Minimalist Academic Website

A clean, minimalist personal website for academics featuring automatic publication management from BibTeX files.

Features

• 🎨 Minimalist Design: Clean, modern aesthetic with thin Inter font
• 📚 Automatic Publications: Parses BibTeX files and generates formatted publication lists
• 📱 Responsive: Works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices
• ⚡ Static: Pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript - no build process required
• 🎯 Chronological Sorting: Publications automatically sorted by year and month

GitHub Pages Deployment

Option 1: Subdirectory Deployment (e.g., username.github.io/minimalist_website)

1. Commit all files:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Add minimalist website"
   git push

2. Enable GitHub Pages:

   • Go to your repository settings
   • Navigate to "Pages" section
   • Under "Source", select your main branch
   • Set the folder to /minimalist_website (or root if files are in root)
   • Click "Save"

3. Access your site:

   • Your site will be available at: https://username.github.io/minimalist_website/
   • Wait a few minutes for GitHub to build and deploy

Option 2: Root Deployment (e.g., username.github.io)

1. Copy files to repository root:

   cp minimalist_website/* .

2. Commit and push:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Deploy minimalist website to root"
   git push

3. Enable GitHub Pages:

   • Go to repository settings → Pages
   • Select main branch and root folder
   • Your site will be at: https://username.github.io/

Local Development

Test your site locally before deploying:

cd minimalist_website
python3 -m http.server 8080

Then visit: http://localhost:8080

Note: Use a hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows/Linux) to clear cache when testing changes.

File Structure

minimalist_website/
├── index.html              # Home page
├── publications.html       # Publications page
├── service.html           # Service/Teaching page
├── style.css              # All styles
├── bibtex-parser.js       # BibTeX parser
├── publications.js        # Publications renderer
├── publications.bib       # Your publications in BibTeX format
├── .nojekyll             # Tells GitHub Pages to skip Jekyll processing
└── asset/
    ├── profile_pic.jpg    # Profile picture
    └── resume.pdf         # CV/Resume

Updating Publications

Simply edit publications.bib with your BibTeX entries. The site will automatically:

• Parse the BibTeX file
• Sort by year (descending) and month (descending)
• Format authors (converts "LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME" to "FIRSTNAME LASTNAME")
• Display venue badges
• Add links for PDF, arXiv, code, etc.

BibTeX Field Support

• title - Paper title
• author - Authors (supports {${*}$} for equal contribution)
• year - Publication year
• month - Publication month (jan, feb, mar, etc.)
• abbr - Venue abbreviation (shows as badge)
• booktitle / journal - Venue name
• pdf - Direct PDF link
• arxiv - arXiv ID
• code - Code repository URL
• website - Project website
• slides - Slides URL
• poster - Poster URL
• talk - Video/talk URL
• doi - DOI
• abstract - Paper abstract
• award - Award name
• bibtex_show - Set to true to show BibTeX button

Customization

Colors & Typography

Edit the CSS variables in style.css:

:root {
    --primary-color: #000;
    --text-color: #333;
    --light-gray: #fafafa;
    --border-color: #e0e0e0;
}

Profile Information

Edit index.html:

• Update name, title, email
• Modify bio text
• Change social media links

Font

Currently using Inter font. To change, update the Google Fonts import in all HTML files and the font-family in CSS.

Browser Support

• Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
• Mobile browsers (iOS Safari, Chrome Mobile)
• Requires JavaScript enabled for publications page

Troubleshooting

Publications not loading

• Check browser console for errors
• Verify publications.bib exists and is valid BibTeX
• Try hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R)

Styles not applying

• Clear browser cache
• Check that style.css path is correct in HTML files
• Verify CSS file is not corrupted

GitHub Pages 404 error

• Ensure .nojekyll file exists
• Check that GitHub Pages is enabled in repository settings
• Wait a few minutes for deployment to complete

Credits

Built with vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Uses Inter font from Google Fonts.

License

Feel free to use this template for your own academic website.