1 Preamble

This document provides instructions for using Quarto, which is how you will write blog posts.

1.1 Load Libraries

To load libraries, use the following syntax:

```{r}
#| message: false
#| warning: false

library("petersenlab") #located here: https://github.com/DevPsyLab/petersenlab
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

library("petersenlab") #located here: https://github.com/DevPsyLab/petersenlab

2 Intro

This document provides instructions for your blog posts. This document is a Quarto document, which is an example of a computational notebook. Quarto enables you to weave together content and executable code into a finished document. In a Quarto document, the results appear beneath the code. This allows you to share your data, statistical code, results, graphics, and text interpreting the analyses all in-line. Sharing data and your analysis code with others helps ensure reproducibility—i.e., that others get the exact same results as you. For more information on the value of computational notebooks, see the article titled “The Scientific Paper Is Obsolete”. To learn more about Quarto see https://quarto.org.

The Quarto website provides documentation on using R within a Quarto document: https://quarto.org/docs/computations/r.html. Quarto is based on Markdown syntax. For more info on the basics of Markdown, see here: https://quarto.org/docs/authoring/markdown-basics.html.

3 Steps to Post your Blog Article

To post your blog article, follow the following steps:

Follow the steps at the following link to create your GitHub repository using the QuartoBlogFantasyFootball template: https://isaactpetersen.github.io/Fantasy-Football-Analytics-Textbook/getting-started.html#sec-initialSetup.
Create a new folder for the article under the posts folder of your repository. I recommend naming the folder after either: a) the date (e.g., 2025-09-30), b) the name of the assignment (e.g., Blog Article 1), or c) a brief title for the article (Welcome to My Blog).
Make a copy of the index.qmd file from the template folder and paste it into the new folder you created for your post (do not delete the original file).
Write your article by filling in the contents of the new index.qmd you created. In the same folder, add any images you want to include in your post. Make sure you add—to the data folder—whatever data files you need for your post. In writing the article, I strongly encourage you to consult the example post (and the associated .qmd file that generated it) and the template post (and the associated .qmd file that generated it) to ensure you include the necessary information and follow the required structure.
After writing the article, preview it to make sure it looks the way you want it to look by rendering it locally. To render the article on your local computer, with the index.qmd file open, click the “Render” button in the top left of RStudio (see image below).
After you get the post the way you want it to look locally, create a commit in GitHub with your changes and push them to your GitHub repository.
Go the the “Actions” tab of your GitHub repository to track the status as your blog and post(s) compile. This will take a while the first time to compile on GitHub, because it needs to install all of the necessary packages. If it compiles successfully, your blog should be viewable at the following link: https://YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME.github.io/NAME_OF_YOUR_REPOSITORY/. For instance, my example blog is located at the following location: https://isaactpetersen.github.io/QuartoBlogFantasyFootball/.
If there are any errors during compilation, fix them. If there are no errors, check the post online to see if it appears as expected. If it does not appear as expected, make the additional changes you want, and create another commit in GitHub with your changes and push them until it appears the way you expect.

4 Instructions for Working with `Quarto`

Use a new line for every sentence. This helps with version control—individually changed sentences will be highlighted upon commits (which are easy to parse to identify the specific changes) rather than whole paragraphs (which are a nightmare to parse to identify the specific changes). Quarto will automatically put a space where a new line begins. To start a new paragraph, put a blank line in between the paragraphs.
Wrap R code in a “code block”, with three backticks (```) at the beginning and end of the block, and designating the code language as R using {r}, as below:

```{r}
# insert R code here (without the pound sign)
```

Add linked content (e.g., images, data) to the sub-directories of the relevant post; do not add a file that is more than 50 mb to the repo. Data files on GitHub can be no larger than 50 mb. If you want to use a data file that is larger than 50 mb, either subset the data to the relevant rows/columns you need and save it as a new data file that is less than 50 mb, or download the data from the internet as part of the R code in the Quarto script so that the data file does not need to be saved in the repo. For example, here is an example of R code to download data:

```{r}
#| eval: false

nfl_pbp_raw <- nflreadr::load_pbp(seasons = TRUE)
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

nfl_pbp_raw <- nflreadr::load_pbp(seasons = TRUE)

Use no spaces in file or folder names. Use a dash (-) instead of a space.
When making numbered (ordered) lists, just use 1. for all numbers. Quarto will make them sequential automatically. This makes it easier to add/reorder items, so you do not have to renumber manually each time there is a change.
To update the list of R packages that are installed for running the blog post (.qmd) files, update the DESCRIPTION file.
The default editor in RStudio is the “Source” editor, which allows you to edit the source code directly. I recommend using the “Source” editor, because it gives you full control of the code, and you learn how to manipulate it. However, you may use the “Visual” editor, if you prefer.

5 Submitting Blog Articles

See the syllabus for instructions regarding submitting your blog article. As noted in the syllabus, you are encouraged to submit your blog article well before the deadline. You can expect to run into technical issues (e.g., errors when running your code, issues getting the blog post to compile, etc.). And, it can take a long time for the blog to compile the first time, because it needs to install all of the necessary packages (it can also take a while for subsequent runs for which new versions of the packages are available and the packages need to be updated). Thus, you should give yourself plenty of time to troubleshoot so that you can submit your blog article on time. If you leave it for the last day, it is unlikely that you will be able to submit your blog article on time! See the syllabus for suggestions on how to troubleshoot when issues arise.

6 Data Files

If you want to save a data file in the GitHub repository to be loaded and used in a post, you can save the data file in the same folder as the post. Or, if you want to use the same data file in multiple posts, you can save the data files in the “data” folder that is in the root of the repository.

To load a data file in the same folder as the post, use the following R code (in a code block):

```{r}
#| eval: false

load("DATA_FILENAME.RData")
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

load("DATA_FILENAME.RData")

To load a data file in the root “data” folder, use the following R code (in a code block):

```{r}
#| eval: false

load("../../data/DATA_FILENAME.RData")
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

load("../../data/DATA_FILENAME.RData")

7 Level-1 Heading

Create a level-1 heading using the following syntax (where {#sec-level1Heading} is a unique heading label that can be used for cross-references):

# Level-1 Heading {#sec-level1Heading}

7.1 Level-2 Heading

Create a level-2 heading using the following syntax (where {#sec-level2Heading} is a unique heading label that can be used for cross-references):

## Level-2 Heading {#sec-level2Heading}

7.1.1 Level-3 Heading

Create a level-3 heading using the following syntax (where {#sec-level3Heading} is a unique heading label that can be used for cross-references):

### Level-3 Heading {#sec-level3Heading}

7.1.1.1 Level-4 Heading

Create a level-4 heading using the following syntax (where {#sec-level4Heading} is a unique heading label that can be used for cross-references):

#### Level-4 Heading {#sec-level4Heading}

8 Adding Code Options

You can add options to executable code like this:

```{r}
#| echo: false

2 * 2
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

[1] 4

The echo: false option disables the printing of code (only output is displayed). Below is a code block that specifies eval: false, which allows providing code without executing the code:

```{r}
#| eval: false

2 * 2
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

2 * 2

Below is a code block that specifies message: false and warning: false to suppress messages and warnings:

```{r}
#| message: false
#| warning: false

library("petersenlab") #located here: https://github.com/DevPsyLab/petersenlab
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

library("petersenlab") #located here: https://github.com/DevPsyLab/petersenlab

9 Plot

```{r}
#| label: fig-insertPlotLabel

plot(cars)
```

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Code

plot(cars)

10 Image

To include an image, use the following syntax:

![Insert figure caption](quarto-logo.png){#fig-insertFigureLabel}

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Figure 2

For more info on using images in Quarto, see here: https://quarto.org/docs/authoring/figures.html.

11 Table

Here is the syntax to create a table (the location of the colon in a given column specifies the text justification of that column):

| Default | Left | Right | Center |
|---------|:-----|------:|:------:|
| 12      | 12   |    12 |   12   |
| 123     | 123  |   123 |  123   |
| 1       | 1    |     1 |   1    |

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Table 1: Insert table caption

Default	Left	Right	Center
12	12	12	12
123	123	123	123
1	1	1	1

For more info on using tables in Quarto, see here: https://quarto.org/docs/authoring/tables.html.

12 Unordered Lists

To create unordered (bulleted) lists, use the following syntax:

- one item
- one item
- one item
    - one more item
    - one more item
    - one more item

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

one item
one item
one item
- one more item
- one more item
- one more item

13 Ordered Lists

To create ordered (numbered) lists, use the following syntax (make sure to use 1 for all numbers):

1. the first item
1. the second item
1. the third item
    - one unordered item
    - one unordered item

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this (note how the 1s were automatically renumbered correctly):

the first item
the second item
the third item
- one unordered item
- one unordered item

14 Cross-References

You can create cross-references using the following syntax:

Here is a cross-reference to @sec-level1Heading.
Or, here is [another cross-reference](#sec-level1Heading) to the same section header.

Here is a cross-reference to @fig-insertPlotLabel.
Or here is [another cross-reference](#fig-insertPlotLabel) to the same plot.

Here is a cross-reference to @fig-insertFigureLabel.
Or here is [another cross-reference](#fig-insertFigureLabel) to the same image.

Here is a cross-reference to @tbl-insertTableLabel.
Or here is [another cross-reference](#tbl-insertTableLabel) ot the same table.

The resulting output (in the document) looks like this:

Here is a cross-reference to Section 7. Or, here is another cross-reference to the same section header.

Here is a cross-reference to Figure 1. Or here is another cross-reference to the same plot.

Here is a cross-reference to Figure 2. Or here is another cross-reference to the same image.

Here is a cross-reference to Table 1. Or here is another cross-reference ot the same table.

For more info on cross-references, see here: https://quarto.org/docs/authoring/cross-references.html.

15 Troubleshooting

If you run into questions/issues/warnings/errors and need to troubleshoot, see the syllabus for suggestions on how to troubleshoot when issues arise.

Below are sections for common questions/issues/warnings/errors in R, GitHub, and GitHub Pages (that I will populate as I receive questions), and how to info on how to address them.

15.1 `R`

15.2 `GitHub`

15.3 `GitHub Pages`

16 Session Info

Code

sessionInfo()

R version 4.5.0 (2025-04-11)
Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
Running under: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS

Matrix products: default
BLAS:   /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openblas-pthread/libblas.so.3 
LAPACK: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openblas-pthread/libopenblasp-r0.3.26.so;  LAPACK version 3.12.0

locale:
 [1] LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8       LC_NUMERIC=C           LC_TIME=C.UTF-8       
 [4] LC_COLLATE=C.UTF-8     LC_MONETARY=C.UTF-8    LC_MESSAGES=C.UTF-8   
 [7] LC_PAPER=C.UTF-8       LC_NAME=C              LC_ADDRESS=C          
[10] LC_TELEPHONE=C         LC_MEASUREMENT=C.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=C   

time zone: UTC
tzcode source: system (glibc)

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base     

other attached packages:
[1] petersenlab_1.1.5

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
 [1] generics_0.1.4     lattice_0.22-6     stringi_1.8.7      digest_0.6.37     
 [5] magrittr_2.0.3     evaluate_1.0.3     grid_4.5.0         RColorBrewer_1.1-3
 [9] mvtnorm_1.3-3      fastmap_1.2.0      plyr_1.8.9         jsonlite_2.0.0    
[13] nnet_7.3-20        backports_1.5.0    DBI_1.2.3          Formula_1.2-5     
[17] gridExtra_2.3      purrr_1.0.4        viridisLite_0.4.2  scales_1.4.0      
[21] pbivnorm_0.6.0     mnormt_2.1.1       cli_3.6.5          mitools_2.4       
[25] rlang_1.1.6        Hmisc_5.2-3        base64enc_0.1-3    yaml_2.3.10       
[29] mix_1.0-13         parallel_4.5.0     tools_4.5.0        reshape2_1.4.4    
[33] checkmate_2.3.2    htmlTable_2.4.3    dplyr_1.1.4        colorspace_2.1-1  
[37] ggplot2_3.5.2      vctrs_0.6.5        R6_2.6.1           rpart_4.1.24      
[41] stats4_4.5.0       lifecycle_1.0.4    stringr_1.5.1      htmlwidgets_1.6.4 
[45] psych_2.5.3        foreign_0.8-90     cluster_2.1.8.1    pkgconfig_2.0.3   
[49] pillar_1.10.2      gtable_0.3.6       Rcpp_1.0.14        glue_1.8.0        
[53] data.table_1.17.2  xfun_0.52          tibble_3.2.1       tidyselect_1.2.1  
[57] rstudioapi_0.17.1  knitr_1.50         xtable_1.8-4       farver_2.1.2      
[61] nlme_3.1-168       htmltools_0.5.8.1  rmarkdown_2.29     lavaan_0.6-19     
[65] compiler_4.5.0     quadprog_1.5-8

1 Preamble

1.1 Load Libraries

2 Intro

3 Steps to Post your Blog Article

4 Instructions for Working with Quarto

5 Submitting Blog Articles

6 Data Files

7 Level-1 Heading

7.1 Level-2 Heading

7.1.1 Level-3 Heading

7.1.1.1 Level-4 Heading

8 Adding Code Options

9 Plot

10 Image

11 Table

12 Unordered Lists

13 Ordered Lists

14 Cross-References

15 Troubleshooting

15.1 R

15.2 GitHub

15.3 GitHub Pages

16 Session Info

4 Instructions for Working with `Quarto`

15.1 `R`

15.2 `GitHub`

15.3 `GitHub Pages`