aia-website/www/README.md

Arizona Institute for Autism Astro Site

Static Astro + TypeScript migration of the public Arizona Institute for Autism website.

Quick Start

Run commands from this directory:

cd www
npm install
npm run dev

Astro prints the local development URL, normally:

http://localhost:4321

The development server watches source files and refreshes the browser after edits. Stop it with Ctrl+C.

Environment Setup

Requirements:

• Node.js 20.19 or newer; the Nix shell currently supplies Node.js 22
• npm

This repository also has a Nix development shell at the repository root:

cd ..
nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" develop
cd www
npm install

Copy the example environment file when testing the like/view counter:

cp .env.example .env

The default value is:

PUBLIC_AIA_API_BASE=https://api.azinstitute4autism.com

The site still renders when that API is unavailable.

View And Build

Development Server

Use this while editing:

npm run dev

Useful development URLs include:

/
/aba-therapy
/autism-evaluations
/learner-social-club
/client-consultation
/library
/es
/es/library
/ar
/ar/library

Production Build

Generate the static production site:

npm run build

The autonomous Codex sandbox denies /etc/hosts, so its Node runtime cannot resolve localhost. Use this equivalent validation command only inside that sandbox:

npm run build:sandbox

Build output is written to:

dist/

Preview Production Output

After a successful build:

npm run preview

Astro prints the preview URL, normally http://localhost:4321.

Validate Before Committing

npm run build
npm run audit:links
npm run audit:images
npm run audit:blog

The link audit reads dist/ after a successful build. If rendered output is unavailable, it audits generated source routes, relative and root-relative Markdown links, and public assets instead. It writes:

reports/broken-links.md

Editing Content

Normal content editing happens in Markdown:

src/content/pages/en
src/content/pages/es
src/content/pages/ar
src/content/blog/en
src/content/blog/es
src/content/blog/ar
src/content/authors/en
src/content/authors/es
src/content/authors/ar

Page and post frontmatter is validated by src/content.config.ts.

Example:

---
title: "Example Article"
description: "Short search and social description."
slug: "example-article"
canonical: "https://www.azinstitute4autism.com/library/example-article"
lang: "en"
translationKey: "example-article"
featuredImage: "/assets/images/example.webp"
alt: "Descriptive image alt text"
date: "2026-06-07"
author: "rula-diab"
category: "Library"
tags:
  - ABA Therapy
draft: false
---

Article content goes here.

Set draft: true while preparing unpublished content.

Links And Buttons

Use normal Markdown links for links within prose:

Read the [ABA therapy guide](/aba-therapy) for more information.

Prose links render as the live site's orange inline links. Do not place an ordinary Markdown link on its own line merely to make it look like a button.

Use .mdx and the Button component only for a source-verified call to action:

import Button from '../../../components/Button.astro';

<Button href="/client-consultation">Request an Appointment</Button>
<Button href="/services" variant="outlined">Explore Services</Button>
<Button href="https://example.com" target="_blank">External Action</Button>

Available Button variants are filled (default), outlined, and light. Available sizes are default and small. A _blank target automatically adds rel="noopener noreferrer".

Normal Markdown links remain preferred for ordinary page and article content.

Front Matter CMS

The project includes frontmatter.json for the Front Matter CMS VS Code extension. Open the www folder as the editor workspace so its content folders and media paths resolve correctly.

Edit The Homepage

The English and Spanish homepages are driven from the structured home: frontmatter block in:

src/content/pages/en/index.md
src/content/pages/es/index.md

HomePage.astro renders those named sections in order. Use the section names as the editing surface:

hero
servicesIntro
benefits
skills
insurance
esa
financialHelp
process
director
testimonials

Keep homepage copy in those named blocks so the page remains easy to scan in Front Matter CMS and VS Code. src/content.config.ts validates the structure.

Images And Downloads

Store content-referenced assets in:

public/assets/images
public/assets/downloads
public/assets/media

Reference public assets from Markdown using root-relative paths:

![Descriptive alt text](/assets/images/example.webp)

Use src/assets/images for images imported directly by Astro components and processed by Astro.

Components And Styling

Reusable page sections are in:

src/components
src/layouts

Global styles and design tokens are in:

src/styles/variables.css
src/styles/global.css
src/styles/rtl.css

Navigation, services, redirects, and site details are in:

src/data

Adding Content

Add An English Blog Post

1. Create src/content/blog/en/post-slug.md.
2. Add valid frontmatter and article Markdown.
3. Place referenced images in public/assets/images.
4. Run npm run dev and view /library/post-slug.
5. Run the production validation commands before committing.

Add A Translation

Use the same translationKey across translated entries:

src/content/blog/en/post-slug.md
src/content/blog/es/post-slug.md
src/content/blog/ar/post-slug.md

The URLs become:

/library/post-slug
/es/library/post-slug
/ar/library/post-slug

Arabic routes automatically render with lang="ar" and dir="rtl".

Do not publish unreviewed machine translations. Clearly mark placeholders.

Edit A Blog FAQ

Posts with live-style FAQ sections use .mdx and import:

import FAQAccordion from '../../../components/FAQAccordion.astro';

Edit the component's label, heading, and items data in the post. Keep answer as plain text for JSON-LD and answerHtml as the matching visible answer. Shared FAQ markup, styling, interaction, and schema generation live in src/components/FAQAccordion.astro.

Reports And Utilities

Migration reports are stored in reports/.

Useful commands:

npm run crawl:live
npm run generate:sitemap
npm run generate:redirects
npm run audit:links

The live crawl is optional and may fail in restricted network environments.

Forms

Forms are intentionally static and do not submit anywhere. Before production:

1. Select a form backend.
2. Connect the forms.
3. Add spam protection.
4. Test validation, confirmation, and failure states.

Troubleshooting

astro: command not found

Dependencies are not installed:

npm install

npm TLS or certificate errors

Do not disable npm certificate verification. Run npm install from a normal host terminal or trusted development environment with working CA certificates.

Link audit says build output is unavailable

Build first:

npm run build
npm run audit:links
npm run audit:images
npm run audit:blog

A content page is missing

Check:

• its Markdown file is in the correct language/content folder
• draft is false
• slug is unique within that language and content type
• frontmatter satisfies src/content.config.ts