News item spec template

This template defines the recommended schema for files in _news/.

Why this exists

• Keep news rendering stable on /news/ and homepage snippets.
• Ensure each item exposes a clean excerpt for list views.
• Keep sorting/filtering by date predictable.
• Keep event tagging consistent across all news items.

Current rendering behavior

• News index page reads site.news, filters out future-dated items, sorts by date descending, and groups by year.
• Homepage shows latest items with title, date, and excerpt.
• Excerpt text is split by <!--news-excerpt-->.

Required front matter

• title (string)
• date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• layout: archive
• author_profile: true
• excerpt_separator: "<!--news-excerpt-->"

Optional front matter

• tags (array of canonical slugs from _data/news_tags.yml)

Canonical tag taxonomy

• Source of truth: _data/news_tags.yml
• Tag values in news front matter must use slug values from that file.
• Recommended usage: 1-3 primary tags per item, plus optional modifier tags.

Strongly recommended body structure

1. First paragraph: short full item text.
2. Insert <!--news-excerpt-->.
3. Second paragraph: concise summary line for list views.

Copy/paste template

---
title: "NEWS TITLE"
date: YYYY-MM-DD
layout: archive
author_profile: true
excerpt_separator: "<!--news-excerpt-->"
tags:
  - conference_talk
  - invited_talk
---
Full news text (1-3 sentences) with any links.

<!--news-excerpt-->
One-sentence excerpt used in list pages.

Validation checklist

• Date is valid ISO format and not accidental future date.
• Excerpt separator exists exactly once.
• Item appears in /news/ year group and homepage recent list.
• If tags is present, every tag exists in _data/news_tags.yml.