Essays Feature Implementation Plan

For Claude: REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task.

Goal: Build a Chinese-first Essays section with a dedicated index page, individual essay pages, homepage highlights, and one initial essay.

Architecture: Use a Jekyll collection named essays so the feature stays distinct from the old blog/post model. Render the index page through single-clean, render individual essays through a dedicated essay layout, and reuse the founder visual language with a small set of essay-specific styles. The homepage will query the collection and show up to two featured essays before the news block.

Tech Stack: Jekyll collections, Liquid templates, Markdown, SCSS, Python verification script

Task 1: Add failing verification for the Essays feature

Files:

• Modify: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/scripts/verify_public_site.py

Step 1: Write the failing test

Add checks for:

• _config.yml contains an essays collection
• _data/navigation.yml includes Essays
• _pages/essays.md exists and contains the expected structure
• _layouts/essay.html exists
• _essays/2026-03-17-do-not-wait.md exists
• homepage contains a selected-essays block

Step 2: Run test to verify it fails

Run:

py -3 scripts/verify_public_site.py

Expected: fail because the Essays feature has not been added yet.

Task 2: Add the collection and navigation

Files:

• Modify: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_config.yml
• Modify: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_data/navigation.yml

Step 1: Implement minimal config

• Add essays to collections with public output and permalink
• Add defaults for the essays collection
• Add Essays to top navigation

Step 2: Re-run verification

Run:

py -3 scripts/verify_public_site.py

Expected: still fail, but for missing pages/layout/content instead of config/navigation.

Task 3: Add essay pages and layout

Files:

• Create: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_layouts/essay.html
• Create: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_pages/essays.md
• Create: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_essays/2026-03-17-do-not-wait.md
• Modify: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_sass/_founder-site.scss

Step 1: Implement pages

• Build the essays index with a bilingual header and essay cards
• Build the essay layout with title, subtitle, metadata, tags, body, English abstract, and previous/next links
• Add styling for essay index cards and single-essay longform reading
• Seed the first essay from the approved draft

Step 2: Re-run verification

Run:

py -3 scripts/verify_public_site.py

Expected: still fail if the homepage has not yet been updated.

Task 4: Surface essays on the homepage

Files:

• Modify: E:/科研项目/personal/ShengrenHou.github.io/_pages/about.md

Step 1: Implement homepage highlights

• Insert a Selected Essays / 随笔 block before Recent News
• Show up to two featured essays with title, subtitle, date, tags, excerpt, and CTA

Step 2: Run final verification

Run:

py -3 scripts/verify_public_site.py
git -C E:\科研项目\personal\ShengrenHou.github.io diff --check

Expected: both commands pass.

Task 5: Deploy and confirm the live site

Files:

• None

Step 1: Commit and push

git -C E:\科研项目\personal\ShengrenHou.github.io add .
git -C E:\科研项目\personal\ShengrenHou.github.io commit -m "feat: add essays section"
git -C E:\科研项目\personal\ShengrenHou.github.io push origin master

Step 2: Confirm deployment

• Wait for the GitHub Pages workflow to succeed
• Check the homepage, /essays/, and the first essay page