Goodbye WordPress, Hello Jekyll

I have switch my blog from using WordPress to using Jekyll instead. Jekyll is a site generator, that builds a static website from “templates” and plain text files (usually Markdown files).

Reasons for switching to Jekyll

  • Speed – (Because Jekyll is static HTML files, the speed is top-notch)
  • Easier backup — (Just flat files, so a simple copy will do)
  • Flexibility – (I better understand HTML and CSS, than PHP which WordPress is built with, so easier for me to modify)
  • Back to basics – (Remove all the extra features/bloat from a WordPress driven site)
  • Wanting to try something new

Inspiration and resources

The Jekyll setup I am using is primarily based on Jekyll Now, although I have modified a bit. I have modified the navigation bar, to be placed between two lines and I have also split the navigation bar in two, floating left and right.

I have added pagination with inspiration from the Lanyon Theme of the Poole Jekyll setup.

I have added Tags and a Archive page, with great inspiration from Scott S. Lowe’s blog. In general I have look a lot at Scott’s source code on GitHub, to see how to do things in Jekyll.

I am using the Jekyll-Lunr-JS-Search project for my search page.

For “Continue reading” links, I am using this spilt filter technique by Michael “Mikey” Gee.

I am also using a Image.html file in my _includes folder, for centering images in my blogpost and also added a small shadow to them.

Source Code

The source code for this blog is available on GitHub: https://github.com/hazenet/hazenetdk