Create categories in Jekyll _data?

Question

I need help using _data in Jekyll to generate content.

Let's say I want to create a directory displaying countries that have blocked Twitter and Facebook. I understand how to query the _data folder but how do I create something like categories in the _data .yml and query that data?

Let me try to explain.

Twitter is blocked in Turkey & Iran so I'd start with this (networks.yml in _data):

- network: Twitter

This is where I get stuck. What I don't understand is if I'd want to "tag" or "categorize" Twitter like this:

- network: Twitter
  blockedcountries: [Turkey, Iran, Iraq]

- network: Facebook
  blockedcountries: [Iraq, Turkey]

Then I'd want pages at mysite.com/turkey/ that would display the networks tagged with turkey. Something like this:

{% for network in site.data.networks %}
{% if network.blockedcountries == Turkey %}
        <li>{{ network.network }} is blocked in Turkey</li>
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}`

Which would display: 
 - Twitter is blocked in Turkey
 - Facebook is blocked in Turkey

Appreciate any help and will tip Bitcoin if solved!

Answer 1

Your YAML is right. The Problem seems to be in your if statement:

{% if network.blockedcountries == Turkey %}

network.blockedcountries is an array(a list) and therefore your if statement needs to be like this:

{% if network.blockedcountries contains "Turkey" %}
  <li>{{ network.network }} is blocked in Turkey</li>
{% endif %}

Jekyll is using the Liquid markup language for its templates. You can read more about its possibilities here. Maybe the liquid case statement is also helpful for further optimization.

---

Here is my "full" solution:

My data in _data/networks.yml

- name: Twitter
  blockedcountries: [Turkey, Iraq, Iran]
- name: Facebook
  blockedcountries: [Turkey, Iraq]

My liquid template in index.html

<ul>
  {% for network in site.data.networks %}
    {% if network.blockedcountries contains "Turkey" %}
      <li>{{ network.name }} is blocked in Turkey!</li>
    {% endif %}
  {% endfor %}
</ul>