Configuration

Configure your Telar site through the _config.yml file in your repository root.

Basic Settings

title: Your Narrative Title
description: A brief description of your narrative exhibition
baseurl: "/repository-name"  # For GitHub Pages subdirectory
url: "https://username.github.io"
author: Your Name
email: your-email@example.com

baseurl vs url

url: Your site’s base domain
baseurl: Path after domain (use "" for root domain, or /repo-name for GitHub Pages)

Examples:

# GitHub Pages subdirectory
url: "https://username.github.io"
baseurl: "/telar-site"
# Result: https://username.github.io/telar-site

# Custom domain at root
url: "https://mysite.org"
baseurl: ""
# Result: https://mysite.org

Google Sheets Integration

Configure Google Sheets for content management:

google_sheets:
  enabled: true
  shared_url: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID/edit?usp=sharing"
  published_url: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/YOUR_PUBLISHED_ID/pub?output=csv"

Getting Your URLs

Shared URL:

Click Share button in Google Sheets
Set to “Anyone with the link (Viewer)”
Copy the URL

Published URL:

File → Share → Publish to web
Click Publish
Copy the URL

Important Both URLs are required. The shared URL is for viewing, the published URL is for automated fetching.

Theme Selection

Telar includes 4 preset themes:

telar_theme: "paisajes"  # Options: paisajes, neogranadina, santa-barbara, austin

Available Themes

paisajes (default): Terracotta and olive
neogranadina: Burgundy and gold
santa-barbara: Teal and coral
austin: Burnt orange and slate blue

See Customization: Themes for details and creating custom themes.

Configure site navigation:

# Show/hide sections
show_objects: true
show_glossary: true
show_about: true

Collections

Jekyll collections are pre-configured for stories, objects, and glossary:

collections:
  stories:
    output: true
    permalink: /stories/:name/
  objects:
    output: true
    permalink: /objects/:name/
  glossary:
    output: true
    permalink: /glossary/:name/

Note You typically don’t need to modify collection settings unless doing advanced customization.

Build Settings

Standard Jekyll build configuration:

markdown: kramdown
permalink: pretty
exclude:
  - Gemfile
  - Gemfile.lock
  - scripts/
  - components/
  - README.md

Plugins

Required plugins:

plugins:
  - jekyll-seo-tag

These are automatically installed when you run bundle install.

Full Example

Here’s a complete _config.yml example:

title: Colonial Textiles
description: An exhibition of colonial-era textiles from the Americas
baseurl: "/colonial-textiles"
url: "https://username.github.io"
author: Jane Smith
email: jane@example.com

telar_theme: "paisajes"

google_sheets:
  enabled: true
  shared_url: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ABC123/edit?usp=sharing"
  published_url: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/XYZ789/pub?output=csv"

show_objects: true
show_glossary: true
show_about: true

collections:
  stories:
    output: true
    permalink: /stories/:name/
  objects:
    output: true
    permalink: /objects/:name/
  glossary:
    output: true
    permalink: /glossary/:name/

markdown: kramdown
permalink: pretty

plugins:
  - jekyll-seo-tag

exclude:
  - Gemfile
  - Gemfile.lock
  - scripts/
  - components/
  - README.md