Author Links Feature

This document explains how to add clickable links to author names in publication pages.

Overview

The author links feature allows you to automatically convert author names into clickable links that point to their personal websites, Google Scholar profiles, or other relevant pages.

How It Works

1. Author Database: Author information is stored in _data/authors.yml
2. Automatic Linking: A Liquid filter automatically converts author names to links
3. Fallback: If no link is found, the author name is displayed as plain text

Setup

Step 1: Configure Author Information

Edit _data/authors.yml to add author information:

authors:
  pengcheng_wang:
    name: "Pengcheng Wang"
    url: "https://pengchengwang.github.io/"
    institution: "Purdue University"
    
  jane_doe:
    name: "Jane Doe"
    url: "https://janedoe.com"
    institution: "Stanford University"

Step 2: Use Author Names in Publications

In your publication markdown files, simply list the author names:

---
title: "Your Paper Title"
collection: publications
date: 2024-01-01
venue: 'Journal Name'
authors: 'Pengcheng Wang, Jane Doe, John Smith'
---

The system will automatically:

• Look up each author name in the database
• Convert matching names to clickable links
• Leave unmatched names as plain text

Author Database Format

Each author entry should have:

• name: The exact name as it appears in publications
• url: The author’s personal website or profile page
• institution: (Optional) Author’s institution

Examples

Input (in publication file)

authors: 'Pengcheng Wang, Jane Doe, Unknown Author'

Output (on website)

• Pengcheng Wang → Pengcheng Wang
• Jane Doe → Jane Doe
• Unknown Author → Unknown Author (no link, plain text)

Manual Override

If you want to manually specify links for specific authors, you can still use Markdown syntax in the authors field:

authors: '[Pengcheng Wang](https://custom-link.com), Jane Doe, [John Smith](https://johnsmith.com)'

Benefits

1. Centralized Management: All author information in one place
2. Automatic Updates: Change an author’s URL once, updates everywhere
3. Consistency: Ensures consistent linking across all publications
4. Flexibility: Supports both automatic and manual linking
5. Privacy: No email addresses exposed to prevent spam

Tips

• Author names in the database must exactly match the names in publications
• URLs should be complete (including https://)
• You can add authors to the database as needed
• The system is case-sensitive for author names
• Email addresses are intentionally excluded to prevent spam and scraping