diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 9889dd4..a00318b 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,24 +1,32 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-BASE_PATH="$PWD"
+set -o errexit # Stop executing when a command fails
+set -o nounset # Stop executing when accessing an unset variable
+set -o pipefail # Treat a pipeline as failing, even if one command in the pipeline fails
+
+if [[ "${TRACE-0}" == "1" ]]; then set -o xtrace; fi # Enable tracing (output of each command) if the TRACE variable is set
+
+
+
+BASE_PATH="$(dirname "$0")"
 
 check_for_dirs() {
-	if [ ! -d "${BASE_PATH}/source" ]; then
-		echo "ERROR: 'source' folder does not exist. Your content is sourced from this folder."
+	if [[ ! -d "${BASE_PATH}/source" ]]; then
+		echo "ERROR: 'source' folder does not exist. Your content is sourced from this folder." >&2
 		exit
 	fi
 
-	if [ -d "${BASE_PATH}/temp" ]; then
-		echo "ERROR: You have an existing 'temp' folder. Please delete this folder, and run the script again."
+	if [[ -d "${BASE_PATH}/temp" ]]; then
+		echo "ERROR: You have an existing 'temp' folder. Please delete this folder, and run the script again." >&2
 		exit
 	fi
 
-	if [ ! -f "${BASE_PATH}/header.html" ]; then
-		echo "ERROR: You do not have a header.html file. This file is used as a global header. Please create this file, and run the script again."
+	if [[ ! -f "${BASE_PATH}/header.html" ]]; then
+		echo "ERROR: You do not have a header.html file. This file is used as a global header. Please create this file, and run the script again." >&2
 		exit
 	fi
-	if [ ! -f "${BASE_PATH}/footer.html" ]; then
-		echo "ERROR: You do not have a footer.html file. This file is used as a global footer. Please create this file, and run the script again."
+	if [[ ! -f "${BASE_PATH}/footer.html" ]]; then
+		echo "ERROR: You do not have a footer.html file. This file is used as a global footer. Please create this file, and run the script again." >&2
 		exit
 	fi
 
@@ -36,12 +44,12 @@ setup_output_dir() {
 }
 
 del_files_in_output() {
-	find $BASE_PATH/output -type f -name "*.md" -delete #Delete all .md files (which were copied over from 'source') in 'output'
+	find "$BASE_PATH/output" -type f -name "*.md" -delete #Delete all .md files (which were copied over from 'source') in 'output'
 }
 
 read_metadata() {
 #	Read the metadata from the top of a .md file into a string
-	metadata=$(awk 'BEGIN{RS = "\n\n"} {print $0}; {exit}' $1)  # Reads from the .md file until a double-newline is encountered
+	metadata=$(awk 'BEGIN{RS = "\n\n"} {print $0}; {exit}' "$1")  # Reads from the .md file until a double-newline is encountered
 }
 
 convert_to_array() {
@@ -57,52 +65,52 @@ convert_to_array() {
 }
 
 add_date_to_array() {
-	if [[ "${meta_array[date]}" == "auto" ]]; then # If the date is set to 'auto'
+	if [[ "${meta_array[date]-}" == "auto" ]]; then # If the date is set to 'auto'
 		meta_array["date"]="$(date -r $1 +'%b %d, %Y')"
 	fi
 }
 
 add_header_and_footer() {
 #	Copy header to temporary location
-	cp $BASE_PATH/header.html $BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html
+	cp "$BASE_PATH/header.html" "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html"
 
 #	Check for relevant metadata, and perform corresponding action
-	if test -z "${meta_array[date]}"; then #If there is no date
-		sed -i '$ d' $BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html # remove the 'date published' section of the header
+	if [[ ! -v "meta_array["date"]" ]]; then # If there is no date
+		sed -i '$ d' "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html" # remove the 'date published' section of the header
 	fi
 
-	if [[ "${meta_array[noappend]}" == "true" ]]; then
-		sed -i 's/ - Two More Cents//g' $BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html # 'noappend' removes the suffix from the title
+	if [[ "${meta_array[noappend]-}" == "true" ]]; then
+		sed -i 's/ - Two More Cents//g' "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html" # 'noappend' removes the suffix from the title
 	fi
 
 #	Add header
-	cat $BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html | cat - $1 > $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html
+	cat "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp_header.html" | cat - "$1" > "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html"
 
 #	Add footer
-	echo >> $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html
-	cat $BASE_PATH/footer.html >> $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html
+	echo >> "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html" # Add newline
+	cat "$BASE_PATH/footer.html" >> "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html"
 
 #	Move temp file to original location
-	mv $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html $1
+	mv "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html" "$1"
 }
 
 add_header_and_footer_to_index() {
 #	Add header
-	cat $BASE_PATH/header.html | head -n -1 | cat - $1 > $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html # For the index page, remove the last line of the header (date published)
+	cat "$BASE_PATH/header.html" | head -n -1 | cat - "$1" > "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html" # For the index page, remove the last line of the header (date published)
 
 #	Add footer
-	echo >> $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html
-	cat $BASE_PATH/footer.html >> $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html
+ 	echo >> "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html" # Add newline
+	cat "$BASE_PATH/footer.html" >> "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html"
 
 #	Move temp file to original location
-	mv $BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html $1
+	mv "$BASE_PATH/temp/temp.html" "$1"
 }
 
 replace_vars() {
 #	Loop through the keys of the 'meta_array' array, search for all occurences of the key in the HTML doc, and replace them with the corresponding value..
 	for arr_key in "${!meta_array[@]}"; do
-		meta_array[$arr_key]=${meta_array[$arr_key]/\//\\/} # Escape all forward slashes in the value
-		sed -i "s/[\$][\$]$arr_key[\$][\$]/${meta_array[$arr_key]}/g" $1
+		meta_array["$arr_key"]="${meta_array["$arr_key"]/\//\\/}" # Escape all forward slashes in the value
+		sed -i "s/[\$][\$]$arr_key[\$][\$]/${meta_array[$arr_key]}/g" "$1"
 	done
 
 }
@@ -110,30 +118,30 @@ replace_vars() {
 md_to_html() {
 #	Convert .md files from 'source' and place them into the correct locations into 'output'
 
-	files=$(find $BASE_PATH/source -name "*.md")
+	files=$(find "$BASE_PATH/source" -name "*.md")
 
 	for file in $files; do
-		read_metadata $file # Sets the 'metadata' variable
+		read_metadata "$file" # Sets the 'metadata' variable
 
 		convert_to_array "$metadata" #Sets the 'meta_array' array
 		add_date_to_array "$file" #Uses 'meta_array' array
 
 #		Copy file to temp dir and strip metadata
-		cp $file $BASE_PATH/temp/
+		cp "$file" "$BASE_PATH/temp/"
 		let num_lines=$(echo "$metadata" | wc -l)+1
-		sed -i "1,${num_lines}d" $BASE_PATH/temp/`basename $file`
+		sed -i "1,${num_lines}d" "$BASE_PATH/temp/$(basename "$file")"
 
 #		Construct path for output file
-		path_for_output=$(realpath --relative-to="${BASE_PATH}/source" $file)
+		path_for_output=$(realpath --relative-to="${BASE_PATH}/source" "$file")
 		path_for_output="${BASE_PATH}/output/${path_for_output}"
 		path_for_output="$(dirname $path_for_output)/$(basename $path_for_output .md).html"
 
 #		Convert the file (using the given filters), and place the output in the correct location
-		pandoc --lua-filter pandoc_filters/* -f markdown --wrap=preserve $BASE_PATH/temp/`basename $file` > ${path_for_output}
-		rm $BASE_PATH/temp/*
+		pandoc --lua-filter "$BASE_PATH"/pandoc_filters/* -f markdown --wrap=preserve "$BASE_PATH/temp/$(basename "$file")" > "${path_for_output}"
+		rm "$BASE_PATH"/temp/*
 
-		add_header_and_footer $path_for_output # Uses 'meta_array' array
-		replace_vars $path_for_output #Uses 'meta_array' array
+		add_header_and_footer "$path_for_output" # Uses 'meta_array' array
+		replace_vars "$path_for_output" #Uses 'meta_array' array
 
 		unset metadata meta_key meta_value meta_array
 	done
@@ -141,11 +149,12 @@ md_to_html() {
 
 
 gen_sorted_file_list() { # Generate a list of the HTMl files, sorted by when they were last modified (read from the contents of the HTML file)
-	files=$(find $BASE_PATH/output -name "*.html")
+	files=$(find "$BASE_PATH/output" -name "*.html")
+	local date_mod
 
 	for file in $files; do
-		if grep -q "date-published" $file; then
-			echo "$file" >> $BASE_PATH/temp/file_listing.txt # Write files that have a date published to a temp file (we only want the files with date modified, because only these files can be listed with their date on the site map)
+		if grep -q "date-published" "$file" ; then
+			echo "$file" >> "$BASE_PATH/temp/file_listing.txt" # Write files that have a date published to a temp file (we only want the files with date modified, because only these files can be listed with their date on the site map)
 
 			date_mod+=$(cat "$file" | grep "date-published" | awk -F'[<>]' '{print $3}' \
 				| cut -d' ' -f '1,2' --complement | tr -d "," | awk '{print $2" "$1" "$3}' \
@@ -155,16 +164,16 @@ gen_sorted_file_list() { # Generate a list of the HTMl files, sorted by when the
 #			Line 2 re-arranges this information, and converts it into DD MM YY format
 #			Line 3 converts this into a UNIX timestamp
 
-		date_mod+=$'\n'
+			date_mod+=$'\n'
 		fi
 	done
 
-	date_mod=$(echo "$date_mod" | head -n -1) # Remove last (empty) line from variable
-	echo "$date_mod" > $BASE_PATH/temp/date_mod.txt # Write the corresponding 'date modified' timestamps to a temp file
+	date_mod=$(echo "${date_mod-}" | head -n -1) # Remove last (empty) line from variable
+	echo "${date_mod-}" > "$BASE_PATH/temp/date_mod.txt" # Write the corresponding 'date modified' timestamps to a temp file
 
-	paste $BASE_PATH/temp/file_listing.txt $BASE_PATH/temp/date_mod.txt > $BASE_PATH/temp/new_file_list.txt # Combine file list and date modified into a single file
+	paste "$BASE_PATH/temp/file_listing.txt" "$BASE_PATH/temp/date_mod.txt" > "$BASE_PATH/temp/new_file_list.txt" # Combine file list and date modified into a single file
 
-	sorted_file_list=$(sort -r -k 2 $BASE_PATH/temp/new_file_list.txt) # Sort the data in the file based on the timestamp (from newest to oldest), and store it into a variable
+	sorted_file_list=$(sort -r -k 2 "$BASE_PATH/temp/new_file_list.txt") # Sort the data in the file based on the timestamp (from newest to oldest), and store it into a variable
 	sorted_file_list=$(echo "$sorted_file_list" | awk '{print $1}') # Store only the first column (the file path) in the variable
 }
 
@@ -173,16 +182,16 @@ gen_index_page() { # Generate an index page (site map) that includes links to th
 	index_file_html="<nav class=\"toc\">"$'\n' # Variable to store the body HTML of the index page; enclose the list in a nav
 
 	for file in $1; do
-		title=$(cat $file | grep "<title>" | head -n 1 | awk -F'[<>]' '{print $3}') # Find the title of the web page
+		title=$(cat "$file" | grep "<title>" | head -n 1 | awk -F'[<>]' '{print $3}') # Find the title of the web page
 		suffix=" - Two More Cents"
-		title=${title%"$suffix"} # Remove the website name from it
+		title="${title%"$suffix"}" # Remove the website name from it
 
-		pub_date=$(cat $file | grep "date-published" | head -n 1 | awk -F'[<>]' '{print $3}') # Find the date published
+		pub_date=$(cat "$file" | grep "date-published" | head -n 1 | awk -F'[<>]' '{print $3}') # Find the date published
 		prefix="Published on " # Find date published of webpage
-		pub_date=${pub_date#"$prefix"} # Remove the prefix from it
+		pub_date="${pub_date#"$prefix"}" # Remove the prefix from it
 		pub_date=$(echo "$pub_date" | tr -d "," | awk '{print $2" "$1" "$3}' | date -f - +"%m/%d/%Y") # Re-arrange the date and convert to mm/dd/yy
 
-		file_path=$(realpath --relative-to="${BASE_PATH}/output" $file)
+		file_path=$(realpath --relative-to="${BASE_PATH}/output" "$file")
 
 		index_file_html+="<li><time>${pub_date}</time> - <a href=\"$file_path\">$title</a></li>" # Add a line of HTML containing the date and title of the article
 		index_file_html+=$'\n'
@@ -200,14 +209,14 @@ gen_index_page() { # Generate an index page (site map) that includes links to th
 }
 
 copy_things_in() {
-	cp ${BASE_PATH}/styles.css ${BASE_PATH}/output/
-	cp -r ${BASE_PATH}/files ${BASE_PATH}/output/
-	cp -r ${BASE_PATH}/fonts ${BASE_PATH}/output/
+	cp "${BASE_PATH}/styles.css" "${BASE_PATH}/output/"
+	cp -r "${BASE_PATH}/files" "${BASE_PATH}/output/"
+	cp -r "${BASE_PATH}/fonts" "${BASE_PATH}/output/"
 
 }
 
 clean_up() {
-	rm -r ${BASE_PATH}/temp
+	rm -r "${BASE_PATH}/temp"
 }