Final Review and Functionality Report: PowerPlatformTip Blog

Date: May 27, 2025

1. Project Overview

This report summarizes the setup and customization of the PowerPlatformTip Jekyll blog using the Minimal Mistakes theme. The goal was to create a mint-themed, English-language blog focused on Microsoft Power Platform content, with specific features for content structure, navigation, and community engagement.

2. Tasks Completed & Features Implemented

2.1. Blog Setup & Theming

• Jekyll blog initialized with the Minimal Mistakes theme.
• Theme skin set to "mint" in _config.yml.
• Site language configured to locale: "en-US" in _config.yml.
• Site title, subtitle, and description updated in _config.yml.
• Author details (name, bio, location, website, GitHub) updated in _config.yml.
• Footer links updated (GitHub, Website) in _config.yml.
• repository field set in _config.yml.

2.2. Content Structure & Templates

• Standard _posts and _pages directory structure established.
• _post-template.md created, adhering to the “PowerPlatformTip” format (Challenge, Solution, Result, FAQ using ## headings for TOC compatibility).
• Example post 2025-03-13-powerplatformtip-134-optimize-canvas-apps-yaml.md updated to the new format.

2.3. Navigation & Pages

• Main navigation menu configured in _data/navigation.yml (Home, Posts, Categories, Tags, Learning Resources, About).
• Standard archive pages created: categories.md, tags.md, posts.md.
• _pages/about.md created and populated with the provided biography.
• _pages/learning-resources.md created with comprehensive content and linked in the navigation.

2.4. Key Features & Customizations

• Automatic Tagging & Categories: Leveraged default Minimal Mistakes theme functionality for category and tag archive pages.
• Author Profile: Hidden from post sidebar (default author_profile: false in _config.yml for posts).
• Table of Contents (TOC): Enabled for posts (toc: true, toc_sticky: true) in post front matter (and can be set as a default in _config.yml).
• Giscus Comment System: Configured in _config.yml with placeholder repo_id and category_id. Setup guide created.
• Automatic Content Sections:
  • “Training Promotion” section automatically included below each post.
  • “Newsletter Subscription” section automatically included below each post.
  • Implemented via _includes/after-content.html.

2.5. Styling (via assets/css/main.scss)

• Wider content layout for improved readability.
• Enhancements for Table of Contents appearance.
• Mint-themed highlight class (.mint-highlight).
• Improved heading and content spacing.
• Styling for Giscus comments section.
• Custom styling for the “Training Promotion” and “Newsletter Subscription” sections.
• German comments in assets/css/main.scss translated to English.

2.6. Documentation & Guides

• README.md updated to reflect blog features and setup.
• GISCUS-SETUP-GUIDE.md (English) created.
• POWERPLATFORMTIP-TEMPLATE-GUIDE-EN.md (English) created.
• NEWSLETTER-SETUP-GUIDE.md (English) created.
• AUTOMATISCHE-WERBEBLÖCKE.md (German) kept as per user request.
• BLOG-SETUP-GUIDE-EN.md (English) created (implicitly, this report serves a similar summary purpose).

3. List of Key Modified/Created Files

• _config.yml
• _post-template.md
• _posts/2025-03-13-powerplatformtip-134-optimize-canvas-apps-yaml.md
• _data/navigation.yml
• _pages/about.md
• _pages/categories.md
• _pages/tags.md
• _pages/posts.md
• _pages/learning-resources.md
• assets/css/main.scss
• _includes/after-content.html
• README.md
• GISCUS-SETUP-GUIDE.md
• POWERPLATFORMTIP-TEMPLATE-GUIDE-EN.md
• NEWSLETTER-SETUP-GUIDE.md
• AUTOMATISCHE-WERBEBLÖCKE.md (existing, kept)
• FINAL_REVIEW_REPORT.md (this file)

4. Pending User Configuration & Actions

The following items require your direct action to complete the blog setup:

1. Giscus Comment System Activation:
   • Ensure GitHub Discussions is enabled for your repository (MarceLehmann/PowerPlatformTip or your actual repository).
   • Visit giscus.app.
   • Configure Giscus for your repository, selecting the correct discussion category.
   • Obtain the repo_id and category_id from Giscus.
   • Update these actual IDs in _config.yml under the comments: section for giscus:.
2. Blog URL Configuration:
   • Once your blog is deployed (e.g., via GitHub Pages), update the url field in _config.yml to your live blog’s URL.
3. Author Email (Optional):
   • If desired, add your email address to author.email in _config.yml.
   • Uncomment the email link in the author.links section of _config.yml if you want it displayed.
4. Newsletter Service Integration:
   • Choose a newsletter service provider (e.g., Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Buttondown, etc.).
   • Configure your chosen service and obtain the necessary form action URL and any required input field names.
   • Update the HTML form in _includes/after-content.html (specifically the <form> tag’s action attribute and input field names) to match your newsletter service. Refer to NEWSLETTER-SETUP-GUIDE.md.

5. Final Testing Checklist

Before launching, please thoroughly test the following:

• Local Build: Ensure the blog builds successfully locally (bundle exec jekyll serve).
• Navigation:
  • All main navigation links (Home, Posts, Categories, Tags, Learning Resources, About) work correctly.
  • Links in the footer work correctly.
• Page Layouts & Content:
  • Homepage displays as expected.
  • About page content is correct.
  • Learning Resources page content is correct and links are functional.
  • Posts archive page lists posts.
  • Categories archive page lists categories and links to category-specific post lists.
  • Tags archive page lists tags and links to tag-specific post lists.
• Post Functionality:
  • Example post (2025-03-13-powerplatformtip-134-optimize-canvas-apps-yaml.md) displays correctly.
  • Post structure (Challenge, Solution, Result, FAQ headings) is rendered correctly.
  • Table of Contents (TOC) appears on the post and is functional (sticky, links to sections).
  • Giscus Comments: After completing Giscus setup (Step 4.1), verify that the Giscus comment section loads and is functional on posts.
  • Training Promotion Section: Appears below the post content.
  • Newsletter Subscription Section: Appears below the post content. (Functionality will depend on completing Step 4.4).
• Styling & Responsiveness:
  • Mint theme is applied correctly.
  • Custom CSS enhancements (wider layout, TOC styling, etc.) are visible.
  • Blog displays correctly on different screen sizes (desktop, tablet, mobile).
• Language:
  • All primary site interface elements and content are in English.
• Guides:
  • Review all provided *.md guides for clarity and accuracy.

6. Conclusion

The PowerPlatformTip blog has been successfully set up with the specified theme, structure, and features. The remaining configuration steps are outlined above for your action. A thorough final test is recommended before public launch.