Devlog 04

It has been a while since I did some work on this! Since the last devlog, I have been focused on refining the reading journal to the point it is now almost complete! Doing this section of this website has helped me learn a few new things about Javascript inputs. Additionally, I have read up on how to commit in Github and realized I have been doing them horribly wrong. From now on, I’m going to follow proper commit practices (like writing in the imperative). I’ll also see if I can edit my old ones so they are better.

Completed Work

• Added journal interface and search bar functionality
  You can see how it looks in the attached video. The search bar input searches books based on the book title. I structured the JavaScript so that I can easily add new entries using an array with key-value pairs. The books I chose to feature in my reading journal for now are not necessarily the most recent ones I have read, rather they are just some of the books I found really interesting or really liked and also had detailed entries in my previous reading journal.

I think most of my time was used learning the JavaScript I would need to implement the search and the touch screen swipe functionality. I also had an issue where some of my CSS did not work at all, causing elements to not be placed where I wanted to, only to realize I had changed up a class name accidentally from my JavaScript to my CSS. 

• Changed the front page card
  Its contrast is a lot better now. Before I was going for a cardboard vibe, but it does not really work with the site background. I also changed the featured book as I have finished reading the original book and want to keep the site up to date.

• Renamed Reading Room to Reading Journal
  The feature I described in the last devlog will now become the reading room. I think it also makes more sense to just call it Reading Journal.

Next Steps

I am going to work on the Bookshelf now. I believe it’s going to mostly be CSS, so I hope it will be quick. I’ll probably add my journal entry content in by then as well.  I am also thinking of implementing some sort of date system rather than having the page always go back to the first entry in my JavaScript.

Thanks for reading! - 2026/08/10