Detailed Change Log: Sidebar and Talks Cleanup

Detailed Change Log: Sidebar and Talks Cleanup

Date: 2026-04-23 Repository: YanWin/YanWin.github.io High-level entry: website-change-overview.md

Request

Add a bit more vertical space between the sidebar position line and the location block, reduce spacing between publication authors, journal, and description text, remove the Website button in the left panel, remove the Talks tab and homepage talks section, and delete stale example files such as paper1.pdf.

Context Map

Files Modified

FilePurposeChange
_includes/author-profile.htmlSidebar profile linksRemoved the Website row from the left-side link list
_sass/layout/_sidebar.scssSidebar spacingAdded a little more separation between the position line and the location/contact block
_sass/layout/_publication_cards.scssPublication card metadata spacingTightened the spacing and line-height for authors, venue, and summary text
_pages/about.mdHomepage sectionsRemoved the Talks section from the main page
_data/navigation.ymlMasthead navigationRemoved the Talks tab
_pages/talks.htmlTalks archive pageDeleted the now-unused talks page
_pages/talkmap.htmlTalk map pageDeleted the now-unused talk map page
_talks/*.mdTalks collection entriesDeleted the remaining talk entry so stale talk pages are no longer generated
files/Static downloadsDeleted old sample assets that were no longer part of the current site content
docs/website-change-overview.mdChange indexAdded the summary row for this change set

Implementation Notes

  • Kept the underlying site URL setting intact and removed only the rendered Website item from the sidebar.
  • Increased the spacing at the boundary between the sidebar profile text and the URL list instead of widening spacing throughout the whole panel.
  • Tightened only the publication metadata stack so the cards keep their overall layout while authors, venue, and summary sit closer together.
  • Removed the homepage talks section and its navigation entry without changing the CV page.
  • Deleted the old talks archive page, talk map page, and the remaining talk entry so those routes stop being generated.
  • Deleted the old placeholder download assets in files/: bibtex1.bib, paper1.pdf, paper2.pdf, paper3.pdf, slides1.pdf, slides2.pdf, and slides3.pdf.

Verification Notes

  • Focused validation should check the edited Liquid, Sass, Markdown, and YAML files for errors.
  • A local preview should confirm the sidebar gap and publication-card spacing visually once the Ruby environment is available.

Closure

  • The requested sidebar, publication-spacing, navigation, and stale-file cleanup changes are implemented.