help.md - Documentation for Website Structure and Content Management

This file provides explanations and instructions for managing the structure and content of your Arry-eng.github.io website, based on the current HTML-structured README.md and the css/styles.css file.

CSS-Section: Explanation of css/styles.css

The css/styles.css file is responsible for the visual presentation of your website. It contains Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) rules that define how the HTML elements in your README.md file are displayed in the browser.

• Selectors: CSS rules target specific HTML elements or groups of elements using selectors (e.g., body, h1, .article-item). Classes (e.g., .welcome-header, .article-title, .license-section) allow you to apply styles to specific elements you’ve marked with the class attribute in your README.md.
• Properties: Within each rule, properties define the visual characteristics (e.g., color, font-size, background-color, padding, margin, border).
• Organization: The styles.css file is organized into logical sections (e.g., /* Welcome Section */, /* Latest News and Articles Section */) to make it easier to find and modify styles for different parts of your website.

Key Areas in styles.css:

• body: Basic styling for the entire page.
• .welcome-header: Styles for the top section containing the title and top navigation.
• .welcome-title: Styles for the main title.
• .top-navigation a: Styles for the links in the top navigation.
• .top-navigation span: Styles for the separators in the top navigation.
• .articles-section: Styles for the main section displaying articles.
• .articles-header: Styles for the heading of the articles section.
• .article-item: Styles for individual article containers.
• .article-date: Styles for the date of the article.
• .article-title: Styles for the title of the article.
• .article-summary: Styles for the summary list of the article.
• .article-link: Styles for the “Read More” links.
• .bottom-navigation: Styles for the navigation links at the bottom of the page.
• .license-section: Styles for the license information.
• .license-title, .license-header, .license-restrictions-title, .license-notes-title: Styles for headings within the license section.
• .license-restrictions-list, .license-notes-list: Styles for lists within the license section.
• .icon-section, .icon-link: Styles for the blurry icon in the top-left corner.

Detailed explanation of expressions used in CSS:

• color: #333;: Sets the text color to a dark gray using a hexadecimal color code (#RRGGBB). #333 means Red=33 (out of FF), Green=33, and Blue=33.
• font-family: sans-serif;: Specifies the font to be used for the text. sans-serif is a generic font family, and the browser will choose a specific sans-serif font available on the user’s system. You can specify a list of fonts for better cross-browser compatibility (e.g., font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;).
• line-height: 1.6;: Sets the vertical space between lines of text. A unitless value is a multiplier of the element’s font-size. 1.6 means the line height is 1.6 times the font size.
• margin: 0;: Sets the spacing around an element. 0 sets all four margins (top, right, bottom, left) to zero. You can use one value for all sides, two values for top/bottom and left/right, or four values for individual sides (e.g., margin: 10px 20px 5px 15px;).
• padding: 20px;: Sets the spacing inside an element. Similar to margin, you can use one to four values to control padding on different sides.
• background-color: #f4f4f4;: Sets the background color of an element using a hexadecimal color code (light gray in this case).
• border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;: Adds a 1-pixel (1px) solid (solid) gray (#eee) line at the bottom of the element. You can customize the thickness, style (e.g., dashed, dotted), and color.
• text-align: center;: Aligns the text content within an element to the center. Other values are left, right, and justify.
• text-decoration: none;: Removes default text decorations, like the underline on links (<a> elements).
• font-size: 0.9em;: Sets the font size relative to the font size of the parent element. em is a relative unit; 0.9em means 90% of the parent’s font size. You can also use absolute units like pixels (px).
• font-weight: bold;: Makes the text bold. Other common values are normal and lighter. Numeric values (100-900) offer finer control.
• list-style-type: square;: Sets the marker style for list items (<li> elements) to a square. Other options include disc, circle, and none.
• box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);: Adds a shadow effect. The values are: horizontal offset (0), vertical offset (1px), blur radius (3px), and color (rgba(red, green, blue, alpha) - in this case, a very light black with 5% opacity).
• position: absolute;, top: 10px;, left: 10px;: Used for precise positioning of elements. absolute positioning is relative to the nearest positioned ancestor. top and left specify the offset from the top and left edges of that ancestor.
• width: 50px;, height: 50px;: Sets the width and height of an element in pixels. You can also use other units like percentages (%).
• border-radius: 50%;: Rounds the corners of an element. A value of 50% on an element with equal width and height creates a circular shape.
• overflow: hidden;: Hides any part of an element’s content that extends beyond its boundaries.
• opacity: 0.6;: Sets the transparency of an element, where 0 is fully transparent and 1 is fully opaque.
• filter: blur(5px);: Applies a blur effect to the element. The pixel value controls the blur radius.

To customize the look and feel of your website, you will primarily edit this css/styles.css file. You can modify the properties within the CSS rules to change colors, fonts, spacing, and other visual aspects of the elements defined by the classes in your README.md file.

Examples on how to change the CSS elements to customize the look and feel of your website:

1. Changing the Main Text Color:
   • Find: The body selector.
   • Modify: Change the color property.
   • Example:

       body {
           color: #555; /* Sets the main text color to a medium gray */
           /* ... other properties ... */
       }
     

   • Impact: This will change the default text color for most text elements on your page, including article summaries and the license information, unless overridden by more specific CSS rules.
2. Making the Article Titles Stand Out More:
   • Find: The .article-title selector.
   • Modify: Adjust font-size, color, or font-weight.
   • Example:

       .article-title {
           font-size: 1.2em; /* Makes the titles slightly larger */
           color: #222; /* Darker color for better contrast */
           font-weight: bold; /* Ensures the titles are bold */
       }
     

   • Impact: This will make the titles of your articles in the “Latest News and Articles” section more prominent.
3. Adding a Background Color to the “Read More” Links:
   • Find: The .article-link selector.
   • Modify: Add a background-color and adjust padding for better visual separation.
   • Example:

       .article-link {
           color: white; /* White text color for the link */
           background-color: #007bff; /* Blue background for the link */
           padding: 5px 10px; /* Add some padding around the text */
           text-decoration: none; /* Remove underline */
           border-radius: 5px; /* Add rounded corners */
       }
     

   • Impact: This will style the “Read More” links as distinct buttons, making them more noticeable.

README.md-Section: What to Change in README.md for Adding New Content (New Article)

To add a new article to your homepage, follow these steps, keeping in mind the HTML structure of your README.md:

1. Create Your Article File:
   • Write the content of your new article in either a Markdown file (.md) or an HTML file (.html).
   • Save this file in the root directory of your repository or a relevant subfolder (e.g., articles). Choose a descriptive filename (e.g., new-feature-explanation.md or new-feature-explanation.html).
2. Update README.md:
   • Open your README.md file in a text editor.
   • Locate the div with the class articles-section.

   • Add a new div with the class article-item at the very top of this section to make it the latest article. Use the following HTML structure as a template:

       <div class="article-item">
           <h3 class="article-title">Latest Article: <span class="article-date">[Date of Your Article]</span></h3>
           <h4 class="article-title">[Title of Your New Article]</h4>
           <ul class="article-summary">
               <li>[A brief summary point]</li>
               <li>[Another summary point]</li>
           </ul>
           <p><a class="article-link" href="./[path-to-your-article-file]">Read More</a></p>
       </div>
       <hr style="border:1; border-top:1px solid #eee; margin: 20px 0;">
     

   • Replace the bracketed placeholders with the actual information for your new article:
     • [Date of Your Article]: The date of publication (e.g., April 18, 2025). This text will be styled according to the .article-date CSS rule.
     • [Title of Your New Article]: The title of your article (e.g., Exploring Advanced CSS Grid Layouts). This text will be styled according to the .article-title CSS rule.
     • <li>[A brief summary point]</li>: Add list items (<li>) for key highlights of your article. These will be styled according to the .article-summary CSS rule.
     • ./[path-to-your-article-file]: The relative path to your article file within the href attribute of the <a> tag. This creates the link that users will click to read the full article.
       • If the file is in the root directory, use ./your-article-file.md or ./your-article-file.html. The ./ indicates the current directory (where README.md is located).
       • If the file is in a subfolder (e.g., articles), use ./articles/your-article-file.md or ./articles/your-article-file.html.

   • Example:

       <div class="article-item">
           <h3 class="article-title">Latest Article: <span class="article-date">April 17, 2025</span></h3>
           <h4 class="article-title">Exploring Advanced CSS Grid Layouts</h4>
           <ul class="article-summary">
               <li>Understanding Grid Areas for complex layouts.</li>
               <li>Working with Implicit and Explicit Grids for flexible design.</li>
               <li>Techniques for Responsive Grid Layouts across devices.</li>
           </ul>
           <p><a class="article-link" href="./articles/css-grid-advanced.md">Read More</a></p>
       </div>
       <hr style="border:1; border-top:1px solid #eee; margin: 20px 0;">
     

3. Commit and Push:
   • Save your changes to README.md and your new article file.
   • Commit these changes to your local Git repository.
   • Push the changes to your GitHub repository.

Your GitHub Pages site will automatically update to display the new article at the top of the “Latest News and Articles” section, linked to the corresponding file. Ensure that the relative path in the href attribute is correct so that users can access your new content.

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