Auto-generate publications page from Excel spreadsheet

[jeremymanning]

Overview

Automatically compile the publications page (publications.html) from an Excel spreadsheet, with one row per publication.

Spreadsheet Columns

The spreadsheet should include (at minimum):

• Title - Publication title
• Authors - Author list
• Year - Publication year
• Type - Publication type (paper, poster, talk, course, etc.)
• Venue - Journal, conference, or platform name
• DOI/URL - Link to the publication
• PDF URL - Direct link to PDF (if available)
• Code/Data URL - Link to associated code or data (if available)
• Thumbnail - Filename of thumbnail image in images/publications/
• Abstract - Brief description (optional)

Implementation

• Create Excel template with required columns
• Write build script (Python or Node.js) to parse spreadsheet
• Generate HTML for each publication type section
• Sort publications by year (newest first) within each type
• Handle missing optional fields gracefully
• Preserve existing styling and layout

File Structure

data/
  publications.xlsx    # Source spreadsheet
scripts/
  build_publications.py  # Build script

Labels

enhancement, automation

[jeremymanning]

Completed. Publications page is now auto-generated from data/publications.xlsx using scripts/build_publications.py. The build system includes:

• 104 publications extracted and managed in Excel
• GitHub Actions workflow for automatic rebuilds
• Validation and testing (76 tests passing)
• Pre-push check script

See README for documentation.