Introduction: Are you looking for a simple yet powerful way to build and manage your website? Enter Jekyll, a static site generator that turns your plain text into static websites and blogs. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk through the process of setting up Jekyll, allowing you to create and maintain a fast, efficient, and easy-to-manage website.
Step 1: Prerequisites
Before diving into the installation, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed on your system:
- Ruby: Jekyll is built on Ruby, so ensure you have Ruby installed.
- RubyGems: Ruby’s package manager, required for installing Jekyll.
- Node.js: Needed for the JavaScript runtime.
Step 2: Install Jekyll
Once the prerequisites are in place, open your terminal or command prompt and install Jekyll using the following command:
gem install jekyll bundler
This command installs Jekyll and Bundler, a gem manager for your project.
Step 3: Create a New Jekyll Site
Now that Jekyll is installed, create a new site using the following command:
jekyll new your-website-name
Replace “your-website-name” with your desired project name. This command will scaffold the basic structure of your Jekyll site.
Step 4: Navigate to Your Project
Move into your project’s directory:
cd your-website-name
Step 5: Serve Your Site Locally
To preview your site locally, run the following command:
bundle exec jekyll serve
Visit http://localhost:4000 in your web browser, and you should see your Jekyll site up and running!
Step 6: Customize and Personalize
Explore the _config.yml file in your project directory to customize your site’s settings. Jekyll uses Markdown for content, making it easy to write and maintain.
Step 7: Build Your Site
Once you’re satisfied with your changes, build your site using:
bundle exec jekyll build
Your site is now ready to be deployed.
Step 8: Deploy Your Jekyll Site
Host your Jekyll site on platforms like GitHub Pages or deploy it to your server of choice. Jekyll produces a _site directory containing your entire website; simply upload its contents to your hosting provider.
Conclusion: Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up Jekyll for your website. Embrace the simplicity, speed, and elegance of static site generation with Jekyll, and enjoy the seamless process of creating and managing your online presence. Happy coding!
Jekyll also offers powerful support for code snippets:
def print_hi(name)
puts "Hi, #{name}"
end
print_hi('Tom')
#=> prints 'Hi, Tom' to STDOUT.
Check out the Jekyll docs for more info on how to get the most out of Jekyll. File all bugs/feature requests at Jekyll’s GitHub repo. If you have questions, you can ask them on Jekyll Talk.