Building a blog with Jekyll

Apr 27, 2019

Over the last week I've rebuilt my one-page site into a blog using Jekyll. Here are some thoughts from along the way:

If you are versed in npm and understand using package.json to generate node_modules, then it shouldn't take long to figure out how the Gemfile works.
The docs are really well-written and reading through all of them in order will give you what you need to get a basic site up and running.
In your project, build out the directory structure from this page with empty folders so you can see a kitchen-sink version of the site and match up which directories override which theme partials.
Looking through the repository for the included minima theme is also helpful to understanding how theming works. The theme files aren't included within the project that is created when jekyll new is run. From the docs: "Run bundle show followed by the name of the theme’s gem, e.g., bundle show minima for Jekyll’s default theme."
This page is a great resource for understanding how to structure the main Sass file and its partials using the preferred Jekyll directory structure.
Having a good understanding of markdown is helpful to quickly get into writing content. This resource is a good place to experiment and learn.