Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Dan Li, Ph.D. @dan-li-o.bsky.social · 5d

On the academic job market? Stop treating your website like a CV dump. A book has a cover. A movie has a trailer. Your site should invite, intrigue, engage. Ideas (and you, my friend) deserve presentation—not just documentation.
🔗 danlio.studio/resources/academic-job-market-website

How to Build a Website That Works for You on the Academic Job Market

Turn your personal site into a persuasive asset that supports your academic job market story.

danlio.studio

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Reposted by Owlstown

Nina Markl 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @ninamarkl.bsky.social · 17d

so, i promise i will also ask someone at the publisher about this, but, does anyone know if you need permission to reproduce a screenshot of marketing material/website in an academic paper?

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · 15d

Wow, keeping an academic website updated for 30 years is amazing!

Owlstown @owlstown.com · 15d

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · 16d

Is your Owlstown website one of the 1,800 featured academic websites in the Academic Gallery (academic.gallery)? If not, reply to this thread and I’ll review your website to add to the gallery.

#phd #academicsky

Owlstown Academic Gallery

academic.gallery

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Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social · Sep 10

Finished up bio revisions for an academic website design client this evening. Websites happen in stages. It's no wonder faculty, researchers, and grad students are like: Can I make this happen during the semester?

An easy quick solution for you is Owlstown, an academic website builder from Ian Li.

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Dr. Alicia Matz @duxfeminafacti9.bsky.social · Sep 10

Finally updated my academic website. I should get better at doing that as things happen...

Now to come up with blog posts that because I want to get back to that...

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Jamie Withorne @jamiewithorne.bsky.social · Aug 20

🚀 Just launched my personal website: jamiewithorne.com

It brings together my research, LearnWMD content, and a new Substack featuring OSINT tutorials, satellite imagery updates on nuclear developments, and academic insights with policy relevance.

Jamie R. Withorne

An academic CV site for Jamie R. Withorne, including a detailed biography, resources, and links to an active blog.

jamiewithorne.com

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Sep 7

No-code website tools like Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, WordPress are the popular ones and are geared towards general users.

For a website tool that is designed for academics, check out Owlstown (www.owlstown.com). It has templates for projects, courses, collaborators. You can import papers.

Owlstown @owlstown.com · Sep 7

Unless you really like web programming (HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc), working on your website should be 99% on the content and 1% on web development. So my recommendation is to use no-code website tools.

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Sep 6

There are many benefits to an academic website. It helps make your work searchable online. Beyond papers, you can share summaries, slides, posters, and videos of your research.

For examples, check out the Owlstown Academic Gallery (academic.gallery). It has over a thousand academic websites.

Owlstown Academic Gallery

academic.gallery

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Sep 6

Owlstowners, share your thoughts on the value of having an academic website on this thread by @johninfranca.bsky.social

John Infranca @johninfranca.bsky.social · Sep 5

Legal academics: I am trying to decide whether it is worth the effort to develop and maintain a personal academic website. Questions: 1. do you have one?; 2. why do you think it valuable; 3. examples of sites you think are great; 4. services for creating/hosting/whatever you recommend?

Owlstown @owlstown.com · Sep 6

Great job with your academic website! I added it to the Owlstown Academic Gallery. Check it out: academic.gallery

How was your experience using Owlstown to build your website?

Owlstown Academic Gallery

academic.gallery

Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 29

Creating an academic website? First thing to deciding what to include. Here's a quick list of must-have ideas to help you get started: www.owlstown.com/pages/page-i... #academia #PhdSky

Owlstown - Page Ideas

This page provides ideas for pages to add to your academic website to make it more comprehensive and engaging. It is organized by category to help you pick a...

www.owlstown.com

Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 22

I also reduced the image sizes on the Owlstown home page. I measured the site’s performance on pagespeed.web.dev and got a 93. Woohoo!

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 22

As part of the transition, I removed a gem that was causing slow response times during development and large memory usage during production.

I also removed old code and old gems that Owlstown doesn’t use anymore, which also improve memory consumption.

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 22

I just updated the Owlstown server from #Rails 7.0 to 8.0. I updated it incrementally going from 7.0 -> 7.1 -> 7.2 -> 8.0. This improves performance, so Owlstown should feel speedier. Also, it prepares Owlstown for new features in the future.

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 19

I have an idea for Owlstown that I want to try. The idea is to create an academic website using a CV. If you're interested, email me your CV at [email protected]. I will try this idea with the first 5 people that send me their CV. #PhDSky

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Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social · Aug 11

If you don't have a website yet, there's still time for you.

Find resources to help you make your website on The Social Academic theacademicdesigner.com/2025/best-pe...

[There's even an award for best @owlstown.com website, a free academic website builder easy for you to set up] www.owlstown.com

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Aug 7

Last night, @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social, Brittany Trinh, and I recorded a livestream discussing sharing your research online and personal academic websites. This is part of the Best Personal Academic Websites Contest 2025.

www.youtube.com/live/3g-bNaj...

Personal Websites for Academics and Scientists | Tips and advice for your academic website

YouTube video by The Social Academic from Jennifer van Alstyne

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Owlstown

Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social · Aug 7

Catch our livestream with tips and advice on personal academic websites in honor of this year's Best Personal Academic Websites Contest 🏆

With your contest co-hosts Jennifer van Alstyne, Brittany Trinh, and Ian from @owlstown.com #AcademicSky #ScienceSky
www.youtube.com/live/3g-bNaj...

Personal Websites for Academics and Scientists | Tips and advice for your academic website

YouTube video by The Social Academic from Jennifer van Alstyne

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Owlstown

Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social · Jul 17

Did you know you can make a personal academic website quick with @owlstown.com?

I chatted with a professor about personal academic websites. He needed something simple and quick. I just didn't have time in my schedule to get his website designed for him by his event. I recommended Owlstown.

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Jul 14

Check out this awesome lab website by @asinclair.bsky.social. Lots of content about her new lab: great intro page, publications organized by category, links to press about her research. She’s recruiting at all levels for next year.

Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Jul 14

Excited to share my new lab website!

The Learning & Behavior Change Lab will launch at Rice in July 2026. I’ll be recruiting over the next year! @ricesocsci.bsky.social

www.sinclairlab-rice.com

Sinclair Lab

The Learning & Behavior Change Lab at Rice University, directed by Dr. Sinclair

www.sinclairlab-rice.com

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Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social · Jun 13

Entries to the 3rd Best Personal Academic Websites Contest are now open, #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

We’re excited to celebrate your website! Enter now. Or, share with an academic friend who has a website you admire. The form is quick to fill out theacademicdesigner.com/2025/best-pe...

Best Personal Academic Websites Contest 2025

Enter to win an award in the 2025 Best Personal Academic Websites Contest! We'd love to celebrate the work you put into your website.

theacademicdesigner.com

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Owlstown @owlstown.com · Jun 5

6) Best Personal Academic Websites Contest 2025
We’d love to celebrate the work you put into your academic websites. The 3rd annual Best Personal Academic Websites Contest is now open for entries.

theacademicdesigner.com/2025/best-pe...