: "Nathan Lane",
  title: "Nathan Lane, PhD",
  description: "Nathan Lane, PhD, Economist and Data Scientist",
  
  // Professional info (for SEO/structured data)
  jobTitle: "Assistant Professor of Economics",
  organization: "University of Oxford",
  profileImage: "/headshot.jpg",
  twitterHandle: "@straightedge",
  orcid: "0000-0003-0884-8418",
  
  // Social profiles
  socialProfiles: [
    "https://twitter.com/straightedge",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnathanlane/",
    "https://github.com/nathanlane",
    "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0884-8418"
  ],
  
  // Display options
  showLogo: false,
  showTitle: false,
  footerText: "🚀 Astro Theme by Nathan Lane",
};

Updating Homepage Content

Homepage sections are configured in /src/content/homepage/index.yaml:

showcase:
  title: "What I'm Working On"
  contentSections:
    research:
      title: "Recent Papers"
      itemCount: 3
      viewAllText: "View all research papers"
      viewAllUrl: "/research/"
    writing:
      title: "Recent Writing"
      itemCount: 3
      viewAllText: "View all writing"
      viewAllUrl: "/writing/"
    media:
      title: "Recent Media"
      itemCount: 5
      viewAllText: "View all media"
      viewAllUrl: "/media/"

Site Structure Overview

Content Collections

/src/content/post/ - Blog posts and articles
/src/content/research/ - Research papers and academic work
/src/content/projects/ - Project documentation
/src/content/writing/ - Creative writing
/src/content/note/ - Short notes/thoughts
/src/content/series/ - Series metadata for grouping content
/src/content/pages/ - Static pages (About, etc.)

Key Configuration Files

/src/site.config.ts - Main site configuration
/src/content.config.ts - Content collection schemas
/astro.config.ts - Astro framework configuration
/tailwind.config.ts - Tailwind CSS configuration
/.env - Environment variables (API keys, etc.)

Component Locations

/src/components/ - Reusable UI components
/src/layouts/ - Page layouts (Base, BlogPost, Series)
/src/pages/ - Route pages
/src/styles/ - Global CSS and typography

SEO and Structured Data

See the dedicated SEO & Structured Data Maintenance Guide for:

Updating structured data schemas
Testing SEO implementations
Managing meta tags
Troubleshooting search appearance

Typography System

Font Stack

Headings: Newsreader (serif)
Body: IBM Plex Sans
Code: IBM Plex Mono

Customizing Typography

Typography settings are in:

/src/styles/global.css - CSS variables and base styles
/src/styles/utopia.css - Fluid type scale
/tailwind.config.ts - Tailwind typography configuration

Media Appearances

Update media appearances in /src/data/media.ts:

export const mediaData: Record<number, MediaItem[]> = {
  2025: [
    {
      title: "Article Title",
      outlet: "Publication Name",
      date: "2025-07-16",
      type: "article", // or "podcast", "video", "interview"
      link: "https://link-to-article.com",
      description: "Brief description (optional)"
    },
  ]
};

Development Workflow

Local Development

# Install dependencies
pnpm install
 
# Start dev server
pnpm dev
 
# Build for production
pnpm build
 
# Preview production build
pnpm preview
 
# Code quality checks
pnpm lint
pnpm format
pnpm check

Git Workflow

Create feature branch: git checkout -b feat/your-feature
Make changes and test locally
Commit with descriptive message
Push to GitHub
Create pull request if using GitHub workflow

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Content Not Appearing

Check frontmatter is valid (no syntax errors)
Ensure draft: false for published content
Clear build cache: rm -rf .astro dist
Restart dev server

Styling Issues

Check Tailwind classes are correct
Verify dark mode classes if applicable
Check browser console for CSS errors
Use browser dev tools to inspect elements

Build Errors

Run pnpm check for TypeScript errors
Check for missing dependencies
Verify all imports are correct
Check console output for specific errors

Advanced Configuration

Adding New Routes

Create new file in /src/pages/
File path becomes URL route
Use .astro for static pages
Can use .ts for API routes

Extending Content Collections

Update schema in /src/content.config.ts
Add new collection folder in /src/content/
Create corresponding page routes
Update navigation if needed

Custom Components

Create component in /src/components/
Use .astro for static components
Import and use in pages/layouts
Follow existing naming conventions

Performance Optimization

Image Optimization

Use Astro’s Image component
Provide alt text for accessibility
Use appropriate formats (WebP, AVIF)
Lazy load non-critical images

Font Loading

Critical fonts are preloaded
Use font-display: swap
Subset fonts if possible
Monitor CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

Build Optimization

Use static generation where possible
Minimize JavaScript usage
Enable compression
Use CDN for assets

Backup and Recovery

Regular Backups

Git commits serve as version control
GitHub stores complete history
Consider automated backups of:
- Media files
- Generated content
- Environment variables

Recovery Process

Clone repository: git clone [repo-url]
Install dependencies: pnpm install
Restore environment variables
Build and deploy

Getting Help

Documentation Resources

Project-Specific Guides

Support Channels

GitHub Issues for bug reports
Astro Discord for framework questions
Stack Overflow for general web dev help

Remember: This site is built with maintainability in mind. Most common tasks only require editing content files or configuration, not code changes.