garrettdbates.com

Personal site and blog for Garrett D. Bates built with Jekyll and the Minima theme. The repo hosts the content served at https://garrettdbates.com and contains a few custom layouts, embeds, and redirects layered on top of the stock Jekyll stack.

Getting Started

• Ensure Ruby 3.1+ and Bundler are installed (gem install bundler if needed).
• Install dependencies: bundle install
• Run the site locally: bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload
  • Visit http://127.0.0.1:4000 to preview changes. The site reloads when you save files, but edits to _config.yml require restarting the server.
• Build for production: JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll build
  • The generated site is written to _site/.

Project Structure

• _posts/ holds published articles. Each file uses standard Jekyll front matter plus optional fields that the custom post layout reads (read_time, view_count, comment_count, last_modified_at).
• 2024/ contains redirect stubs to preserve historical URLs. Each Markdown file there sets layout: redirect and a redirect target.
• _layouts/ overrides Minima templates. Notably post.html adds share buttons, view/comment counters, and GA snippets, while redirect.html handles legacy URL redirects and analytics.
• _includes/ stores reusable partials (Mailchimp embed, RSS subscribe button, share buttons, etc.).
• assets/ contains Sass overrides (main.scss) and static article assets grouped by slug.
• _config.yml defines site metadata, plugins, and permalink structure. CNAME pins the custom domain for GitHub Pages.

Writing Content

• Use the bundled jekyll-compose plugin to scaffold new entries. Example:
  • bundle exec jekyll compose "My New Post" --collection posts
  • bundle exec jekyll compose "Feature Draft" --collection drafts
• Add optional front matter values if you want estimated read time, view counts, or comment counts rendered with the post metadata.
• Assets referenced in posts should live under assets/<slug>/ so they are copied during the build.

Deployment

• The project is configured for GitHub Pages with a custom domain. Pushes to the default branch trigger the build that serves https://garrettdbates.com.
• Update the CNAME file if the domain ever changes.
• Remember to run bundle update periodically to keep Jekyll, Minima, and plugin dependencies current.

Troubleshooting

• If dependencies change, re-run bundle install.
• Delete .jekyll-cache/ and _site/ if you encounter stale assets or layout issues before rebuilding.
• Check bundle exec jekyll doctor for configuration warnings.