IOTrust Lab Website

Official website for IOTrust Lab at the University of Utah.

Live site: https://iotrustlab.com

This repository is a static-export Next.js site deployed with GitHub Pages. Most site content is edited through JSON files in src/data/ and images in public/images/.

First: Work On A PR Branch

Use a GitHub pull request for normal website updates. Do not make site-content changes directly on main.

Before editing a profile, project, news item, publication, image, or page text, create a new branch from the latest main:

git switch main
git pull
git switch -c update-my-profile   # choose a short branch name for your change
git branch --show-current         # should not print "main"
npm install
npm run dev

Make your content changes, preview them at http://localhost:3000, then run:

npm run lint
npm run lint:links
npm run build

Commit your work and open a pull request:

git status
git add <files-you-changed>
git commit -m "Update my profile"
git push -u origin update-my-profile

GitHub will deploy the site after the PR is reviewed, merged into main, and the Pages workflow finishes.

Start Here

After you are on a PR branch, use the relevant guide:

Need to do this	Read this
Run the site locally	docs/local-development.md
Open a GitHub pull request	docs/pull-request-workflow.md
Understand pages, routes, and data files	docs/site-structure.md
Update your people/profile page	docs/update-profiles.md
Add or edit research themes and funded projects	docs/update-research.md
Add a news post	docs/update-news.md
Add or edit publications	docs/update-publications.md
Update courses, lab info, footer/contact basics	docs/update-courses-and-lab-info.md
Prepare images, PDFs, and other assets	docs/assets-and-media.md
Understand deployment	docs/deployment.md

Repository Map

src/app/                 Next.js routes and page components
src/components/          Shared UI components
src/data/                Site content edited by lab members
src/data/profiles/       Individual member profile JSON files
src/lib/                 Data loaders, SEO helpers, utilities
public/images/           Images served by the website
public/docs/             Public PDFs and downloadable files
docs/                    Contributor documentation
scripts/                 Validation, import, and generation scripts

Most updates do not require editing React components. Start with the docs page for the section you want to update.

Important Rules

• Do not commit secrets, private datasets, internal credentials, or unpublished sensitive material.
• Use root-relative asset paths such as /images/team/example.jpg.
• Keep IDs stable once they are public. IDs become URLs, anchors, and cross-file references.
• Use type: "json" for normal people/profile entries.
• Check that every referenced image or PDF exists under public/.
• Prefer clear factual content over marketing copy.

Tech Stack

• Next.js 16 with App Router and static export
• React 19
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS 3
• GitHub Pages

Useful Commands

npm run dev              # Local dev server
npm run lint             # ESLint
npm run lint:links       # Internal references and public asset checks
npx tsx scripts/validate-themes.ts
npm run build            # Static production build
npm run deploy           # Local build plus out/.nojekyll marker

npm run build also regenerates Open Graph images through npm run generate:og.

Getting Help

Look at nearby examples before adding new content. Existing files in src/data/ are the best templates because they are already rendered by the site.

If you are unsure which fields to use, open a small draft PR and ask for review.