Building Static Websites with Jekyll and GitHub Pages

Page 1: Introduction to Jekyll and GitHub Pages

Welcome to the first part of this series on building static websites using Jekyll and hosting them on GitHub Pages. Let's dive right in!

**What is Jekyll?**
Jekyll is a simple, blog-aware, static site generator. It takes a template directory containing your website's content, and generates a complete static website suitable for publishing.

**What is GitHub Pages?**
GitHub Pages is a static website hosting service provided by GitHub. It allows you to host your static websites directly from your GitHub repository for free.

**Why choose Jekyll and GitHub Pages?**
- **Simple and Easy to Use:** Both Jekyll and GitHub Pages are incredibly user-friendly, making them perfect for beginners. - **Static Websites:** These tools are ideal for creating static websites, which are fast, secure, and reliable. - **Cost-Effective:** Hosting your website on GitHub Pages is completely free. - **Powerful Features:** Jekyll offers a range of features, including support for Markdown, Liquid templating, and plugins, allowing you to customize your website's look and feel.

In the following pages, we'll cover how to set up Jekyll, write content using Markdown, design your website, and deploy your site to GitHub Pages. Get ready for an exciting journey into the world of static websites!

Next Page: Setting Up Jekyll

Page 2: Setting Up Jekyll

Let's get started by setting up Jekyll on your local machine. You'll need a few things:

Ruby: Jekyll is built on Ruby, so you need to have it installed on your system.
Bundler: Bundler helps manage dependencies for your Jekyll project.
Git: For version control and deployment to GitHub.

Installing Ruby and Bundler

If you don't have Ruby installed, you can get it from the official website: https://www.ruby-lang.org/

Once Ruby is installed, use the following command to install Bundler:

gem install bundler

Creating a New Jekyll Project

Use the following command to create a new Jekyll project:

jekyll new my-jekyll-site

Replace `my-jekyll-site` with the name you want to give your project.

Navigating to Your Project Directory

Open your terminal and navigate to your new project directory:

cd my-jekyll-site

Installing Dependencies

Inside your project directory, install the necessary dependencies using Bundler:

bundle install

This will create a `Gemfile.lock` file, which records the exact versions of the gems used in your project, ensuring consistency.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up a Jekyll project. In the next page, we will dive into writing content using Markdown.

Next Page: Writing Content with Markdown

Page 3: Writing Content with Markdown

Jekyll uses Markdown, a lightweight markup language, to write content for your website. It's easy to learn and use, making it ideal for creating web pages. Here's a quick overview of some basic Markdown syntax:

Headings

            # Heading 1
            ## Heading 2
            ### Heading 3
        

Paragraphs

            This is a paragraph of text. 
            It can span multiple lines.
        

Code Blocks

            ```
            // This is a code block
            console.log("Hello, World!");
            ```
        

Links

[Link Text](https://www.example.com)

Images

![Image Alt Text](image.jpg)

Lists

            - Item 1
            - Item 2
            - Item 3

            1. First Item
            2. Second Item
            3. Third Item
        

This is just a small sample of Markdown syntax. You can find detailed documentation on Markdown at https://www.markdownguide.org/.

Now that you've learned the basics of Markdown, you can start creating content for your website. Let's move on to the next step - designing your website!

Previous Page: Setting Up Jekyll

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