Setting Up a Jekyll Blog with GitHub Pages

 ·  tutorial, web-development  ·  #jekyll, #github-pages, #blogging

Creating a blog with Jekyll and GitHub Pages is a fantastic way to share your thoughts and technical insights with the world. Here’s what I learned while setting up this very blog.

Why Jekyll?

Jekyll is a static site generator that’s perfect for developers who want:

  • Version control for their content (it’s all in Git!)
  • Markdown support for easy writing
  • Customizable themes and layouts
  • Free hosting with GitHub Pages

The Basic Setup

Setting up a Jekyll blog involves a few key components:

1. Directory Structure

_posts/          # Your blog posts go here
_layouts/        # Templates for different page types
_sass/           # Styling files
_config.yml      # Site configuration

2. Writing Posts

Blog posts follow a specific naming convention: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md

Each post needs front matter at the top:

---
layout: post
title: "Your Post Title"
date: 2025-06-19
categories: [category1, category2]
tags: [tag1, tag2]
---

3. Creating Layouts

The post layout defines how individual blog posts are displayed. It typically includes:

  • Post title and metadata
  • Publication date
  • Categories and tags
  • The post content
  • Navigation back to the blog

Styling Tips

Here are some things I learned about styling:

  • Use SCSS for better organization of your styles
  • Import styles modularly to keep things maintainable
  • Consider responsive design from the start
  • Test your styles in both light and dark modes if you support them

Deployment

One of the best things about GitHub Pages is automatic deployment. Simply:

  1. Push your changes to the main branch
  2. GitHub automatically builds and deploys your site
  3. Your changes are live within minutes

Next Steps

Some features I’m planning to add:

  • Search functionality
  • Categories and tags pages
  • RSS feed optimization
  • Social sharing buttons

Building a blog is an iterative process. Start simple and add features as you need them!

Resources

Have questions about Jekyll or blog setup? Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn!