Getting Started with Jekyll

Jekyll is a static site generator that’s perfect for creating blogs, portfolios, and documentation sites. In this post, I’ll walk you through the basics of getting started.

Why Jekyll?

Jekyll is an excellent choice for developers because:

  • Simple: Write content in Markdown
  • Fast: Static sites load quickly
  • Secure: No database vulnerabilities
  • GitHub Pages: Free hosting on GitHub
  • Flexible: Highly customizable with Liquid templating

Installation

To get started with Jekyll, you’ll need Ruby installed on your system. Then:

gem install bundler jekyll
jekyll new my-awesome-site
cd my-awesome-site
bundle exec jekyll serve

Your site will be available at http://localhost:4000.

Project Structure

A typical Jekyll project looks like:

.
├── _config.yml      # Configuration file
├── _posts/          # Blog posts
├── _layouts/        # Page templates
├── _includes/       # Reusable components
├── assets/          # CSS, JS, images
└── index.md         # Homepage

Writing Posts

Create a new file in _posts/ with the format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md

---
layout: post
title: My First Post
date: 2024-09-09
categories: [blog]
---

Content goes here...

Next Steps

  • Customize the theme
  • Add your content
  • Deploy to GitHub Pages
  • Build your audience

Jekyll makes it easy to create a professional online presence without worrying about server management or complex deployments.

Happy blogging!