Today I Learned & Then I Learned Features

Your digital garden now has two new ways to view and track your learning journey!

🎯 Quick Overview

📅 Today I Learned (/til)

Shows what you learned and changed today in an easy-to-scan list format.

Display Format

Changes made on December 2, 2025:
- Note Title - Changelog Entry Title
- Another Note - Another Entry Title

How It Works

• The plugin scans all changelog files for entries with date_updated matching today’s date
• Entries are displayed in the order they appear in the changelog files
• Perfect for daily reflection on what you’ve been working on

📊 Then I Learned (/til-archive) - Calendar View

A beautiful calendar showing your learning history across time.

Key Features

1. Calendar Display

• Current month calendar with entries for each day
• Dates with entries highlighted in light purple (#efefff)
• Dates without entries shown in light gray (#fafafa)

2. Entry Previews

• Up to 3 entries shown per day
• Format: Note Title - Entry Title
• Small font to fit multiple entries in the calendar cell

3. View More Modal

• When a day has 4 or more entries, a “View More…” button appears
• Shows count: “View More… (2 more)” when 2 additional entries exist
• Opens a modal when clicked displaying all entries for that day

4. Modal Interactions

Users can close the modal by:

• ✕ Clicking the X button in the top right corner
• Clicking outside the modal (semi-transparent background)
• Pressing the Escape key
• All interactions are intuitive and user-friendly

🔧 How to Use

Step 1: Create a Changelog File

Create a file in _changelogs/your-note-slug.md:

---
layout: changelog
title: Changelog - Your Note Title
note_title: Your Note Title
note_url: /your-note-slug/
permalink: /changelogs/your-note-slug/
---

<div class="changelog-entry" style="margin: 2em 0; padding: 1.5em; background: #f9f9f9; border-left: 4px solid #8b88e6; border-radius: 4px;">
  <h3 style="margin-top: 0;">First Change</h3>
  
  <p style="color: #666; font-size: 0.9em; margin: 0.5em 0;">
    
      Created: December 1, 2025
    
    
      | Updated: December 2, 2025
    
  </p>

  
    <div style="margin-top: 1em;">
      
        <div style="margin: 0.8em 0; padding: 0.8em; background: white; border-radius: 3px;">
          <strong style="color: #8b88e6;">:</strong> 
        </div>
      
    </div>
  
</div>

Step 2: Add Changelog Link to Note

Update your note’s front matter:

---
title: Your Note Title
changelog_url: /changelogs/your-note-slug/
---

Step 3: Add Changelog Entries

Use the changelog_entry include for each change:

<div class="changelog-entry" style="margin: 2em 0; padding: 1.5em; background: #f9f9f9; border-left: 4px solid #8b88e6; border-radius: 4px;">
  <h3 style="margin-top: 0;">What you changed</h3>
  
  <p style="color: #666; font-size: 0.9em; margin: 0.5em 0;">
    
      Created: December 1, 2025
    
    
      | Updated: December 2, 2025
    
  </p>

  
    <div style="margin-top: 1em;">
      
        <div style="margin: 0.8em 0; padding: 0.8em; background: white; border-radius: 3px;">
          <strong style="color: #8b88e6;">:</strong> 
        </div>
      
    </div>
  
</div>

Important: Date Format

All dates must be in ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DD

• ✓ Correct: 2025-12-02
• ✗ Wrong: 12-02-2025 or December 2, 2025

📊 Behind the Scenes

Plugin: changelog_entries_extractor.rb

This Jekyll plugin automatically:

1. Scans all files in _changelogs/ directory
2. Extracts changelog entry data from Liquid templates
3. Parses dates from each entry
4. Groups entries by date (using date_updated)
5. Stores data in site.data for layouts to use

Data Available

• site.data.changelog_entries - All entries sorted by date (newest first)
• site.data.changelog_entries_by_date - Entries grouped by date
• site.data.today_changelog_entries - Only today’s entries

🎨 Styling

Colors

• Purple accent: #8b88e6
• Light purple background: #efefff
• Light gray background: #fafafa

Responsive Design

• Calendar is responsive and works on mobile
• Modal adjusts to screen size
• Touch-friendly on mobile devices

📝 Example

See these examples in your garden:

• Example Note with Changelog - Shows changelog linking
• Your first seed - Updated with changelog link
• Your first note changelog - Live changelog example

These already have entries dated today (2025-12-02) so you can see them in action on the Today I Learned page!

🧪 Testing

Test Today I Learned

1. Add a changelog entry with today’s date
2. Visit /til
3. You should see your new entry listed

Test Then I Learned

1. Visit /til-archive
2. Look for the current month calendar
3. Click any “View More…” button to test the modal
4. Press Escape to close the modal

❓ FAQ

Q: How often does the data update? A: Every time you rebuild your Jekyll site. When developing locally, the plugin runs on each file save (with watch mode).

Q: Can I view past months? A: Currently shows the current month. Future enhancement could add month navigation.

Q: What happens if I have duplicate entries? A: Each unique entry in the changelog files is processed separately. Duplicates in source files will appear as duplicates.

Q: Can entries span multiple dates? A: Entries are grouped by date_updated only. Each entry appears once on its update date.

Q: How do I export/backup changelog data? A: All data is stored in your markdown files in _changelogs/. Regular git backups will preserve everything.

🚀 Advanced Tips

1. Sort by Creation vs Update: Currently sorts by date_updated. To sort by date_published, modify the plugin.

2. Custom Date Ranges: The plugin stores all dates; you could create additional layouts showing specific date ranges.

3. Export to JSON: The plugin could be extended to generate a JSON export of all entries.

4. Weekly Digest: Could create a layout showing entries from the past week.

📚 Related Docs

• Changelog System Guide - Detailed changelog setup
• Today I Learned & Then I Learned Guide - Complete feature documentation

This line appears after every note.