Soot & Silicon - Jekyll Blog Setup Complete! 🎉

Your GitHub Pages site “Soot & Silicon” has been successfully converted to a dynamic Jekyll-powered blog system where hardware meets software.

What Was Created

Core Jekyll Files

  • _config.yml - Main Jekyll configuration with SEO, analytics, and site settings
  • Gemfile - Ruby dependencies for Jekyll and GitHub Pages
  • README.md - Complete documentation for the project

Layouts

  • _layouts/default.html - Main site layout with header, navigation, and footer
  • _layouts/post.html - Blog post layout with metadata, tags, and post navigation

Pages

  • index.md - New homepage with blog highlights and quick links
  • blog/index.html - Blog listing page with all posts, pagination, and categories
  • about/index.md - About page describing your site and focus areas

Blog Posts (3 posts created)

  1. 2025-10-10-nvme-over-fabrics-roce-setup.md - Complete NVMe-oF RoCE guide
  2. 2025-10-10-spdk-nvmeof-target-setup.md - SPDK NVMe-oF setup guide
  3. 2025-10-07-change-nvme-format.md - NVMe format change tutorial

Documentation

  • HOWTO-ADD-POSTS.md - Complete guide on adding new blog posts
  • SETUP-COMPLETE.md - This file

Configuration Files

  • .gitignore - Updated with Jekyll-specific ignores

Features Implemented

✅ Dynamic Blog System - Add posts by creating Markdown files ✅ SEO Optimized - Meta tags, structured data, OpenGraph, Twitter Cards ✅ Responsive Design - Mobile-friendly layouts ✅ Syntax Highlighting - Code blocks with proper formatting ✅ Categories & Tags - Organize posts by topic ✅ Post Navigation - Previous/Next links on each post ✅ Pagination - Automatic pagination for blog index ✅ Google Analytics - Integrated with your existing GA tracking ✅ Cookie Consent - Cookiebot integration maintained ✅ RSS Feed - Automatic feed generation ✅ Sitemap - Automatic sitemap for SEO

File Structure

soothill.github.io/
├── _config.yml              # Jekyll configuration
├── _layouts/
│   ├── default.html         # Main layout
│   └── post.html           # Blog post layout
├── _posts/                  # Blog posts (Markdown files)
│   ├── 2025-10-07-change-nvme-format.md
│   ├── 2025-10-10-nvme-over-fabrics-roce-setup.md
│   └── 2025-10-10-spdk-nvmeof-target-setup.md
├── blog/
│   └── index.html          # Blog listing page
├── about/
│   └── index.md            # About page
├── index.md                 # Homepage
├── Gemfile                  # Ruby dependencies
├── README.md                # Project documentation
├── HOWTO-ADD-POSTS.md      # Guide for adding posts
└── .gitignore              # Git ignore patterns

Next Steps

1. Test Locally (Optional)

# Install dependencies
bundle install

# Run local server
bundle exec jekyll serve

# Visit http://localhost:4000

2. Deploy to GitHub Pages

# Add all new files
git add .

# Commit changes
git commit -m "Set up Jekyll blog with dynamic post system"

# Push to GitHub
git push origin main

GitHub Pages will automatically build and deploy your site within 2-5 minutes.

3. Add Your First New Post

Create a file: _posts/2025-10-XX-your-topic.md

---
layout: post
title: "Your Post Title"
date: 2025-10-XX
categories: [Category1, Category2]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
author: Darren Soothill
description: "Brief description for SEO"
keywords: "keywords, for, seo"
---

Your content here...

See HOWTO-ADD-POSTS.md for detailed instructions.

How It Works

Adding New Posts

  1. Create a file in _posts/ with format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
  2. Add front matter (metadata between --- markers)
  3. Write content in Markdown
  4. Commit and push to GitHub
  5. GitHub Pages builds your site automatically
  6. Post appears on your blog within minutes

Advantages of Jekyll

  • ✅ No Database - All content in Markdown files
  • ✅ Version Control - Full history in Git
  • ✅ Free Hosting - GitHub Pages is free
  • ✅ Fast - Static HTML generation
  • ✅ Secure - No server-side code to exploit
  • ✅ Easy Backups - Just backup your Git repository

GitHub Pages Integration

GitHub Pages natively supports Jekyll:

  • Automatic building on every push
  • No build configuration needed
  • Built-in Jekyll plugins available
  • Custom domain support (via CNAME)

Configuration Customization

Update Site Information

Edit _config.yml:

title: "Your Site Title"
description: "Your site description"
author: "Your Name"
email: "your@email.com"
url: "https://yourdomain.com"

Customize Colors/Styling

Edit the <style> section in _layouts/default.html to change:

  • Color scheme (currently purple/blue gradient)
  • Fonts
  • Spacing
  • Responsive breakpoints

Edit _layouts/default.html in the <nav> section:

<nav class="site-nav">
    <ul>
        <li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="/blog/">Blog</a></li>
        <li><a href="/about/">About</a></li>
        <li><a href="/contact/">Contact</a></li> <!-- Add new links -->
    </ul>
</nav>

Content Migration Notes

Your existing HTML files are preserved:

  • index.html (original - now replaced by index.md)
  • homepage.html
  • changenvmeformat.html
  • spdknvmeof.html
  • navigation.html

You can:

  1. Keep them as-is for direct access
  2. Delete them since content is now in blog posts
  3. Convert more to blog posts as needed

Troubleshooting

Site Not Building

  1. Check GitHub repository Settings → Pages
  2. Ensure source is set to “Deploy from branch: main”
  3. Check the Actions tab for build errors
  4. Verify _config.yml has valid YAML syntax

Posts Not Showing

  1. Filename must be YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
  2. Date must not be in the future
  3. Front matter must have layout: post
  4. File must be in _posts/ directory

Styling Issues

  1. Clear browser cache
  2. Check _layouts/default.html for CSS
  3. Verify no syntax errors in HTML

Useful Commands

# Local development
bundle exec jekyll serve

# Build site locally
bundle exec jekyll build

# Update dependencies
bundle update

# Check for errors
bundle exec jekyll doctor

Resources

Support

For questions or issues:

  • Review HOWTO-ADD-POSTS.md for posting guide
  • Check README.md for project overview
  • Email: darren@soothill.com

Success Checklist

  • ✅ Jekyll configuration created
  • ✅ Blog layouts implemented
  • ✅ Three example posts created
  • ✅ Navigation system added
  • ✅ SEO optimization complete
  • ✅ About page created
  • ✅ Documentation written
  • ✅ Ready to deploy!

Next: Deploy to GitHub!

git add .
git commit -m "Set up Jekyll blog system"
git push origin main

Then visit your GitHub Pages URL in 2-5 minutes to see your new blog! 🚀

Congratulations! Your site is now a fully functional Jekyll-powered blog that makes it easy to add new technical articles and guides dynamically.

© 2025 Darren Soothill