Ex Libris is a virtual bookshelf designed to help book lovers track their reading journey. Built as a static website using Hugo, the site allows users to catalog books, manage reading progress, and discover new titles. Ex Libris focuses on providing a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate platform to maintain a personal book collection, whether for tracking books you've read, are currently reading, or plan to read.

• Static Site Limitations: Designing a dynamic user experience within the constraints of a static site generator.
• Data Management: Ensuring books can be added, categorized, and displayed with minimal manual intervention.
• Scalability: Allowing users to grow their virtual bookshelf without performance issues as their collections expand.

• Hugo as a Static Site Generator: Leveraged Hugo’s fast build times to create a performant site that loads instantly, even with large book collections.
• Markdown Integration: Used Markdown for easy content creation, allowing books to be added with simple YAML front matter for easy categorization and metadata.
• Custom Shortcodes: Created custom shortcodes in Hugo to allow books to be displayed with images, descriptions, and additional metadata like author and genre.

1. Book Management System: Designed a YAML-based system within Hugo to manage books, storing details like title, author, genre, and reading status.
2. Virtual Bookshelf Display: Developed a clean, grid-style bookshelf layout to display books in various categories, including “Currently Reading,” “Read,” and “Want to Read.”
3. Progress Tracking: Incorporated progress tracking for books, including start and end dates, as well as a rating system.
4. Future Enhancements: Planned integration with external book databases (like Goodreads) to auto-import book data and sync reading progress.

• Categorize Books: Organize your books into sections like "Read," "Currently Reading," and "To Read."
• Progress Tracking: Track your reading progress with start/end dates and personal ratings for each book.
• Customizable Design: Hugo themes allow for easy customization of the site’s look and feel, giving users control over how their bookshelf appears.
• Search and Filter: The bookshelf features basic search and filtering functionality to help users quickly find books by title, author, or genre.

• Hugo: The static site generator that powers Ex Libris, known for fast site building and performance.
• Markdown and YAML: Used for managing books and metadata, allowing for easy content addition and updates.
• Custom Shortcodes: To display book information, images, and progress tracking directly within pages.

Ex Libris serves as an elegant and functional virtual bookshelf, allowing users to keep track of their reading history and goals. By leveraging Hugo’s speed and flexibility, the site offers a simple, static solution for managing books and showcasing personal libraries. Whether you're a casual reader or an avid book collector, Ex Libris is a great tool for organizing your literary journey.