Maturity track
The visual progress indicator showing where a post sits in the draft-to-complete lifecycle, using plant growth as a metaphor.
Every post in the garden has a maturity stage. The maturity track visualizes this as a horizontal progression from seedling to tree.
The stages
| Emoji | Key | Label | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌱 | draft | Seedling | Raw idea, barely formed |
| 🌿 | developing | Sprout | Taking shape, still evolving |
| 🪴 | solid | Plant | Stable, could publish |
| 🌳 | complete | Tree | Done, no further tending expected |
| 🍂 | compost | Composted | No longer active or growing |
Composted posts are excluded from the stream and collection indexes but remain accessible by URL. They appear on the /compost page. The 🍂 indicator replaces the maturity track entirely on the post page.
Visual design
The track is a horizontal flex row of emoji + connector lines. Unreached stages are dim (opacity 0.25). The current stage is larger (1.5rem vs 1.25rem). Reached stages are full opacity.
.maturity-track {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
gap: 0;
}
.maturity-step {
font-size: 1.25rem;
opacity: 0.25;
}
.maturity-step.reached { opacity: 1; }
.maturity-step.current { font-size: 1.5rem; }
.maturity-line {
width: 2rem;
height: 2px;
background: var(--color-border);
}
.maturity-line.filled {
background: linear-gradient(to right, var(--color-accent), var(--color-accent-2));
opacity: 0.6;
}In the post header
The track appears in the post header below the title. It’s interactive: hovering a stage shows its label. Clicking a stage has no effect, it’s display-only.
In stream cards
The maturity emoji appears in the top meta bar of every index card, alongside the AI label. Just the emoji, no label, it’s a quick visual signal, not a detailed description.
Frontmatter
maturity: solid # draft | developing | solid | complete | compostDraft posts with draft: true are excluded from all collections at build time. A post with maturity: draft but draft: false is visible, it just signals the content is early-stage.
Why plant metaphors
The garden is built around growth as a metaphor for ideas. Posts aren’t “published” or “unpublished”, they’re at different stages of development. The plant scale makes this concrete without requiring explanation. A 🌱 is obviously less developed than a 🌳.