6.0.0

✨ Highlights

• New sidebar (Bootstrap 5 rewrite)
  Completely redesigned sidebar based on Bootstrap 5, replacing the navgoco dependency. Improves accessibility, robustness, and consistency across devices. (#379, #380)

• New page metadata panel
  Introduces a dedicated metadata panel showing contributors, coordinators, editors, affiliations, and citation info. Reuses contributor card components and adds dedicated Sass variables for metadata styling. (#376, #380)
  

• New front matter field: editors
  Allows defining page editors in addition to contributors; displayed in the metadata panel. (#376)

  ---
  title: Example Page
  editors: [John Smith]
  ---

• Improved national tool & resource listing
  Tools and resources now list their available instances more clearly, both in popover menus and in the tool table, making national and non-national instances easier to discover and compare. (#378, #392)
  

• Cleaner, more consistent UI styling
  Reduced borders, softer hover states, aligned collapse arrows, and clearer distinction between single- and multi-line sidebar items. (#386, #403)
  

🔧 Improvements

• Metadata sorting configuration
  New _config.yml flags allow sorting entries in the metadata panel:

  theme_variables:
    page_metadata:
      contributors_sort: true
      coordinators_sort: true
      editors_sort: true
      affiliations_sort: true

• Configurable top navigation search
  The search bar in the top navigation can now be enabled or disabled via _config.yml (default: enabled). (#372)

  theme_variables:
    topnav:
      search: true

• Sidebar & ToC accessibility

  • Collapse controls are keyboard-focusable. (#369)
  • Skip-aside visually hidden button added for assistive technologies.

• SEO, favicon & documentation

  • New favicon-related metadata and improved SEO documentation. (#393)
  • Related pages documentation improvements. (#368)
  • Added type_img attribute to page mechanics documentation. (#400)

🐛 Bug fixes & robustness

• Contributor carousel fix
  Navigation arrows no longer overlay contributor cards. (#383)

• Sidebar and ToC rendering fixes

  • ToC collapse button no longer appears when no ToC is present. (#374)
  • Improved spacing and alignment for multi-line vs single-line items. (#403)
  • Guards against JS errors when no sidebar is present.

• Tool & instance listings

  • Empty flag shown for non-country page instances. (#392)

🚨 Breaking changes 🚨

• Sidebar implementation replaced
  The sidebar is now fully based on Bootstrap 5, removing the navgoco dependency.
  ⚠️ Custom sidebar overrides must be updated. (#379, #380)

• Sass variables cleanup & behavior changes

  • Removed sidebar variables (multi-level theming):

    $sidebar-bg
    $sidebar-color
    $sidebar-lvl2-*
    $sidebar-lvl3-*
    $sidebar-bg-active
    $sidebar-color-active

  • New / replacement variables:

    $sidebar-title-bg
    $sidebar-link-color-active
    $sidebar-link-bg-active

  • New metadata variables:

    $page-metadata-bg
    $page-metadata-link-bg
    $contr-popover-bg

  • New top navigation variable:

    $topnav-searchbar

  ⚠️ Projects overriding Sass variables should review _sass/_variables.scss and update _sass/_custom_variables.scss accordingly.

• Deprecated configuration

  • contributor-minitiles-page is deprecated and should be removed from _config.yml.

• Favicon asset changes

  • android-chrome-*.png replaced by web-app-manifest-*.png
    Update any hardcoded references.

🧾 Full change list

• Related_pages documentation improvements by @bedroesb in #368
• Add ability to disable website search by @bedroesb in #372
• Refactor page metadata tabs with improved components by @ftabaro in #376
• Improve navigation by @janslifka in #379
• Update resource link for research-data.no by @korbinib in #382
• Fix contributor carousel navigation arrows overlaying cards by @GeertvanGeest in #383
• List instances of a tool or resource in the popover menu and the tool table by @bedroesb in #378
• Bump version to 6.0.0 and update dependencies by @bedroesb in #384
• Speed improvements when instance has lots of tools by @bedroesb in #385
• Create a more clean look by using less borders by @bedroesb in #386
• Add links to Galaxy Codex and ELIXIR SMP in README by @bedroesb in #387
• Introduce new sidebar and page metadata panel by @bedroesb in #380
• Empty flag when listing non country page instances by @bedroesb in #392
• Introduce new favicon related metadata + improve SEO metadata tag docs by @bedroesb in #393
• Fix inconsistent behaviour sidebar when 3 levels deep by @bedroesb in #398
• Add type_img attribute to page mechanics documentation by @bedroesb in #400
• Revert 1700px breakpoint of main container by @bedroesb in #401
• Revert page width change (again) by @bedroesb in #402
• Better difference between multiline sidebar items and single line sidebar items by @bedroesb in #403

New Contributors

• @ftabaro made their first contribution in #376
• @korbinib made their first contribution in #382
• @GeertvanGeest made their first contribution in #383

Full Changelog: 5.0.0...6.0.0

5.0.0

✨ Highlights

• External link icons for accessibility
  External links now show an icon to improve clarity for all users and assistive tech. (#366)
• Per-page metadata for better sharing (SEO + chat thumbnails)
  Page metadata is now handled at the page level, improving SEO and how links render in chat apps and social cards. (#351)
• Custom JavaScript support
  Easily add project/page-specific JS without forking the theme. (#346)
• Minimal/no footer support
  Footer elements are now shown dynamically based on footer.yml attributes, enabling a minimal footer—or no footer at all. (#361)
• Upgrade to latest Jekyll + Sass fixes
  Updated dependencies and resolved Sass issues; README updated. (#337)
• Case-sensitive sections/page types
  Giving more control allowing acronyms to be part of a section, but requiring consistent casing in front-matter. (#350)

🔧 Improvements

• Set GitHub branch, repository, and filepath via page metadata. (#342)
• Reverse events sorting – newest events appear first. (#352)
• Datatables page length is configurable. (#359)
• Multiple contributor carousels on a single page are now supported. (#360)
• Coordinators without contributors are allowed. (#353)
• Coordinators & affiliations documented. (#357)

🐛 Bug fixes & robustness

• TOC JS error and max content width bug when few headings are present; made the code more resilient. (#358)
• General Sass error fixes with the Jekyll upgrade. (#337)
• PageID lister now supports case-sensitive sections. (#363)

🚨 Breaking changes 🚨

• page.type is now case-sensitive. Make sure your front-matter, section-navigation-tiles.html include and related pages uses the correct casing. (#350)
• page.custom_editme page metadata attribute has been removed. Use the new metadata approach for GitHub edit links (branch/repo/filepath) instead. (#356, #342)

🧾 Full change list

• Update Jekyll to latest version, fix sass errors, update README by @bedroesb in #337
• Add new deployment to README by @bedroesb in #343
• Set GitHub branch, repository and filepath using page metadata by @kdp-cloud in #342
• Add mTeSS-X theme instance to README.md by @PhilReedData in #345
• Add support for custom JS by @bedroesb in #346
• Reverse events sorting - newest events on top by @bedroesb in #352
• Possibility to have a coordinator without contributor by @bedroesb in #353
• Add coordinators and affiliations to the docs by @bedroesb in #357
• Remove support for the custom_editme attribute in the page metadata by @bedroesb in #356
• Making page type case sensitive by @bedroesb in #350
• Fix TOC JS error and max contant width bug when not enough headings are present + make code more resilient by @bedroesb in #358
• Improve page metadata handling for better SEO and thumbnail rendering in chats by @bedroesb in #351
• Make pagelength of Datatables configurable by @bedroesb in #359
• Add support for multiple contributor carousels on one page by @bedroesb in #360
• Dynamically show footer elements when attributes are provided in the footer.yml by @bedroesb in #361
• New case sensitive sections support to pageID lister by @bedroesb in #363
• Bump version to 5.0.0 by @bedroesb in #364
• Update README to 5.0.0 by @bedroesb in #365
• Add icon to external links for better accessibility by @bedroesb in #366

Full Changelog: 4.2.0...5.0.0

4.2.0 - How to cite, breadcrumb and new socials

What's Changed

• Add other social media links in _config.yml by @anenadic in #324
• Update Twitter name to X-Twitter by @anenadic in #323
• Rewords tooltip for tools and resources/training tables for readability by @anenadic in #317
• Add 'how to cite this page' section to page layout by @anenadic in #315
• Add customizations to the GitHub features by @kdp-cloud in #328
• Add breadcrumb by @kdp-cloud in #329
• Bump version ETT to 4.2.0 by @bedroesb in #335

New Features

Configuration settings:

theme_variables:
  topnav:
    bluesky: false
    linkedin: false
    fosstodon: false
  breadcrumb: false
  

• bluesky: Enable or disable the appearance of the Bluesky nav link by adding the url towards the Bluesky page. Default: false
• linkedin: Enable or disable the appearance of the Linkedin nav link by adding the url towards the Linkedin page. Default: false
• fosstodon: Enable or disable the appearance of the Fosstodon nav link by adding the url towards the Fosstodon page. Default: false
• breadcrumb: Adds a breadcrumb above the title of every page. The breadcrumb will always represent the URL pattern and works best in combination with permalink style pretty. Default: false

Page metadata

• custom_repo_url: Specify an alternative GitHub repository that overrides the repository specified in the config file. Default: site.github.repository_url.

• custom_file_path: Specify an alternative file on the GitHub repository. This replaces the custom_editme variable. Default: current path of the page.

• page_citation: When set to true, it will cause the citation section for the page to be generated in the format: <author names>. <page title>. <site domain>. <page URL>. <date accessed>.

🚨 Soon deprecated 🚨

• custom_editme: This attribute can be used to specify an alternative file when clicked on the edit-me or history button. Example: _data/news.yml. !This will be deprecated in the next major release (v5.0)! --> replaced by custom_file_path

New Contributors

• @kdp-cloud made their first contribution in #328

Full Changelog: 4.1.0...4.2.0

4.1.0 - Disable Matomo cookies and bugfixes

What's Changed

• Add option for disabling Matomo cookies by @egpbos in #314
• Add support for contributor affiliation as both a list and a string by @anenadic in #312
• Bugfix: No false positives with the tools and resources table by @bedroesb in #319
• Sort affiliations inside section navigation tiles by @bedroesb in #320

New Contributors

• @egpbos made their first contribution in #314

Full Changelog: 4.0.0...4.1.0

4.0.0 - Page image support and other improvements

What's Changed

• Bump google-protobuf from 3.25.3 to 3.25.5 by @dependabot in #283
• Bump webrick from 1.8.1 to 1.8.2 by @dependabot in #284
• Update setup-ruby action + Ruby upgrade by @bedroesb in #289
• Tool snippet button has an active state when clicked by @bedroesb in #288
• Improve responsiveness of DataTables by @bedroesb in #293
• Homogenize spacing between section navigation tiles by @bedroesb in #294
• Add searchBuilder option for DataTables by @bedroesb in #292
• Bugfix: When certain Site logo's were used, a horizontal scrollbar appears in the topnav, even when there is enough space. by @bedroesb in #299
• Wider gutter when in desktop mode by @bedroesb in #300
• Make the topnav search placeholder more universal by @bedroesb in #298
• More spacing between TOC and content when in mobile by @bedroesb in #304
• Better alignment of footer elements in mobile mode by @bedroesb in #301
• New attribute page_img: logos for for pages and sections by @PhilReedData in #290
• Improved arangement footer elements by @bedroesb in #305
• Update twitter icon to X by @bedroesb in #310
• Prepare new release by @bedroesb in #309
• Improved contributors tiles and carousel fix by @bedroesb in #308

Release highlight

Pull request #290 brings support for Page images. Using the page_img page attribute (to be set in the frontmatter of the markdown, or in the config file) you can specify the relative path to an image in the /images/ folder ( example: infrastructures/ELIXIR_BELGIUM_white_background.svg) and it will look like this:

It is also visible in the section navigation tiles. More info about this can be found on the Page mechanics page.

Full Changelog: 3.2.0...4.0.0

3.2.0 - Better TOC behavior and other improvements

What's Changed

• Bump rexml from 3.3.1 to 3.3.3 by @dependabot in #271
• Create new include scroll-top.html for the scroll to top button by @bedroesb in #272
• Bugfix: do not list pages that have no page_id in the overview list of page IDs by @bedroesb in #275
• Fix the TOC being loaded as last making the content jump around with big pages by @bedroesb in #277
• Bugfix: Make sure affiliations inside section navigation tiles wrap in mobile by @bedroesb in #279
• Bump rexml from 3.3.3 to 3.3.6 by @dependabot in #278
• FEAT: Make the development info banner optional by @bedroesb in #280
• Updating the dependencies of ETT including: Bootstrap, JQuery, DataTables and FontAwesome by @bedroesb in #281
• Improve anchor link behavior and TOC by @bedroesb in #282

Full Changelog: 3.1.1...3.2.0

3.1.1 - Tools and resources hotfix

What's Changed

• [Hotfix] Tools and resources section gets rendered only when tools are available. by @bedroesb in #270

Full Changelog: 3.1.0...3.1.1

3.1.0 - Multiple improvements

What's Changed

• Hide search section navigation tiles when false by @bedroesb in #254
• Add an optional top banner to display message to users across all pages by @anenadic in #256
• Make navbar brand scrollable to add support for long topnav titles by @bedroesb in #259
• Fix: Proposed workflow for deployment using GitHub Actions does not set Jekyll env by @bedroesb in #261
• Update local installation instructions by @anenadic in #262
• Improved scroll to top button + larger maximum break point by @bedroesb in #264
• Include collections (site.documents) in search by @elichad in #267
• Better handling of national resources by @bedroesb in #268

New Contributors

• @anenadic made their first contribution in #256
• @elichad made their first contribution in #267

Full Changelog: 3.0.1...3.1.0

3.0.1 - Add back GitHub Pages compatibility

What's Changed

• Keep track of GitHub stats by @bedroesb in #243
• bugfix: add back compatibility for older versions of the sass-converter by @bedroesb in #245
• Bump nokogiri from 1.16.3 to 1.16.5 by @dependabot in #247
• Bump rexml from 3.2.6 to 3.2.8 by @dependabot in #250
• Add the class parameter to the image include section by @PhilReedData in #252

New Contributors

• @PhilReedData made their first contribution in #252

Full Changelog: 3.0.0...3.0.1

3.0.0 - Renewed "More information" section

What's Changed

• Update deployment documentation using GitHub Actions by @bedroesb in #225
• Update versions in README by @bedroesb in #226
• Bump nokogiri from 1.15.4 to 1.16.2 by @dependabot in #227
• New page design by @bedroesb in #192
• Fix + test for long tool names by @bedroesb in #232
• Improve documentation for top navigation and the tools table by @bedroesb in #234
• Make sure NA as registry value is not displayed by @bedroesb in #236

New features

• Collapsable items for "More information" including Training, rdmkit links, FAIRCookbook links, etc
• New website configuration setting:

  theme_variables:
    headings:
      resource-table-all-collapse: true

  This setting allows you to also collapse the resource table under the "More information" section
• New scss variables setting the Section navigation tiles and More information buttons. Set them in the _sass/_custom_variables.scss file

  /*-----Section navigation tiles-----*/
  $nav-card-bg: $light;
  $nav-card-color: $dark;
  $nav-card-bg-hover: $primary;
  $nav-card-color-hover: $white;
  
  /*-----More information tiles-----*/
  $info-card-bg: $light;
  $info-card-color: $dark;
  $info-card-bg-hover: $primary;
  $info-card-color-hover: $white;

• Improved descriptions when linking to RDMkit, FAIRsharing, FAIRCookbook and DSW
• New simpler design for section navigation tiles and related pages tiles, giving a coherent way of navigating the website.
• Set Icons for pages so they are visualized in section navigation tiles and related pages tiles by using the new page attribute: type_img for example" :

  ---
  type_img: /assets/img/section-icons/dna-light.svg
  ---

• Use the col parameter in the section navigation tiles and section navigation tiles simple to specify the number of columns

  {% include section-navigation-tiles.html type="example_pages" col=3 %}
  

  or

  {% include section-navigation-tiles-simple.html type="example_pages" col=3 %}
  

Full Changelog: 2.5.0...3.0.0