ARTSABERS — Blog Category · Build Brief
Purpose
Full-page mockup of an ARTSABERS blog category archive at artsabers.com/blog/category/lightsaber-guides-tips/. Tests the category archive template — the filtered listing state that shares its DOM with Blog Home (BBAS22) but shows a category-specific hero and active category chip.
Consumes:
- BBAS22 (Blog Home) — shares grid, cards, filter row, pagination, newsletter band, site chrome verbatim. This template is essentially Blog Home with the hero, active filter, and post set filtered by category.
- BBAS18 (Editorial Content Spec) — pattern library.
- MAS64 / MAS65 / MAS66 — canonical site chrome + card design.
- SAS1 v4.2.1 — Kyber Hull palette + tokens.
- PB + DB — brand voice + audit context.
The template
- URL:
artsabers.com/blog/category/lightsaber-guides-tips/
- Demoed category: Lightsaber Guides & Tips (the most editorially generative category, and where the plausibly-invented titles from prior mockups land).
- Site chrome: MAS64’s canonical nav + footer verbatim.
Sections (top to bottom)
1. Site nav — MAS64 verbatim.
2. Category-specific hero — ~460px
- Background: panel-joint hairline pattern (same as Blog Home).
- Small breadcrumb above eyebrow: The Blog / Lightsaber Guides & Tips (chrome-warm muted body, ember-highlighted current segment)
- Eyebrow (ember, uppercase, letter-spaced): CATEGORY
- Title (Space Grotesk display): "Lightsaber Guides & Tips" (the category name — plain, no clever rename)
- Subtitle (Manrope, muted): "Buyer’s guides, build breakdowns, and care advice from the workshop bench."
- Post count meta row (muted body below subtitle): 3 posts · sorted newest first
3. Category filter chip row
Same as Blog Home but with:
- Lightsaber Guides & Tips chip is ACTIVE (ember hairline + tinted background)
- ALL chip is inactive (previously the active state on Blog Home)
- Other two chips (ARTSABERS News, Lore & Short Stories) inactive as before
Post counts still trail each chip: ALL (12) · ARTSABERS News (7) · Lightsaber Guides & Tips (3) · Lore & Short Stories (2) — Lightsaber Guides & Tips active state.
4. NO featured band on category page
Category pages give equal weight to every post in the category. Skip the featured-band section entirely. Grid starts directly below the filter row.
5. Grid section — "IN THIS CATEGORY" band
- Eyebrow (ember, uppercase): IN THIS CATEGORY
- Section title (Space Grotesk display, ~32px): "Everything from the guides bench."
- Muted lede: "Sorted by newest first."
- Grid: 3-up desktop, 2-up tablet, 1-up mobile.
6. Post cards — 3 populated
The three Lightsaber Guides & Tips titles that appeared in Blog Home (BBAS22). Same card design as BBAS22.
| # |
Title |
Date |
Read |
Image URL |
| 1 |
Forged in Fire and Beskar: Why You Need Both a Saber and a Helmet |
12 Jun 2026 |
8 min |
https://artsabers.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Mandalorian-Helmet-600x600.jpg |
| 2 |
Choosing Your Saber Core: Xenopixel V3 vs Proffie 2.2 vs Neopixel |
15 May 2026 |
6 min |
https://artsabers.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Apprentice-Black-Duelling-Lightsaber-RGB-X-600x600.jpg |
| 3 |
Light-Duelling vs Heavy-Duelling: Which Grade Fits Your Play Style |
3 May 2026 |
9 min |
https://artsabers.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/The-Fighter-Black-Lightsaber-Xenopixel-V3-600x600.jpg |
Each card carries the Lightsaber Guides & Tips category chip (all three same). Excerpts — subagent authors plausible 2-line teasers.
7. Empty-state pattern (below the 3 cards)
Category has only 3 posts, so no pagination band. Instead, a subtle "That’s it for now" empty-state signal below the grid, ~60px vertical padding:
- Small ember hairline separator (matches article section-break)
- Muted body copy: You’ve reached the end of the category. "More Lightsaber Guides & Tips coming as we build them out — the workshop keeps writing."
- Two ember-hairline CTAs side-by-side (or stacked on mobile):
- Back to The Blog → (returns to
/blog/)
- Read Lore & Short Stories → (nav to sibling category)
8. Newsletter capture band — same as Blog Home.
9. Site footer — MAS64 verbatim.
Copy locks (verbatim)
- Breadcrumb: The Blog / Lightsaber Guides & Tips (current segment ember)
- Hero eyebrow: CATEGORY
- Hero title: Lightsaber Guides & Tips
- Hero subtitle: "Buyer’s guides, build breakdowns, and care advice from the workshop bench."
- Post count meta: 3 posts · sorted newest first
- Category chip row:
ALL (12) · ARTSABERS News (7) · Lightsaber Guides & Tips (3) · Lore & Short Stories (2) — Lightsaber Guides & Tips active.
- Grid eyebrow: IN THIS CATEGORY
- Grid title: "Everything from the guides bench."
- Grid lede: "Sorted by newest first."
- Empty-state title: You’ve reached the end of the category.
- Empty-state body: "More Lightsaber Guides & Tips coming as we build them out — the workshop keeps writing."
- Empty-state CTAs: Back to The Blog → · Read Lore & Short Stories →
- Newsletter band copy — same as Blog Home (BBAS22).
Kyber Hull styling notes
Same as Blog Home:
- Ember on breadcrumb current segment, hero eyebrow, active category chip, section eyebrows, card category chips, "Read →" CTAs, pagination active chip (none here — no pagination), newsletter eyebrow + Subscribe CTA border, empty-state hairline separator + CTAs.
- Warm off-white on all body text.
- Panel-joint hairline background pattern on hero + newsletter band.
- Zero border-radius everywhere.
What this template deliberately does NOT include
- No featured post band (category pages give equal weight)
- No sidebar
- No author profile card
- No comment count on cards
- No sort dropdown
- No pagination band (this category only has 3 posts — replaced with empty-state signal)
- No
.advert-* / .promo-* / .sponsor-* class names (ad-blocker safety per BBAS18)
Success criteria at 1920px viewport
- Category hero clearly signals what category we’re in — plain-English category name, not a clever rename.
- Active category chip in the filter row reads as active without ambiguity.
- Absence of featured band + presence of empty-state signal correctly represents thin category content.
- 3-up grid at 3 cards renders as a single centred row, cards match heights.
- Empty-state CTAs give the reader a clear next step (back to blog or sibling category) — no dead-end.
- Full page renders as ~2,800-3,400px total height (shorter than Blog Home because fewer cards + no featured band).