Note: This is an unofficial, community-maintained resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rochester Makerspace organizationally. Rochester Makerspace has its own knowledge management plans in the works — this repo exists in the meantime to make area documentation accessible without waiting on that.
A community documentation repository for area guides, handouts, and reference materials at the Rochester Makerspace — starting with the stained glass area.
The docs live here as Markdown files and are published as a website via GitHub Pages + Jekyll. Anyone can read, link to, or contribute — no Google account required.
These documents used to live in a personal Google Drive. That worked fine until it didn't — sharing links broke, access was tied to one person's account, and there was no easy way for others to suggest corrections. Moving to a public GitHub repo means:
- Documents are accessible to anyone, permanently
- Changes are tracked and reversible
- Other area leads can use or adapt this structure for their own area's docs
- No single person is the bottleneck
Rochester Makerspace is working toward a more official wiki or knowledge base — when that exists, content here can migrate there. Until then, this fills the gap.
Right now the content is focused on the stained glass area, but the structure is designed to be reused by any area of the makerspace.
stained-glass/ # Stained glass studio guides and handouts
... # Future areas can live here as their own folders
_config.yml # Jekyll configuration for the docs site
The rendered site is published at https://isallcaps.github.io/rocmakerspace/.
If you just want to read the content without navigating the repo, go there.
If you want to preview changes before pushing:
Prerequisites: Ruby and Bundler — see the Jekyll installation guide.
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/isallcaps/rocmakerspace.git
cd rocmakerspace
# Install dependencies
bundle install
# Serve locally
bundle exec jekyll serveThen open http://localhost:4000 in your browser.
Found a typo? Have a technique to add? Contributions are welcome.
- Navigate to the file you want to edit
- Click the pencil ✏️ icon (top right of the file view)
- Make your changes and describe them in the commit message
- Submit a pull request
- Create a branch:
git checkout -b your-branch-name - Edit or add Markdown files in your area's folder
- Push and open a pull request
Pull requests are reviewed and tested locally before merging — so don't worry about breaking anything, just submit and we'll sort it out together.
Writing guidelines:
- Files are standard Markdown (
.md) - Each file should start with Jekyll front matter (see any existing file for the pattern)
- Keep language practical and accessible — these are handouts for people new to a tool or material
If you're an area lead and want to use this structure for your own documentation:
- Create a new folder in the root of the repo with your area's name (e.g.,
laser-cutter/) - Add your Markdown files there
- Update
_config.ymlif you need a new nav section (or open an issue and ask) - Submit a pull request — it'll be tested locally and merged
No need to maintain a separate fork; everything can live here together.
All content files follow this pattern:
---
layout: default
title: Your Page Title
parent: Area Name
nav_order: 1
---
# Your Page Title
Content here...The front matter (the --- block) tells Jekyll how to build the navigation and page layout.
| Thing | What it does |
|---|---|
| Markdown | All content is written in .md files |
| Jekyll | Converts Markdown to a static website |
| Just the Docs | Jekyll theme — clean docs layout with sidebar nav |
| GitHub Pages | Hosts the built site for free |
Content in this repository is shared for community use. See LICENSE for details.
Unofficial community resource maintained by stained glass area volunteers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rochester Makerspace organizationally. Questions? Open an issue or find us at the space.