Portfolio Site Fun

Launched on August 14, 2025, this isn’t just any project—it’s the one you’re reading right now! As a backend engineer with a flair for full-stack fun, I created this Hugo-based portfolio to showcase my skills, projects, and certifications in a clean, responsive way. Using the PaperMod theme, it’s deployed on GitHub Pages with GitHub Actions for seamless updates. Think of it as a meta masterpiece: a site that documents my work while demonstrating web dev prowess.

👉 Explore the Live Site (You’re Already Here!)
👉 View the GitHub Repository

🔍 Project Highlights

  • Crafted a personal portfolio using Hugo static site generator and PaperMod theme for speed and elegance.
  • Integrated custom menu, search functionality, and responsive design to highlight education, experience, resume, and projects—like this one!
  • Deployed via GitHub Pages with automated builds using GitHub Actions, ensuring every push goes live effortlessly.
  • Added fun elements: Meta self-reference, searchable content, and embedded PDFs/images for a dynamic feel.
  • Promoted open-source vibes with easy-to-fork code, perfect for fellow devs to adapt.

📦 My Role: Creator, Designer, and Chief Fun Officer

  • Vision and Leadership: Dreamed up a site that’s professional yet playful, blending tech showcase with a touch of humor (e.g., documenting the site within itself!).
  • Development: Configured Hugo from scratch, integrated PaperMod theme, and customized layouts for sections like Projects and Education.
  • Deployment: Set up GitHub Actions workflow for CI/CD, handling submodules (like PaperMod) and static generation.
  • Content Creation: Wrote Markdown for all pages, embedded images/PDFs, and optimized for SEO and search.
  • Fun Factor: Added Easter eggs like this meta project page—because why not make portfolios entertaining?

This project leveled up my skills in static site generation, CI/CD pipelines, and creative web design.

👥 Contributors and Credits

A solo adventure with props to the open-source community: Hugo team, PaperMod creator (adityatelange), and GitHub for hosting. Licensed under MIT (or your preferred license—feel free to fork and remix!).

Shoutout to Grok for brainstorming sessions—AI-assisted creativity at its finest!

✨ Key Features

This portfolio isn’t just static—it’s a living, breathing (well, digitally) showcase with bells and whistles:

  1. Responsive Design: Looks great on mobile, desktop, or even your smart fridge, thanks to PaperMod’s fluent theme.
  2. Search Functionality: Powered by Fuse.js—find anything from “Rust” to “SpaceX” in seconds.
  3. Custom Menu Navigation: Easy jumps to About, Experience, Resume, Projects, Education, and Search.
  4. Embedded Media: PDFs (like resumes and reports), images, and links to external tools/repos.
  5. Meta Fun: This page references the site itself—recursion level: expert!
  6. Automated Deployment: GitHub Actions builds and deploys on every commit—no manual uploads needed.

Integrations: Hugo, GitHub Pages/Actions, PaperMod theme, Fuse.js for search.

🛠️ Technologies Used

  • Languages/Tools: Hugo (Go-based SSG), Markdown, TOML for config.
  • Themes/Frameworks: PaperMod (responsive Hugo theme).
  • Deployment: GitHub Pages, GitHub Actions (YAML workflows).
  • Methodologies: Static site generation, Git version control, open-source best practices.
  • Documentation: Inline in hugo.toml and content files; see README for setup.

📁 Repository Contents

Resource Description
README.md Project overview, setup, and fun facts
hugo.toml Site configuration (menu, theme, search opts)
content/ All pages: about.md, experience.md, projects/, etc.
static/ Images, PDFs, resumes—your media hub
themes/PaperMod/ The magic theme submodule
.github/workflows/ GitHub Actions for deployment
.gitignore Keeps things clean (ignores public/, etc.)

📈 Project Rigor

The GitHub repository is a testament to clean code and automation:

  • Commit history from initial setup to v02 tag (August 14, 2025).
  • Comprehensive structure with content separation for easy updates.
  • Open-source ready: Clone, hugo server, and you’re live locally.

Setup:

  1. Clone: git clone https://github.com/willmaddock/dev.git
  2. Install Hugo: brew install hugo (on macOS).
  3. Run: hugo server and visit localhost:1313/dev/.
  4. Deploy: Push to main—Actions handles the rest!

🎓 Relevant Credentials (Tied to Web Dev)

While this is more web-focused, it builds on my AWS skills for potential cloud-hosted expansions:

Badge Description Credential Link
Web Builder Building web apps on AWS View
Networking Cloud networking for sites View
Serverless Serverless hosting ideas View

🔗 Links and Resources

Dive in and explore—after all, you’re already here! If this made you smile, mission accomplished. 🚀