May 2025

  • Created the change log page!
  • Added css code for Bootstrap buttons
  • The City of Ottawa Library website was changed. All events are now starting with https://booking.biblioottawalibrary.ca/ whereas before they were under https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/ I had to change my CSV file where all the data is located, and also the Python script that I run weekly to update the data. Thankfully the whole exercise took only about 5 minutes, phew! :)
  • Added some more stuff to my media page, including some images. I decided to fix the CSS to make the image appear on the left instead of in the middle of the screen :)
  • Added more social links in the footer
  • Created a Free Agent page
  • I recently changed how my website is built. It used to be built with custom HTML and Javascript, but I started using an open-source site generator called Jekyll (thank you ChatGPT for explaining to me how to migrate my website). This allows me to have “reusable components” for similar pages so that I don’t have to constantly copy-paste the same code everywhere (and if that code changes, then I only change it in one spot instead of 17 locations haha). Anyways, long story short, I now have to change all my projects to adopt the new look, so I’ve been slowly working on that.
  • Oops, I suddenly realized that during the migration to Jekyll, I somehow lost my Efficient Public Servant link on the home page, so I added it back :) While I was at it, I gave it the new look and feel
  • On my Library Programs page, the time of day now appears in 24 hour clock instead of 12 hour clock. It’s a bit harder for people not familiar with the 24-hour clock, however it means that I am able to sort the events (otherwise it looked like 1 PM came before 9 AM because 1 comes before 9 in alphabetical order). It’s not perfect though, there are still 3 events showing up in 12 hour clock (probably because they are missing the AM or PM marker on the source website).
  • I decided to create a separate page for Kindergym. And then on each City of Ottawa drop-in page I have, I added a mini menu to go from one to the other (currently, the options are: all drop-ins, skating, swimming, kindergym). I think I should rearrange my home page to put all the City of Ottawa Drop-Ins subprojects within one category. I also think I should maybe create more specialized pages like Badminton, Basketball, Pickleball, etc. Maybe a task for June haha.
  • The 4 City of Ottawa drop-in pages are now coded using “components” instead of HTML code within the page.
  • Darn the library website changed again! I had to fix my Python script
  • A few days later, I realized I had a bunch of duplicate events in my library data. So I opened the dataset in Notepad++ to do Edit > Line Operation > Remove duplicate, then I re-uploaded the dataset to Github where my website is hosted. I updated my list of instructions to update the data so that I won’t forget to remove duplicates every week.
  • I decided to change host! I am now using Netlify instead of Github Pages. For now, I am using the free version. The reason for the switch is that I want to be able to eventually sell something / add ads, which was not really allowed on Github Pages.
  • I added “Select All” and “Unselect All” buttons on the filters for the library programs page and all the City of Ottawa drop-ins pages (All drop-ins, skating, swimming, kindergym)
  • I created a simple Contact page
  • Added a spot on the City of Ottawa drop-in pages for a message to appear on top of every page (useful for example when a special holiday is affecting the schedule, like the Victoria Day weekend for example)
  • I moved my repository of adult dance classes to the new look and feel. While I was at it, I changed the code so that if there are multiple addresses for one school, they all get their individual Google Maps link.
  • There are a few new drop-in activities that the City of Ottawa added that didn’t exist before, so I had to update my code to ensure they were correctly categorized on my City of Ottawa drop-in pages. The new activities are: Billiards, Ukulele, Open Paint Studio, Geriatric Jazz Band and Sport Conditioning
  • Created a separate page for all my work projects and one separate page for my personal projects, and then I updated the website menu. Now that I’m using Jekyll, the whole thing took only about 3 seconds it was awesome :) I love Jekyll!!
  • Moved the email address extractor to the new look and feel
  • I received questions about how reservations work with the City of Ottawa drop-ins, so I added a note to explain that on all the City of Ottawa drop-in pages.
  • I did a presentation at the Civic Tech Ottawa Meetup, so I added a few pictures of the event to the media page
  • OMG! On May 23, 2025, I received my VERY FIRST coffee (there’s a link to buy me a coffee in the footer of my website). I am super excited!
  • (before that I did tons of stuff but I didn’t keep track sorry! ;)