Jekyll Theme Approach - Advice Requested

Help
1

Hello, I have a static website currently hosted on GH Pages (E/S\C), and want to remake it with Jekyll for a number of reasons …

I think my first step should be to figure out whether I can do this with an existing theme, or if I’m better off having someone create a custom theme for me. It seems like the decision I make here will form the basis for all my next steps …

So I’ve scoured every existing Jekyll theme I can find, and (of course) am not finding something exactly like the site I’m trying to reproduce.

It seems like the closest theme options – which are also widely used and respected – are these:

  • TeXt (Author: Tian Qi)
  • Basically Basic theme (Author: mmistakes / Michael Rose)

But there are differences, especially with how these themes’ frontpage has additional content that scrolls below the initial main section. And I’m not sure if I can easily remove this or not…

And if not, then presumably paying someone for a custom theme based on my existing website would be the best option. However, I’d prefer to do it myself – with perhaps some assistance – if possible…

So I guess I’m mostly looking for advice and guidance on how to get things started in the right direction. By the way, I have created a Docusaurus website in the recent past, so I do think I’m up for this challenge overall.

Feel free to message me directly as well if you’d like to offer any assistance or continue discussing things that way.

Thanks for reading,
Jim

2

One possibility: Don’t use a theme. Then add embellishments with CSS to your liking.

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3

Hello @bjorkj02

The DIY approach with in-house theme is the best route since you’re familiar with the basics of HTML and related stuff. This way, you’ll learn more about Jekyll.

Test the waters with a hands-on approach by following the tutorial here. Once you get comfortable, start working on migrating the E/S\C website.

You’re always welcome to come back here with any questions or roadblocks you encounter along the way. There’s a high probability that someone here has already encountered those situations.

Good Luck :+1:

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4

Since you already have HTML and CSS ready, I think the best approach would be to use Jekyll without any theme. This can be done by appending --blank to the jekyll new command, like this:

jekyll new YOUR_PROJECT --blank

This will give you a bare-bones Jekyll site. Then you start adding the missing pieces to it so that it starts looking like your website step by step. At the same time, you will be extracting repeating patterns into layouts and includes.

If you are experienced with Jekyll, this should probably take under 10 hours. If you are not experienced with Jekyll, it will take longer, but as a bonus, you will now be experienced with Jekyll :wink:

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