How to Create a Blog with Jekyll

In this article I will guide you step by step in the creation of a new blog using the Jekyll CMS on Mac OS X.

It took weeks of reflection before creating my blog on WordPress. I was not sure if I wanted to explore a new CMS or further explore WordPress. I chose to continue on WordPress, but Jekyll was second in my CMS to try!

You should know that there is a big difference between these two creative tools. WordPress is a tool for creating blogs and dynamic websites, while Jekyll is static. A static site is a site that is fully rendered from the client side, while a dynamic site contains a server-side (PHP, ASP, etc.). A static website is much faster to create, costs less, and the pages load faster than a dynamic site. Dynamic websites will be easier to update, to add content and can be a real site.

I started this step-by-step guide in Jekyll having nothing installed on my new Macbook Pro.

Before playing with Jenkyll we have to install its prerequisites:

• Ruby
  • RubyGems
• NodeJS
• Python 2.7
  • to use syntax highlighter

Install the prerequisites :

1. Install Ruby. As documented on the official documentation of Ruby, there are several ways to install. I used HomeBrew. To do so, follow the instructions on the home page. Do not forget to do this command for Homebrew:

   export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH

   Now, you can install Ruby :

   brew install ruby

   Optional: You can install RubyGem. I chose to do so with git. (Usually, rubygem is installed with ruby)

   git clone https://github.com/rubygems/rubygems.git
   cd rubygems/
   ruby setup.rb

2. Install NodeJS. You can verify the installation went smoothly by doing :

   > node
   > console.log('hello node!');
   hello node
   undefined

3. You now need Python. I chose Python3. To verify if the installation was successful :

   python3
   > print('hello python')
   hello python

4. Now we really install what we wanted!

   gem install jekyll

Create your blog

1. Execute the command to create your website, then go to the newly created directory.

   jekyll new girlknowstech
   cd girlknowstech

2. Run this command to see the result!

   jekyll serve

   

Your Jekyll blog now works! 🙂

If you have a comment about this process, please let me know. I’m still experimenting with Jekyll.