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MULTI Research Group Website - Content Update Guide

This guide explains how to update website content without touching any code. All content is stored in data files in the /data/ folder.

Quick Reference

To Update... Edit This File
Group description data/group.json
Team members data/team.json
Publications data/publications.bib
Team photos images/team/ folder

Before You Start

  1. Always make a backup before editing any file
  2. Use a text editor that shows syntax errors (VS Code, Sublime Text)
  3. Validate JSON files at jsonlint.com before saving
  4. Test locally by opening index.html in a browser

Updating Group Description

File: data/group.json

{
  "name": "MULTI Research Group",
  "fullName": "Machine learning, Uncertainty visualization, Large-scale visualization, Tensor visualization, and Inverse problem",
  "institution": "Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute",
  "university": "University of Utah",
  "introduction": "Your intro paragraph here. Can include multiple sentences."
}

To change the introduction:

  1. Open data/group.json
  2. Find the "introduction" field
  3. Replace the text inside the quotes
  4. Save the file

Note: Keep text on one line. For a line break, use \n.

Adding a Team Member

File: data/team.json

Step 1: Prepare the Images

Headshot Photo:

  1. Get a square photo (same width and height)
  2. Resize to 400x400 pixels
  3. Save as JPEG, under 100KB
  4. Name it firstname-lastname.jpg (all lowercase)
  5. Place in images/team/ folder

Research Banner:

  1. Get a wide image showcasing the member's research (visualization, figure, etc.)
  2. Dimensions: 2400×400 pixels (6:1 aspect ratio)
  3. Important: Place key visual content in the center 25% of the image (center 600px). The sides get cropped on narrow screens.
  4. Save as JPEG or PNG, under 500KB
  5. Name it firstname-lastname-banner.jpg (all lowercase)
  6. Place in images/research/ folder
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  cropped on   │   ALWAYS VISIBLE   │  cropped on    │
│  mobile       │   (center 600px)   │  mobile        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         ←────────── 2400px ──────────→

Step 2: Add the Entry

Open data/team.json and add a new entry to the team array:

{
  "team": [
    {
      "id": "jane-doe",
      "name": "Jane Doe",
      "position": "PhD Student",
      "affiliation": "Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah",
      "titles": [
        "PhD Student, School of Computing",
        "Research Assistant, SCI Institute"
      ],
      "email": "jane.doe@utah.edu",
      "website": "https://janedoe.com",
      "photo": "images/team/jane-doe.jpg",
      "researchBanner": "images/research/jane-doe-banner.jpg",
      "background": "Jane joined the group in 2024 after completing her MS at MIT. Her research focuses on machine learning applications in scientific visualization.",
      "researchInterests": ["Machine Learning", "Visualization"],
      "authorVariants": ["J. Doe", "Jane Doe", "J. A. Doe"]
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions

Field Description Example
id Unique identifier, lowercase with hyphens "jane-doe"
name Display name "Jane Doe"
position Short title for team card "PhD Student"
affiliation Primary institution "SCI Institute, University of Utah"
titles Array of full titles/positions ["PhD Student", "RA"]
email Contact email (optional) "jane@utah.edu"
website Personal website URL (optional) "https://janedoe.com"
photo Path to headshot image "images/team/jane-doe.jpg"
researchBanner Path to research visualization image "images/research/jane-doe-banner.jpg"
background Biography paragraph (supports HTML links) "Jane joined in 2024..."
researchInterests Array of research areas ["ML", "Viz"]
authorVariants Name variations in publications ["J. Doe", "Jane Doe"]

Important: Author Variants

The authorVariants field must include all ways the person's name appears in publications. Check existing publications for exact spelling:

"authorVariants": ["C. R. Johnson", "Chris R. Johnson", "Chris Johnson"]

Removing a Team Member

  1. Open data/team.json
  2. Find the team member's entry (search for their name)
  3. Delete the entire entry including the curly braces { ... }
  4. Remove the comma before or after if needed
  5. Optionally delete their photo from images/team/

Example - Before:

{
  "team": [
    { "id": "john", "name": "John" },
    { "id": "jane", "name": "Jane" },
    { "id": "bob", "name": "Bob" }
  ]
}

Example - After removing Jane:

{
  "team": [
    { "id": "john", "name": "John" },
    { "id": "bob", "name": "Bob" }
  ]
}

Updating Team Member Information

  1. Open data/team.json
  2. Find the team member (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search)
  3. Change the relevant field value
  4. Save the file

Common updates:

  • Change position: Edit "position": "New Title"
  • Update email: Edit "email": "new@utah.edu"
  • Add research interest: Add to the array ["Interest1", "Interest2", "New Interest"]

Adding Publications

File: data/publications.bib

Publications are stored in standard BibTeX format. The website parses this file directly.

BibTeX Entry Format

@Article{SCI:Doe2025a,
  author =    "J. Doe and C. R. Johnson",
  title =     "A Great Paper Title",
  journal =   "IEEE Transactions on Visualization",
  year =      "2025",
  url =       "https://publications.sci.utah.edu/...",
  doi =       "10.1109/TVCG.2025.12345",
}

Adding a Single Publication

  1. Open data/publications.bib
  2. Add the new entry at the top of the file (after any header comments)
  3. Include all required fields

Entry Types:

  • @Article - Journal papers
  • @InProceedings - Conference papers
  • @Book - Books
  • @InCollection - Book chapters
  • @Misc - Preprints, technical reports

Required fields:

  • author - Authors separated by " and "
  • title - Full title in quotes
  • year - Publication year
  • journal or booktitle - Venue name

Optional fields:

  • url - Link to PDF
  • doi - DOI identifier (without https://doi.org/)
  • volume, number, pages - Journal details

Author Name Format

Critical: Author names must match the authorVariants in team.json for filtering to work.

Standard format: First Initial. Last Name separated by and

author = "C. R. Johnson and T. M. Athawale and J. Doe",

Examples:

  • C. R. Johnson ✓
  • T. M. Athawale ✓
  • Chris Johnson (also valid, add to authorVariants in team.json)

Removing a Publication

  1. Open data/publications.bib
  2. Find the publication (search by title or key)
  3. Delete the entire entry from @Type{ to the closing }
  4. Save the file

Common JSON Mistakes (group.json, team.json)

Missing Comma

Wrong:

{
  "name": "John"
  "email": "john@utah.edu"
}

Correct:

{
  "name": "John",
  "email": "john@utah.edu"
}

Trailing Comma

Wrong:

{
  "team": [
    { "name": "John" },
    { "name": "Jane" },
  ]
}

Correct:

{
  "team": [
    { "name": "John" },
    { "name": "Jane" }
  ]
}

Missing Quotes

Wrong:

{
  "year": "2025",
  name: "John"
}

Correct:

{
  "year": 2025,
  "name": "John"
}

Note: Numbers don't need quotes, but strings do.

Common BibTeX Mistakes (publications.bib)

Missing Closing Brace

Wrong:

@Article{Key2025,
  author = "J. Doe",
  title = "Paper Title",
  year = "2025",

Correct:

@Article{Key2025,
  author = "J. Doe",
  title = "Paper Title",
  year = "2025",
}

Missing Quotes Around Values

Wrong:

  title = Paper Title,

Correct:

  title = "Paper Title",

Incorrect Author Separator

Wrong:

  author = "J. Doe, C. R. Johnson",

Correct:

  author = "J. Doe and C. R. Johnson",

Authors must be separated by and (with spaces), not commas.

Validation Steps

After any edit:

  1. For JSON files (group.json, team.json):

    • Go to jsonlint.com
    • Paste your file contents
    • Click "Validate JSON"
    • Fix any errors reported

  2. For BibTeX (publications.bib):

    • Ensure every @Type{ has a matching closing }
    • Check that all field values are in quotes
    • Verify authors are separated by and

  3. Test locally:

    • Open index.html in Chrome or Firefox
    • Open Developer Tools (F12)
    • Check Console tab for errors
    • Verify your changes appear correctly

  4. Test filtering:

    • Click on team member cards
    • Verify publications filter correctly
    • Check that new members show their publications

Deployment

After making changes:

  1. Upload changed files to web server
  2. Clear browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+R) to see changes
  3. Verify on live site

Getting Help

If validation fails and you can't find the error:

  1. Use VS Code - it highlights JSON and BibTeX errors
  2. Compare your file to a working backup
  3. Check for the common mistakes listed above
  4. For BibTeX, try an online validator like bibtex.online