Got this Jekyll thing working! And this is my first post 😃
Why has it taken you so long?
Not sure. Never been a priority. But now I’m on vacation all December, so why not?
What are you going to write about?
Whatever I want 😄 it’s my site! Probably stuff I research posted whenever I have time.
A few years ago, a colleague asked me how I selected and installed my security cameras. I wish I had a had a place to document what I told her, so I could link to it again the next time a friend asks me (happens more often than not). That sort of thing!
I’m mainly writing this site for me. And for linking on Twitter and emailing links to my friends/family.
How did you build it?
What a journey! I experimented with many ways to make a site:
- WordPress
- Blogger
- Google Sites
- Even some eccentric Gist / GitHub Issue ideas
I finally settled on Jekyll on GitHub Pages.
Markdown is a simple yet powerful way to edit text. Having had a good experience recently with Markdown in VS Code at work (wrote a big design spec), I realized the experience can compete with a WYSIWYG editor such as WordPress. However, Markdown/Jekyll comes without the baggage. The simplicity of not managing a database and the general awesomeness of GitHub helped cement my decision.
At the end of the day, I’m trying to make great content, not manage a website.
Why is your site so simple looking?
Turns out, I really like the default theme. It’s readable and familiar to all developers who have used GitHub (and who hasn’t).
Instead of messing endlessly with the design–as I often do with website–I stuck with it. After all, I want to focus on building great content, not pixel tweaking my website.
Well OK… I modified it a tiny bit to add some basic navigation and improve HTML5 support, but otherwise it’s Primer.