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Just the Class

Just the Class is a GitHub Pages template developed for the purpose of quickly deploying course websites. In addition to serving plain web pages and files, it provides a boilerplate for:

• announcements,
• a course calendar,
• a staff page,
• and a weekly schedule.

Just the Class is a template that extends the popular Just the Docs theme, which provides a robust and thoroughly-tested foundation for your website. Just the Docs include features such as:

• automatic navigation structure,
• instant, full-text search and page indexing,
• and a set of UI components and authoring utilities.

Getting Started

Getting started with Just the Class is simple.

1. Create a new repository based on Just the Class.
   • for CSW8, use the previous course repo to minimize the setup time:
   • W22 (github / web)
   • S22 (github / web)
2. Update _config.yml and index.md/README.md with your course information. Be sure to update the url and baseurl.
3. Configure a publishing source for GitHub Pages. Your course website is now live!
4. Edit and create .md Markdown files to add more content pages.
   • _config.yml- update first - its contents are not auto-refreshed like the .md pages do. To see the changes to its contents, stop/restart Jekyll
   • about.md - make sure to update the Syllabus and course policies
   • announcements.md - skip, if not using the website Announcements
   • calendar.md - the information from this file is displayed at the top of the page that lists weekly topics and due dates;
     • if not using reflections, make sure to comment-out that part of the instructions.
     • The Calendar is populated using the files in the _modules folder. These are added semi-automatically, using a script generate_due_dates.py that hard-codes start and end dates, etc.
   • faq.md - make sure to update the QnA based on your course information. After you update the Syllabus and the Calendar, make sure you address the typical first-week questions and clarify the #weekly-pattern-and-planning-your-work section
     • can be omitted if you are short on time or you'd rather answer these repeated questions yourself
   • index.md - the front page of the course; some of the info there, like the course title, come from the _config.yml file
   • jekyll.sh - no need to change: run it as a shortcut for the bundle command
   • quiz.md - make sure to update the instructions based on your course quiz structure and policies
     • can be omitted if you are short on time or you'd rather answer these repeated questions yourself
   • schedule.md - the information for it is pulled from the _schedules/weekly.md --> make sure to update the latter - usually done via a script
     • use the two scripts in _modules to automatically generate the weekly modules on the Calendar
     • read the script documentation and the TODOs that are included inside the .py files
   • staff.md - the information for it is pulled from the _staffers and images are in the assets/images --> make sure to update them (see the _example.md to help you get started with a template; there is a 404.png for anyone who doesn't want their picture included)
   • success.md - make sure to change the Roadmap to align with your course calendar
     • can be omitted if you are short on time

• For the ref/ folder, I recommend initially comitting the goals.md, since it's referenced in the Syllabus and keyboard.md (+ debug?); the ide shows them how to install Python and is part of the FAQ; the rest of them can be added later, when they become relevant.
  • data-structures - a comparison table for strings, lists, tuples and namedtuples, dictionaries
  • debug - a good one to release initially as well - contains common errors and troubleshooting tips
  • goals - a list of CSW8 learning goals/objectives
  • ide - how to set up IDLE + common issues/warnings; include when covering functions/IDE/Gradescope
  • index - auto-generated index page for this Category
  • keyboard - common keyboard symbols and their names
  • labtocode - how to convert lab instructions to code; include when covering functions
• Initial commit should include the following files (if using announcements): README.md _announcements _config.yml _includes/ _layouts/ _modules/ _sass/ _schedules _staffers about.md announcements.md assets/ calendar.md faq.md index.md jekyll.sh ref/goals.md ref/keyboard.md schedule.md staff.md success.md
  • include debug.md?

Just the Class has been used by instructors at Stanford University (CS 161), UC Berkeley (Data 100), UC Santa Barbara (CSW8), Northeastern University (CS4530/5500), and Carnegie Mellon University (17-450/17-950). Share your course website and find more examples in the show and tell discussion!

Local development environment

Just the Class requires no special Jekyll plugins and can run on GitHub Pages' standard Jekyll compiler. To setup a local development environment, clone your template repository and follow the GitHub Docs on Testing your GitHub Pages site locally with Jekyll.