Durham ARC Training Site

This repository contains the source code for the Durham Advanced Research Computing training course index at https://durhamarc-training.github.io/.

About

This site provides a dynamic, automatically-updated index of all training courses and materials offered by Durham ARC. The site automatically discovers and categorizes repositories from the DurhamARC-Training organization.

Features

• Automatic Updates: A GitHub Action runs daily to fetch the latest course information
• Smart Categorization: Automatically distinguishes between:
  • Training materials (ongoing course content)
  • Course instances (specific dated workshops)
• Responsive Design: Works seamlessly on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
• Durham Brand Compliant: Follows Durham University's visual identity guidelines
• Jekyll-Powered: Static site generation for fast, reliable hosting via GitHub Pages

How It Works

Course Discovery

The site automatically discovers courses from the organization's public repositories:

1. Training Materials: Repositories like Intermediate-Python, git-novice, BasicParallelProgramming

   • Listed under "Available Courses"
   • Include links to course materials and GitHub repositories
   • Tagged with relevant topics

2. Course Instances: Repositories matching the pattern YYYY-MM-DD-* (e.g., 2025-07-03-DISKAH, 2024-10-14-DU)

   • Automatically sorted by date
   • Separated into "Upcoming" and "Past" courses
   • Include course type detection based on repository metadata

Automatic Updates

A scheduled GitHub Action workflow runs daily at 6am UTC to:

1. Query the GitHub API for all public repositories in the organization
2. Categorize and process repository data
3. Generate an updated _data/courses.json file
4. Commit changes if new courses are detected
5. Trigger Jekyll to rebuild the site

Technology Stack

• Jekyll: Static site generator (built into GitHub Pages)
• Liquid: Templating language for dynamic content
• GitHub Actions: Automated workflow execution
• Octokit: GitHub API client for Node.js
• GitHub Pages: Free hosting and automatic deployment

Repository Structure

durhamarc-training.github.io/
├── _config.yml              # Jekyll site configuration
├── _layouts/
│   └── default.html         # HTML layout template
├── _data/
│   └── courses.json         # Auto-generated course data
├── index.md                 # Main page (Liquid template)
├── assets/
│   └── css/
│       └── style.css        # Durham-branded styling
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── update-courses.yml  # Daily update automation
├── scripts/
│   ├── package.json         # Node.js dependencies
│   └── fetch-courses.js     # Course discovery script
└── README.md                # This file

Adding New Courses

Adding Training Materials

Simply create a new public repository in the DurhamARC-Training organization:

1. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., Advanced-R-Programming)
2. Add a clear description
3. Add relevant GitHub topics/tags (e.g., r, programming, statistics)
4. Enable GitHub Pages if you want to publish course materials

The course will automatically appear on the site within 24 hours (or immediately if you trigger the workflow manually).

Adding Course Instances

Create a repository with the naming pattern: YYYY-MM-DD-SUFFIX

• YYYY: Four-digit year
• MM: Two-digit month
• DD: Two-digit day
• SUFFIX: Any identifier (e.g., DU, ABCDEF, ONLINE)

Examples:

• 2025-07-03-DISKAH - July 3, 2025 course for the DISKAH Network
• 2024-10-14-DU - October 14, 2024 course at Durham University
• 2026-01-15-ONLINE - January 15, 2026 online course

The course will automatically:

• Be sorted by date
• Appear in "Upcoming" or "Past" sections
• Have its course type detected from repository metadata
• Link to the course page if GitHub Pages is enabled

Manual Workflow Trigger

To update the site immediately without waiting for the scheduled run:

1. Go to the Actions tab
2. Select "Update Course Data" workflow
3. Click "Run workflow" → "Run workflow"
4. Wait 2-3 minutes for completion

Development

Local Testing

To test the site locally:

# Install Jekyll and dependencies
gem install bundler jekyll

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/DurhamARC-Training/durhamarc-training.github.io.git
cd durhamarc-training.github.io

# Serve locally
jekyll serve

# Visit http://localhost:4000

Testing the Course Discovery Script

cd scripts
npm install
GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here GITHUB_ORG=DurhamARC-Training node fetch-courses.js

This will generate _data/courses.json based on current repositories.

Customization

Styling

Edit assets/css/style.css to modify the site appearance. The current design follows Durham University's brand guidelines.

Course Type Detection

The script attempts to detect course types based on:

• Repository topics/tags
• Repository names
• Repository descriptions

To improve detection, edit the getCourseType() function in scripts/fetch-courses.js.

Update Schedule

To change the update frequency, edit the cron schedule in .github/workflows/update-courses.yml:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'  # Daily at 6am UTC

Excluded Repositories

The following repositories are automatically excluded from the course listing:

• durhamarc-training.github.io (this site's repository)
• Any private repositories

To exclude additional repositories, edit the EXCLUDED_REPOS array in scripts/fetch-courses.js.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/improvement)
3. Make your changes
4. Test locally with Jekyll
5. Submit a pull request

For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss the proposed changes.

Support

For questions or issues:

• Technical issues with the site: Open an issue
• Course content questions: Contact the course instructors
• General ARC training inquiries: Visit Durham ARC Training

License

This site infrastructure is available under the MIT License. Individual course materials may have their own licenses - please check each course repository for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Jekyll and hosted on GitHub Pages
• Design follows Durham University Brand Guidelines
• Inspired by Software Carpentry workshop organization