marc_people

👋 This repository stores the people profiles that are pulled into the MARC website during deployment.

If your pull request is merged here, the website workflow will clone this repository into the website build, and your profile can appear on the live site.

✨ What you will add

You will usually add:

• one Markdown file for your profile
• optionally one photo file inside photos/

A typical profile file looks like this:

---
email: your-email@example.com
post: Research Assistant
name: Your Name
photo: ./photos/your_name.jpg
---
Write your short biography here in Markdown.

The text below the front matter becomes the biography section on your profile page.

🧠 Before you start

You should have:

• a GitHub account
• basic familiarity with editing files and committing changes
• an email address to place in the front matter

The email field is important. In the website data model it acts as the primary key for a person. That means it is the main unique identifier used to connect your profile to projects and publications.

You are free to use any email address you want, but once other data starts referring to that email, changing it later can break those links.

📐 YAML front matter basics

The block between the top --- line and the next --- line is YAML front matter.

This is where the website reads your profile metadata.

A few YAML gotchas to watch for:

• every field name must be followed by a colon, like email:
• do not use tabs for indentation
• if a value contains special characters, a colon, or you just want to be safe, wrap it in quotes
• do not forget the closing --- line before your normal Markdown biography starts
• the photo path must match the actual file name exactly
• avoid extra spaces inside file paths

Good example:

email: jane.doe@example.com
post: Volunteer
name: Jane Doe
photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg

Safe quoted example:

name: "Jane Doe"
post: "Research Assistant"

Since the people front matter only uses single values and not YAML lists, it is simpler than marc_projects, but the field names and colons still need to be correct.

📝 What you can write in the content section

Everything below the closing --- line is normal Markdown content.

For people profiles, this usually means your biography. You can include:

• plain paragraphs
• section headings
• bullet lists
• links
• emphasis such as bold or italic text
• images using Markdown syntax

Example:

---
email: jane.doe@example.com
post: Volunteer
name: Jane Doe
photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg
---
Jane Doe is interested in biomedical signal processing and machine learning.

## Research Interests

- Wearable sensing
- Signal processing
- Applied AI

You can also link to your work: [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/).

Here is an inline image:
![Lab photo](./photos/jane_doe.jpg)

If you include an image in the content section, use a relative path to a file inside the repository. The image can be placed at any place inside the repo (You don't need to place it in the cover_images folder, in fact don't place them there 😅 !)

Keep it reasonably simple and readable. Plain paragraphs are completely fine.

📑 Fields used by the website

The website currently validates each person entry with these fields:

• email: must be a valid email address
• post: your role
• name: your display name
• photo: optional image path

The website also renders your Markdown content as the biography on your profile page.

🏷️ Supported roles

Use one of these exact values for post:

• Director
• Deputy Director
• Research Assistant
• Volunteer

These values come from the website code. If you use a different role, the website may not show your profile in the main people listing.

🌐 Option A: Edit using the GitHub website

This is the easiest option if you do not want to use Git locally.

1. Fork the repository

1. Open pdnMARC/marc_people on GitHub.
2. Click Fork.
3. Create the fork under your own GitHub account.

2. Create your profile file in the browser

1. Open your fork on GitHub.
2. In the repository root, click Add file.
3. Choose Create new file.
4. Name the file something clear, for example:

Jane_Doe.md

5. Paste your profile content.

Example:

---
email: jane.doe@example.com
post: Volunteer
name: Jane Doe
photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg
---
Jane Doe works on ...

Her interests include ...

3. Add your photo in the browser

If you want a profile photo:

1. Open the photos/ folder in your fork.
2. Click Add file.
3. Choose Upload files.
4. Upload your image.
5. Make sure the photo field matches the uploaded file name exactly.

Example:

photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg

Notes:

• Common formats such as .jpg, .jpeg, and .png are appropriate.
• If you do not add a photo, the website can fall back to a default avatar.
• There is no separate people cover photo field in the current website validation. For people profiles, the supported image field is photo.

4. Edit an existing profile on GitHub

If you already have a profile and just want to update it:

1. Open your existing .md file in your fork.
2. Click the pencil icon to edit it.
3. Update the front matter or biography.
4. Scroll down and commit the change to a new branch.
5. Open a pull request.

You can manage both new profiles and later updates entirely from the GitHub website this way.

5. Commit your changes on GitHub

When editing in the browser:

1. Scroll to the commit section below the editor.
2. Enter a short commit message such as Add profile for Jane Doe.
3. Choose Create a new branch for this commit and start a pull request if GitHub offers it.
4. Click Propose changes or Commit changes.

6. Open a pull request

1. GitHub will usually guide you to a pull request page.
2. Open a pull request from your fork to pdnMARC/marc_people:main.
3. Briefly say that you are adding or updating your profile.

💻 Option B: Edit locally with Git

Use this option if you prefer working on your own machine.

1. Fork the repository

1. Open the pdnMARC/marc_people repository on GitHub.
2. Click Fork.
3. Create the fork under your own GitHub account.

2. Clone your fork

git clone https://github.com/<your-github-username>/marc_people.git
cd marc_people

3. Create a branch

git checkout -b add-my-profile

Use any clear branch name such as add-jane-doe-profile.

4. Add your profile file

Create a new Markdown file in the repository root.

Example:

Jane_Doe.md

Add front matter at the top of the file.

Required fields:

• email
• post
• name

Optional field:

• photo

Example:

---
email: jane.doe@example.com
post: Volunteer
name: Jane Doe
photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg
---
Jane Doe works on ...

Her interests include ...

5. Add your biography

After the front matter, write your biography in Markdown.

Plain paragraphs are enough.

6. Add your photo

If you want a profile photo:

1. Put the image file inside the photos/ folder.
2. Reference it in the photo field.

Example:

photo: ./photos/jane_doe.jpg

7. Commit and push

git add .
git commit -m "Add profile for Jane Doe"
git push origin add-my-profile

8. Open a pull request

1. Go to your fork on GitHub.
2. Open a pull request from your branch to pdnMARC/marc_people:main.
3. In the pull request description, briefly state that you are adding or updating your profile.

🔄 How the website uses this repository

The MARC website GitHub Actions workflow clones pdnMARC/marc_people into the website build as the people collection.

That is why profile changes belong in this repository rather than directly in the website repository.

In practice, the flow is:

1. You update marc_people.
2. Your pull request is merged.
3. The website workflow pulls this repository during deployment.
4. Your profile becomes part of the website build.

✅ Checklist before opening the pull request

• Your Markdown file is in the repository root.
• Your front matter includes email, post, and name.
• Your post value matches one of the supported roles exactly.
• Your email is the identifier you want the system to use going forward.
• Your photo path is correct if you added an image.
• Your biography is below the closing --- line.