Jekyll Migration Summary

Date: November 16, 2024 Site: joshuachelashaw.com Migration: Static HTML → Jekyll + GitHub Pages

🎉 What Was Accomplished

Your website has been successfully migrated to Jekyll with significant improvements:

✅ Jekyll Infrastructure

✅ Blog System

✅ Developer Experience

📁 New File Structure

stu-jc.github.io/
├── _config.yml              # Jekyll configuration
├── Gemfile                  # Ruby dependencies
├── .gitignore              # Git ignore rules
│
├── _includes/              # Reusable components
│   ├── head.html          # SEO, meta tags, stylesheets
│   ├── header.html        # Site header
│   ├── footer.html        # Site footer
│   ├── navigation.html    # Navigation menu
│   └── navigation-active.js # Active link highlighting
│
├── _layouts/              # Page templates
│   ├── default.html       # Base template
│   ├── home.html          # Homepage template
│   ├── page.html          # Standard page
│   ├── post.html          # Blog post
│   └── project.html       # Project detail
│
├── _posts/                # Blog posts (Markdown)
│   ├── 2024-11-16-welcome-to-my-blog.md
│   └── 2024-11-10-setting-up-jekyll-github-pages.md
│
├── blog/                  # Blog index
│   └── index.html
│
├── Documentation/
│   ├── README.md          # Project overview
│   ├── JEKYLL_GUIDE.md    # Complete Jekyll guide
│   ├── INSTALLATION.md    # Setup instructions
│   ├── DEPLOYMENT.md      # Deployment workflow
│   └── MIGRATION_SUMMARY.md # This file
│
└── [Other existing pages]
    ├── index.md           # Homepage (now Jekyll)
    ├── resume/
    ├── projects/
    ├── art/
    └── etc.

🚀 Key Features

1. Blog Functionality

2. SEO Optimization

3. Design Enhancements

4. Developer Tools

📝 How to Use Your New Setup

Writing a Blog Post

  1. Create a new file in _posts/: 
    _posts/2024-11-17-my-new-post.md
  2. Add front matter: 
    ---
layout: post
title: "My New Post"
date: 2024-11-17
tags: [tech, learning]
description: "A brief description for SEO"
---
  3. Write in Markdown: 
    ## Introduction

Your content here...

### Code Example

\`\`\`python
print("Hello, World!")
\`\`\`
  4. Test locally: 
    bundle exec jekyll serve
  5. Deploy: 
    git add .
git commit -m "Add new blog post"
git push

Development Workflow

# Start development
bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload

# Make changes to files
# Browser auto-refreshes

# When satisfied:
git add .
git commit -m "Your message"
git push

🔧 Configuration

Site Settings (_config.yml)

Key configurations you can customize:

title: Joshua Chelashaw
email: me@joshuachelashaw.com
description: Your site description
url: https://joshuachelashaw.com

# Social links
github_username: stu-jc
linkedin_username: joshuachelashaw

# Blog settings
permalink: /blog/:year/:month/:day/:title/
paginate: 10

Navigation (_includes/navigation.html)

Add or remove navigation links:

<a href="/new-page" class="nav-link">New Page</a>

Styling (style.css)

Your existing styles are preserved, with new blog-specific styles added:

📚 Documentation

Four comprehensive guides are now available:

  1. README.md
    • Project overview
    • Quick start guide
    • Features list
  2. INSTALLATION.md
    • Setting up Ruby and Jekyll
    • Multiple installation methods
    • Troubleshooting guide
  3. JEKYLL_GUIDE.md
    • Complete Jekyll usage guide
    • Writing posts
    • Site customization
    • Best practices
  4. DEPLOYMENT.md
    • Deployment workflow
    • GitHub Pages setup
    • Performance optimization
    • Troubleshooting

🎯 Next Steps

Immediate Actions

  1. Install Dependencies 
    bundle config set --local path 'vendor/bundle'
bundle install
  2. Test Locally 
    bundle exec jekyll serve
# Visit http://localhost:4000
  3. Review Sample Posts
    • Check /blog/ on local server
    • Read the two sample posts
    • Use them as templates
  4. Write Your First Post
    • Create _posts/2024-11-17-your-topic.md
    • Follow the template format
    • Test and deploy

Future Enhancements

Consider adding:

🔄 Migration Details

What Changed

Before:

After:

What Stayed the Same

Files Backed Up

Original files were backed up with .backup extension:

These can be deleted once you verify everything works.

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Bundle install fails Solution: See INSTALLATION.md for Ruby setup

Issue: Site not updating on GitHub Solution: Wait 2-3 minutes, clear cache, check Actions tab

Issue: Links broken in local development Solution: Use bundle exec jekyll serve not just jekyll serve

Issue: Changes not showing Solution: Restart Jekyll server, clear browser cache

📊 Comparison

Feature Before After
Blog ❌ Placeholder only ✅ Full blog system
SEO ⚠️ Manual ✅ Automated
Templates ❌ Duplicated HTML ✅ Reusable layouts
Content Format HTML ✅ Markdown
Deployment Manual ✅ Automatic
Search Engine Basic ✅ Optimized
RSS Feed ❌ ✅ Available
Sitemap ❌ ✅ Auto-generated

🎓 Learning Resources

To get the most out of Jekyll:

💡 Tips for Success

  1. Test locally first - Always preview before deploying
  2. Commit often - Make small, incremental changes
  3. Use descriptive commit messages - Help your future self
  4. Back up regularly - Git provides automatic backups
  5. Read the guides - Comprehensive documentation is available
  6. Experiment - Jekyll is forgiving, you can always revert
  7. Write consistently - Regular posts keep visitors engaged

✨ Conclusion

Your website is now powered by Jekyll with:

The foundation is set for you to focus on what matters most: creating great content.

Happy blogging! 🚀

Questions or Issues?

Built with ❤️ using Jekyll and GitHub Pages