Today I Learned & Then I Learned Guide

Today I Learned & Then I Learned Features

Overview

The “Today I Learned” and “Then I Learned” features provide views of your changelog entries over time, helping you track what you’ve learned and changed across your digital garden.

  • Today I Learned (/til) - Shows all changelog entries updated today
  • Then I Learned (/til-archive) - Calendar view of all changelog entries with a modal for dates with 3+ entries

How It Works

Automatic Data Extraction

The changelog_entries_extractor.rb plugin automatically:

  1. Scans all changelog files in the _changelogs/ directory
  2. Extracts changelog entries from the Liquid template syntax
  3. Parses dates from each entry (date_published and date_updated)
  4. Groups entries by date for the calendar view
  5. Identifies today’s entries for the Today I Learned page

Data Structure

Each extracted changelog entry contains:

  • note_title - The title of the note being tracked
  • entry_title - The title of the changelog entry
  • date_published - When the change was first published
  • date_updated - When the change was last updated
  • sort_date - Used for sorting (defaults to date_updated)

Today I Learned (/til)

What It Shows

A simple list of changelog entries updated on the current date, formatted as:

- Note Title - Changelog Entry Title
- Another Note - Another Entry

Example

If you have these changelog entries with date_updated="2025-12-02":

  • “Example Note with Changelog” - “Fixed Formatting”
  • “Your first seed” - “Improved examples and formatting”
  • “Your first seed” - “Added navigation improvements”
  • “Your first seed” - “Revised code examples”

The Today I Learned page will display:

Changes made on December 2, 2025:
- Example Note with Changelog - Fixed Formatting
- Your first seed - Improved examples and formatting
- Your first seed - Added navigation improvements
- Your first seed - Revised code examples

Then I Learned (/til-archive)

What It Shows

A calendar view of the current month with all changelog entries. Each calendar cell shows:

  • Date number (bold)
  • Changelog entries as a list of “Note Title - Entry Title”
  • View More button (if 3+ entries) - shows a “View More…” link with count

Calendar Features

  1. Visual Highlighting
    • Dates with entries have a light purple background (#efefff)
    • Dates without entries have a light gray background (#fafafa)
    • Days from other months are grayed out
  2. Entry Display
    • Shows up to 3 entries per day in the calendar cell
    • If 3+ entries exist, a “View More…” button appears
    • Button shows count of additional entries: “View More… (X more)”
  3. Modal for Additional Entries
    • Clicking “View More…” opens a modal dialog
    • Modal displays all entries for that date
    • Shows entry title, note title, and date range

Users can close the modal by:

  • Clicking the X button in the top right corner
  • Clicking outside the modal (on the semi-transparent background)
  • Pressing the Escape key

Example Calendar Display

If December 2, 2025 has 5 entries:

Calendar cell shows:
  2
  Example Note - Fixed Formatting
  Your first seed - Improved examples
  Your first seed - Added navigation
  View More... (2 more)

Clicking "View More..." opens modal with all 5 entries:
  December 2, 2025
  ─────────────────
  ✕
  
  [Entry 1] Example Note - Fixed Formatting
  [Entry 2] Your first seed - Improved examples
  [Entry 3] Your first seed - Added navigation
  [Entry 4] Your first seed - Revised code
  [Entry 5] Another Note - Some change

How to Create Changelog Entries

Step 1: Add changelog_url to Your Note

Update your note’s front matter:

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

Step 2: Create a Changelog File

Create _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;">Entry Title</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 3: Add Changelog Entries

Use the changelog_entry include with:

  • title - Changelog entry title
  • date_published - Initial publish date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  • date_updated - Last update date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  • actions - JSON array of action objects

The date_updated field determines when the entry appears in Today I Learned and the calendar.

Date Format

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

Examples:

  • 2025-12-02 ✓ Correct
  • 12-02-2025 ✗ Incorrect
  • December 2, 2025 ✗ Incorrect

Files

Created Files

  • _plugins/changelog_entries_extractor.rb - Plugin to extract and organize changelog data
  • _layouts/today-i-learned.html - Layout for Today I Learned page
  • _layouts/then-i-learned.html - Layout for Then I Learned calendar (modified)

Updated Files

  • _layouts/note.html - Added changelog link to note header

Tips & Best Practices

  1. Update Dates Consistently - Use date_updated to control when entries appear
  2. Group Related Changes - Multiple related changes can be one entry with multiple actions
  3. Regular Updates - Update date_updated when you modify an entry
  4. Clear Titles - Use descriptive entry titles that explain the change at a glance
  5. Test Today’s Entries - Add a changelog entry with today’s date to see it appear in Today I Learned

Troubleshooting

Entries Not Appearing

  1. Check that changelog files are in _changelogs/ directory
  2. Verify front matter has correct layout: changelog
  3. Ensure dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format
  4. Confirm note_title matches what you want displayed

Calendar Not Loading

  1. Rebuild your Jekyll site
  2. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
  3. Verify modal HTML is being generated
  4. Clear browser cache
  1. Check that entry count is 4 or more for the date
  2. Verify JavaScript isn’t blocked
  3. Check browser console for errors
  4. Try pressing Escape to see if modal is open but invisible

This line appears after every note.

Notes mentioning this note

Getting Started with Changelog Features
Quick Start: Today I Learned & Then I Learned
Today I Learned & Then I Learned Implementation
Today I Learned & Then I Learned Features

Here are all the notes in this garden, along with their links, visualized as a graph.