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Forge Your Character: Crafting Your Contributor Identity

By Quest Master IT-Journey Team

Create your contributor character profile with RPG-style stats, badges, and class identity — powered by your git history

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Edit on GitHub

⚔️ Forge Your Character: Crafting Your Contributor Identity

“Every legend begins with a name, a class, and a story yet to be written.” — The Guild Master

🎯 Quest Objectives

By the end of this quest, you will:

  • Understand the Contributor Character Profile system
  • Create your contributor data file in YAML
  • Set up your profile page with the character sheet
  • Choose your class and customize your identity
  • Run the stats generator to populate your profile
  • Verify your character sheet renders correctly

📖 The Story So Far

You’ve arrived at the Guild Hall of IT-Journey — a grand hall lined with portraits of adventurers who came before you. Each portrait glows with stats, badges, and tales of contribution.

The Guild Master approaches:

“Welcome, traveler. Before you can embark on quests, you must forge your identity in the Hall of Contributors. Your character sheet will track your deeds — every commit forged, every quest conquered, every post penned. Choose your class wisely, for it will define your banner’s colors.”

🗺️ Quest Map

graph TD
    A[🏰 Arrive at Guild Hall] --> B[📋 Create Data File]
    B --> C[🎭 Choose Your Class]
    C --> D[📄 Build Profile Page]
    D --> E[⚙️ Generate Stats]
    E --> F[✅ Verify Character Sheet]
    F --> G[🏆 Guild Member Badge Earned!]

    style A fill:#2e7d32,color:#fff
    style G fill:#f9a825,color:#000

📋 Step 1: Fork & Clone the Repository

If you haven’t already, fork and clone the IT-Journey repository:

# Fork on GitHub first, then clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/it-journey.git
cd it-journey

Already cloned? Make sure you’re up to date:

git pull origin main
  • Repository cloned and up to date

📋 Step 2: Create Your Contributor Data File

The Guild’s records are stored as YAML data files. Copy the template:

cp _data/contributors/_template.yml _data/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME.yml

Open the file in your editor and fill in your details:

# _data/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME.yml

# ═══════════════════════════════════════════
# 🎭 PROFILE — Edit freely
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════
profile:
  display_name: "Your Display Name"
  class: Wizard          # Choose: Wizard, Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Healer, Bard, Paladin
  avatar: ""             # URL to avatar image (leave blank for GitHub default)
  bio: "A brief description of your quest in IT."
  location: ""
  joined: "2026-03-20"
  banner_color: "#6c3fc5" # Hex color for your profile banner
  links:
    github: "https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME"
    website: ""
    twitter: ""
  badges_pinned: []      # Pin up to 3 badge IDs here after earning them

# ═══════════════════════════════════════════
# 🤖 AUTO-GENERATED — Do not edit below
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════
stats:
  commits: 0
  prs_merged: 0
  quests_authored: 0
  posts_authored: 0
  lines_added: 0
  lines_removed: 0
  active_days: 0
  current_streak: 0
  longest_streak: 0
  first_commit: null
  latest_commit: null
  top_languages: []
  top_categories: []
  contribution_calendar: []

achievements: []

level:
  xp: 0
  current_level: 0
  tier: Apprentice
  next_level_xp: 100

🎭 Choosing Your Class

Each class has its own color theme on your character sheet:

Class Icon Banner Color Ideal For
Wizard 🧙 #6c3fc5 (Purple) Backend, architecture, complex systems
Warrior ⚔️ #c5221f (Red) Bug hunters, security, testing
Ranger 🏹 #2e7d32 (Green) DevOps, infrastructure, automation
Rogue 🗡️ #e65100 (Orange) Performance optimization, hacking
Healer 💚 #00838f (Teal) Documentation, accessibility, UX
Bard 🎵 #ad1457 (Pink) Content creation, community, teaching
Paladin 🛡️ #1565c0 (Blue) Full-stack, maintenance, code review

Tip: You can change your class at any time by editing the YAML file!

  • Data file created with your profile information
  • Class chosen and banner color set

📄 Step 3: Create Your Profile Page

Copy the profile page template:

cp -r pages/_about/contribute/contributors/_template \
      pages/_about/contribute/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME

Edit pages/_about/contribute/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME/README.md:

---
title: "Your Display Name"
author: "Your Name"
excerpt: "Your tagline"
class: Wizard
username: YOUR_USERNAME
contributor_data: YOUR_USERNAME
permalink: /contributors/YOUR_USERNAME/
lastmod: 2026-03-20T00:00:00.000Z
---

<link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ '/assets/css/contributor-profile.css' | relative_url }}">

{% include contributor/character_sheet.html username="YOUR_USERNAME" %}

---

## 📜 Personal Scroll

Add anything you'd like — bio, badges, projects, recipes, diagrams...

Important: Replace every YOUR_USERNAME with your actual GitHub username.

  • Profile page created
  • Front matter filled in with correct username and permalink

⚙️ Step 4: Generate Your Stats

Run the stats generator to populate your data file with real numbers from your git history:

make contributor-stats USERNAME=YOUR_USERNAME

Option B: Using the script directly

bash scripts/generation/generate_contributor_stats.sh YOUR_USERNAME

Option C: Using Ruby directly

ruby scripts/generation/generate_contributor_stats.rb YOUR_USERNAME

After running, check your data file — the stats, achievements, and level sections should be populated:

cat _data/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME.yml
  • Stats generator ran successfully
  • Data file now has real stats

✅ Step 5: Verify Your Character Sheet

Build the Jekyll site locally to see your profile:

bundle exec jekyll serve

Navigate to http://localhost:4000/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME/ and verify:

  • Avatar displays (or GitHub fallback)
  • Class icon and tier badge appear
  • XP bar shows progress
  • Stats panel shows your numbers
  • Achievement badges are displayed (if any earned)

No badges yet? Don’t worry — they unlock as you contribute more. Your first commit to this repo will earn the First Blood badge! 🩸

🚀 Step 6: Submit Your Character

Commit your changes and open a Pull Request:

git checkout -b feature/add-contributor-YOUR_USERNAME

git add _data/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME.yml
git add pages/_about/contribute/contributors/YOUR_USERNAME/

git commit -m "feat(contributor): forge character profile for YOUR_USERNAME

Created contributor data file and profile page.
Class: [YOUR_CLASS], ready for adventure!

Closes #XX"

git push origin feature/add-contributor-YOUR_USERNAME

Then open a Pull Request on GitHub. Once merged, the GitHub Action will auto-update your stats on every future push to main.

  • Changes committed with conventional commit message
  • Pull Request opened and submitted for review

🏆 Quest Complete!

Congratulations, adventurer! You’ve forged your character and joined the Guild of Contributors. Your profile will now automatically track:

  • Commits — every code change earns XP
  • PRs Merged — collaboration rewarded
  • Quests Authored — teaching earns the most XP
  • Posts Written — share your knowledge
  • Streak — consistency is power
  • Achievements — unlock badges as you grow

What’s Next?

Your character sheet has room to grow. Unlock these side quests:

Side Quest Level Difficulty Reward
Avatar Forge 0001 🟢 Easy Custom avatar on your profile
Badge Collector 0001 🟡 Medium Pinned badges showcase
Stats Dashboard 0010 🟡 Medium Enhanced stats visualization
Contribution Calendar 0010 🟡 Medium Activity heatmap
Profile Themes 0100 🔴 Hard Custom CSS themes

XP Formula

Your level is calculated from total XP:

Activity XP Earned
Commit 10 XP
PR Merged 50 XP
Quest Authored 200 XP
Post Authored 100 XP

Level = floor(log₂(xp / 100)) clamped to 0–15

Tiers: Apprentice (0–3) → Adventurer (4–7) → Warrior (8–11) → Master (12–15)

“Your name is now inscribed in the Guild’s ledger. Go forth and contribute, adventurer — the realm of IT awaits your deeds.” — The Guild Master

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