diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_pr.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_pr.yml
index 285daba..a4c7c33 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_pr.yml
@@ -26,36 +26,4 @@ jobs:
         run: python3 -m pip install yamllint
 
       - name: Lint YAML files
-        run: "yamllint -f github -d '{extends: default, rules: {line-length: disable}}' _data/guides.yml"
-
-          # Auto-generate date job to update _config.yml
-  auto-gen-date:
-    name: Update ci_last_modified_date
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v5
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
-          persist-credentials: true
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Set date
-        id: set_date
-        run: |
-          date_value=$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
-          echo "date_yyyy_mm_dd=$date_value" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "date=$date_value" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Update _config.yml
-        uses: mikefarah/yq@master
-        with:
-          cmd: yq -i '.ci_last_modified_date = "${{ steps.set_date.outputs.date }}"' _config.yml
-
-      - name: Commit and Push
-        uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
-        with:
-          commit_message: "ci: Auto-update date to ${{ steps.set_date.outputs.date }} [skip ci]"
-          file_pattern: "_config.yml"
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: "yamllint -f github -d '{extends: default, rules: {line-length: disable}}' _data/guides.yml"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index 868dec4..d72c1b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
----
 # This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
 # They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
 # separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
@@ -16,7 +15,7 @@ on:
 
 # Sets permissions of the GITHUB_TOKEN to allow deployment to GitHub Pages
 permissions:
-  contents: write
+  contents: read
   pages: write
   id-token: write
 
@@ -26,9 +25,9 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-
   # Build job
   build:
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || (github.event_name == 'push' && !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')) }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -55,6 +54,7 @@ jobs:
 
   # Deployment job
   deploy:
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || (github.event_name == 'push' && !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')) }}
     environment:
       name: github-pages
       url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index 18905fa..85fcd1e 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -206,4 +206,4 @@ compress_html:
 sass:
   quiet_deps: true # https://github.com/just-the-docs/just-the-docs/issues/1541
   silence_deprecations: ["import"] # https://github.com/just-the-docs/just-the-docs/issues/1607
-ci_last_modified_date: "2025-12-05"
+ci_last_modified_date: "2025-12-10"
diff --git a/_layouts/minimal_search.html b/_layouts/minimal_search.html
index 1761307..0d523e4 100644
--- a/_layouts/minimal_search.html
+++ b/_layouts/minimal_search.html
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
     <meta charset="UTF-8">
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
     <title>{{ page.title }}</title>
+    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/marked/marked.min.js"></script>
     <style>
         :root {
             /* Maximum number of cards to display per row on wider screens */
@@ -411,6 +412,16 @@
             max-height: none;
         }
 
+        .guides-description a {
+            color: #0066cc;
+            text-decoration: underline;
+        }
+
+        .guides-description a:hover {
+            color: #004499;
+            text-decoration: underline;
+        }
+
         .read-more-btn {
             background: none;
             border: none;
@@ -768,7 +779,7 @@
             </a>
             <h1><a href="{{ '/' | relative_url }}">📚 Learn@MDL</a></h1>
             <p>Browse and discover tutorials and workshops from the Map & Data Library, University of Toronto.</p>
-            <p style="color: rgba(255,255,255,0.8); font-size: 0.9rem; margin-top: 10px;">Last updated: {{ site.ci_last_modified_date | default: "N/A" }}</p>
+            <p style="color: rgba(255,255,255,0.8); font-size: 0.9rem; margin-top: 10px;">Last updated: {{ site.time | date: "%Y-%m-%d" | default: "N/A" }}</p>
         </header>
 
         <div class="sticky-search-wrapper">
@@ -1205,11 +1216,12 @@ <h3>No guides found</h3>
 
                 // Safely handle description
                 const description = guide.description && guide.description !== 'undefined' && guide.description !== 'null' ? guide.description : '';
+                const descriptionHtml = description ? marked.parse(description) : '';
 
                 return `
                 <div class="guides-card">
                     <h3><a href="${guide.url}" target="_blank">${guide.title}</a></h3>
-                    <p class="guides-description" id="${uniqueId}" data-full-text="${description.replace(/"/g, '&quot;')}">${description}</p>
+                    <div class="guides-description" id="${uniqueId}" data-full-text="${description.replace(/"/g, '&quot;')}">${descriptionHtml}</div>
                     <button class="read-more-btn" id="btn-${uniqueId}" onclick="toggleDescription('${uniqueId}', this)" style="display: none;">Read more</button>
                     <div class="guides-tags">
                         ${techniques.map(cat => `<span class="tag technique${activeFilters.technique.has(cat) ? ' active' : ''}" data-facet="technique" data-value="${cat}">${cat}</span>`).join('')}
diff --git a/docs/update-data/README.md b/docs/update-data/README.md
index 18e6486..7834421 100644
--- a/docs/update-data/README.md
+++ b/docs/update-data/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Each tutorial entry can have the following fields:
 |----------------|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
 | `id`           | No         | A unique identifier for the tutorial.                                                                         | String                     |
 | `title`        | Yes        | The title of the tutorial.                                                                                    | String                     |
-| `description`  | No         | A brief description of the tutorial.                                                                          | String                     |
+| `description`  | No         | A brief description of the tutorial. <br><br>**Note**: Markdown is supported when rendering this field in the web interface.               | String                     |
 | `url`          | Yes        | The URL of the tutorial.                                                                                      | String (URL)                |
 | `technique`    | No         | The technique(s) covered in the tutorial.                                                                     | String or Array of Strings  |
 | `tool`         | No         | The tool(s) used in the tutorial.                                                                             | String or Array of Strings  |