Technology¶

Light and Dark Mode Images in GitHub Markdown

GitHub renders Markdown with either a light or dark theme depending on the user's system or GitHub appearance settings. A logo or diagram that looks sharp on a white background can disappear entirely when the same user switches to dark mode. GitHub provides two ways to serve the correct image for each theme without JavaScript.

If you are using MkDocs Material, the same problem has a pure-Markdown solution covered in a companion post: Light and Dark Mode Images in MkDocs Material.

Light and Dark Mode Images in MkDocs Material

The MkDocs Material theme has built-in support for theme-aware images using standard Markdown syntax. No HTML is required.

Toggle the palette icon in the header to see the logo switch between its light and dark variants:

If you are using GitHub Markdown instead, see the companion post: Light and Dark Mode Images in GitHub Markdown.

How to Write an Effective GitHub Pull Request Template

Most pull requests arrive with a title, a branch name, and nothing else. The reviewer is left to reverse-engineer the intent from the diff, hunt through linked issues that may or may not exist, and ask follow-up questions before they can even start. That back-and-forth is a tax on everyone's time, and it is almost entirely avoidable.

A pull request template shifts the burden upstream. It prompts contributors at the moment they open a pull request to provide the context that reviewers need: what changed, why it changed, whether it breaks anything, and what issue it resolves. Done well, a template makes the review faster, the history more useful, and the project easier to contribute to.

This post covers what a pull request template is, how to set one up in a GitHub repository, and how to write one that contributors will actually fill out.

Branching Out: GitHub Certification Path

GitHub offers five certifications that validate skills across the full breadth of the platform: Foundations, Actions, Copilot, Advanced Security, and Administration. I completed each of these last year and found each one to be a genuine challenge that pushed me to revisit corners of the platform I thought I already understood.

This post walks through each certification, what it covers, how to prepare, and where to find the best study resources.

The Anti-Noise Nudge for GitHub Issues

Alongside pinned comments for issues, GitHub introduced a quiet but effective change to how contributors interact with issue threads: a nudge that appears before a low-signal comment is posted, redirecting contributors toward a reaction or a subscription instead.