Doenet · cqnykamp · Feb 17, 2026 · Feb 17, 2026 · Feb 17, 2026 · Feb 18, 2026
diff --git a/blog/.env.example b/blog/.env.example
@@ -5,5 +5,11 @@
 
 # Main Doenet application URL
 # Local development: http://localhost:3000
-# Production: https://doenet.org
-PUBLIC_DOENET_MAIN_URL=https://doenet.org
+# Production: https://beta.doenet.org
+PUBLIC_DOENET_MAIN_URL=https://beta.doenet.org
+
+# Newsletter generator configuration (server/build only)
+NEWSLETTER_ISSUE_DATE=2026-02-18
+NEWSLETTER_EXCERPT_MARKER=more
+NEWSLETTER_MANUAL_ORDER=["simplify-creating-interactive-activities","learn-doenet-saint-louis-university","community-challenge-fractions"]
+NEWSLETTER_EVENTS_URL=https://beta.doenet.org/events
diff --git a/blog/.gitignore b/blog/.gitignore
@@ -18,8 +18,12 @@ pnpm-debug.log*
 .env.local
 .env.production
 
+# newsletter content (untracked for easy editing)
+newsletter-events.md
+
 # macOS-specific files
 .DS_Store
 
 # jetbrains setting folder
 .idea/
+
diff --git a/blog/package.json b/blog/package.json
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@
     "@types/react": "^19.2.14",
     "@types/react-dom": "^19.2.3",
     "astro": "^5.17.1",
-    "rehype-katex": "^7.0.1",
-    "remark-math": "^6.0.0",
+    "marked": "^17.0.3",
     "react": "^19.2.3",
     "react-dom": "^19.2.3",
+    "rehype-katex": "^7.0.1",
+    "remark-math": "^6.0.0",
     "sharp": "^0.34.3"
   }
 }
diff --git a/.../content/community-challenge-fractions.md → ...content/community-challenge-fractions.mdx b/.../content/community-challenge-fractions.md → ...content/community-challenge-fractions.mdx
@@ -9,4 +9,8 @@ heroImage: "/blog/images/community-challenge-fractions/fractions-snapshot.png"
 
 Challenger: Anurag Katyal is an avid Doenet user, who enjoys creating problems for other people.
 
-Understanding fractions is a common issue in building number sense for students. What does a fraction mean? How do we add fractions, and why does it work? How do we compare fractions? We’d love to have more activities to help our students build conceptual understanding of fractions! To participate in this challenge, create a public activity at beta.doenet.org and submit a link to your activity to communications@doenet.org. The winner of this challenge will have their activity featured in the next Doenet newsletter!
+Understanding fractions is a common issue in building number sense for students. What does a fraction mean? How do we add fractions, and why does it work? How do we compare fractions? We’d love to have more activities to help our students build conceptual understanding of fractions!
+
+<div data-excerpt />
+
+To participate in this challenge, create a public activity at beta.doenet.org and submit a link to your activity to communications@doenet.org. The winner of this challenge will have their activity featured in the next Doenet newsletter!
diff --git a/blog/src/content/learn-doenet-saint-louis-university.mdx b/blog/src/content/learn-doenet-saint-louis-university.mdx
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ During our November 7-8 Doenet workshop, participants built classroom-ready acti
 
 The hands-on format allowed participants to focus deeply on their specific course needs, with individualized support from facilitators throughout the development process. Each participant completed a polished activity ready for immediate classroom use, with several planning to deploy their work as early as the following semester.
 
+<div data-excerpt />
+
 The final show-and-tell session showcased what participants were able to accomplish in just two days. One of the examples worth mentioning is the interactive Mean Value Theorem themed activity featuring dynamic graphs that respond to student input, built-in answer checking, and a carefully designed set of problems, designed by Daniel Kang. Students working through this activity can explore the theorem visually while receiving immediate feedback on their responses, transforming what's traditionally a challenging calculus concept into an engaging, interactive experience.
 
 ![Mean Value Theorem activity](/blog/images/learn-doenet-saint-louis-university/mean-value-theorem.png)

diff --git a/blog/src/content/simplify-creating-interactive-activities.mdx b/blog/src/content/simplify-creating-interactive-activities.mdx
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Here's a snippet from one of these activities where students discover how to ske
 
 Despite how well my students respond to interactive exploratory activities, one thing I have discovered after writing hundreds is that **making them is a huge pain!** For the past couple decades, I've been working on ways to ease that pain.
 
+<div data-excerpt />
+
 When I started to experiment in 2005 with creating my own interactives, I was teaching multivariable calc, so my efforts mostly took the form of 3D applets. [Here’s an example](https://mathinsight.org/directional_derivative_gradient_introduction) from 2011 about directional derivatives and gradients.
 
 ![A surface plot of a function of x and y along with a contour plot of the same function. Both plots contain a movable point, an arrow representing the gradient, and a slider to set an angle between the gradient and another arrow. Information about the function, its gradient, and its directional derivative are displayed.](/blog/images/simplify-creating-interactive-activities/directional-derivative-gradients.png)