Deployment Instructions for Your Academic Website

Overview

Your personal academic website is now ready to deploy! This guide will walk you through deploying it to GitHub Pages (free hosting).

Prerequisites

A GitHub account (https://github.com)
Git installed on your computer

Method 1: Deploy to GitHub Pages (Recommended)

Step 1: Create GitHub Repository

Go to GitHub.com and log in
Click the “+” icon in the top right and select “New repository”
Name your repository: Chenguang-Zhao.github.io (exactly as shown)
Make the repository Public
Do NOT initialize with README, .gitignore, or license
Click “Create repository”

Step 2: Push Your Website to GitHub

Open Terminal in your website directory and run:

# Initialize git repository
git init

# Add all files
git add .

# Create first commit
git commit -m "Initial commit: Personal academic website"

# Add your GitHub repository as remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/Chenguang-Zhao/Chenguang-Zhao.github.io.git

# Push to GitHub
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Step 3: Enable GitHub Pages

Go to your repository on GitHub
Click “Settings” tab
In the left sidebar, click “Pages”
Under “Source”, select “Deploy from a branch”
Under “Branch”, select “main” and “/ (root)”
Click “Save”

Step 4: Wait for Deployment

GitHub will automatically build and deploy your site
This takes 2-5 minutes for the first deployment
Once complete, your site will be live at: https://chenguang-zhao.github.io

Method 2: Test Locally with Docker (Optional)

If you want to test the site locally before deploying:

# Build and run with Docker
docker-compose up

# Your site will be available at http://localhost:4000

What’s Been Set Up

✅ Pages Created

Home (_pages/about.md) - Your bio and introduction
Research (_pages/research.md) - Research interests and opportunities for students
Publications (_pages/publications.html) - Publications list (ready for you to add)
Teaching (_pages/teaching.md) - Teaching information
CV (_pages/cv.md) - CV page with PDF download link

✅ Configuration

Site title: Chenguang Zhao
Email: ZhaoChenguang@sau.edu
GitHub: Chenguang-Zhao
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Employer: St. Ambrose University

✅ Files Integrated

CV PDF uploaded to /files/cv.pdf
Download button on CV page

✅ Analytics Ready

Visit counter setup ready (see instructions below)
Google Analytics ready to configure

Post-Deployment Tasks

1. Add Profile Picture

Replace images/profile.png with your professional photo
Recommended size: 500x500 pixels
Keep the filename as profile.png or update _config.yml line 26

2. Enable Visit Counter (Choose One Option)

Option A: ClustrMaps (Shows geographic map)

Go to https://clustrmaps.com/
Sign up for free account
Add your website URL: https://chenguang-zhao.github.io
Copy the widget code they provide
Paste it in _includes/analytics-providers/custom.html (replace the example)

Option B: Counter.dev (Simple counter)

Uncomment line 17 in _includes/analytics-providers/custom.html
The counter will work immediately (no signup needed)

3. Add Google Analytics (Optional)

Go to https://analytics.google.com
Create a new property for your website
Get your tracking ID (format: G-XXXXXXXXXX)
Edit _config.yml line 154: change provider to “google-analytics-4”
Edit _config.yml line 157: add your tracking ID

4. Add Google Scholar & ORCID Links

Edit _config.yml lines 37-40:

googlescholar    : "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YOUR_ID"
orcid            : "https://orcid.org/YOUR-ORCID-ID"

5. Add Publications

Add publication markdown files to _publications/ directory
Follow the format of existing sample publications
Or use the CSV to markdown converter in markdown_generator/

6. Update Teaching Information

Edit _pages/teaching.md with your actual courses
Add office hours and location

Making Updates

After your site is deployed, to make updates:

# Make your changes to files
# Then commit and push:

git add .
git commit -m "Description of changes"
git push

GitHub Pages will automatically rebuild your site (takes 2-5 minutes).

Troubleshooting

Site not showing up?

Check GitHub Pages settings (Settings → Pages)
Make sure repository name is exactly: Chenguang-Zhao.github.io
Wait 5 minutes after first push

Changes not appearing?

Changes take 2-5 minutes to deploy
Clear your browser cache (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows)

Need to test locally?

Use Docker method: docker-compose up
Or use GitHub Actions preview branches

Local Development Note

Important: Local Jekyll development has Ruby dependency issues on macOS with system Ruby 2.6.

Solutions:

Use Docker (recommended): docker-compose up
Deploy to GitHub Pages and test there (changes appear in 2-5 minutes)

Install rbenv to manage Ruby versions:

brew install rbenv
rbenv install 3.1.0
rbenv local 3.1.0
bundle install
bundle exec jekyll serve

Support & Documentation

AcademicPages Documentation: https://github.com/academicpages/academicpages.github.io
Jekyll Documentation: https://jekyllrb.com/docs/
GitHub Pages Documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/pages

Need Help?

Check the README.md in the repository
Review the AcademicPages wiki
GitHub Issues: https://github.com/academicpages/academicpages.github.io/issues

Your website is ready to go live! Follow the deployment steps above to publish it.

Chenguang Zhao