---
title: Getting Started
author:
  name: Cotes Chung
  link: https://github.com/cotes2020
date: 2019-08-09 20:55:00 +0800
categories: [Blogging, Tutorial]
tags: [getting started]
pin: true
---

## Prerequisites

Follow the instructions in the [Jekyll Docs](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/installation/) to complete the installation of `Ruby`, `RubyGems`, `Jekyll`, and `Bundler`. In addition, [Git](https://git-scm.com/) is also required to be installed.

## Installation

### Creating a New Site

There are two ways to create a new repository for this theme:

- [**Using the Chirpy Starter**](#option-1-using-the-chirpy-starter) - Easy to upgrade, isolates irrelevant project files so you can focus on writing.
- [**Forking on GitHub**](#option-2-forking-on-github) - Convenient for custom development, but difficult to upgrade. Unless you are familiar with Jekyll and are determined to tweak or contribute to this project, this approach is not recommended.

#### Option 1. Using the Chirpy Starter

Create a new repository from the [**Chirpy Starter**][use-starter] and name it `<GH_USERNAME>.github.io`, where `GH_USERNAME` represents your GitHub username.

#### Option 2. Forking on GitHub

[Fork **Chirpy**](https://github.com/cotes2020/jekyll-theme-chirpy/fork) on GitHub and rename it to `<GH_USERNAME>.github.io`. Please note that the default branch code is in development.  If you want the site to be stable, please switch to the [latest tag][latest-tag] and start writing.

And then execute:

```console
$ bash tools/init.sh
```

> If you don't want to deploy your site on GitHub Pages, append option `--no-gh` at the end of the above command.
{: .prompt-note }

The above command will:

1. Removes some files or directories from your repository:
    - `.travis.yml`{: .filepath}
    - files under `_posts`{: .filepath}

2. If the option `--no-gh` is provided, the directory `.github`{: .filepath} will be deleted. Otherwise, set up the GitHub Action workflow by removing the extension `.hook`{: .filepath} of `.github/workflows/pages-deploy.yml.hook`{: .filepath}, and then remove the other files and directories in the folder `.github`{: .filepath}.

3. Removes item `Gemfile.lock` from `.gitignore`{: .filepath}.

4. Creates a new commit to save the changes automatically.

### Installing Dependencies

Before running for the first time, go to the root directory of your site, and install dependencies as follows:

```console
$ bundle
```

## Usage

### Configuration

Update the variables of `_config.yml`{: .filepath} as needed. Some of them are typical options:

- `url`
- `avatar`
- `timezone`
- `lang`

### Customing Stylesheet

If you need to customize the stylesheet, copy the theme's `assets/css/style.scss`{: .filepath} to the same path on your Jekyll site, and then add the custom style at the end of the style file.

Starting from [`v4.1.0`][chirpy-4.1.0], if you want to overwrite the SASS variables defined in `_sass/addon/variables.scss`{: .filepath}, create a new file `_sass/variables-hook.scss`{: .filepath} and assign new values to the target variable in it.

### Customing Static Assets

By default, the source of the static assets is defined by file `_data/assets/cross_origin.yml`{: .filepath }, and you can replace some of these CDNs according to the network conditions in the region where your website is published.

Also, if you want to self-host the static assets, please refer to the [_chirpy-static-assets_](https://github.com/cotes2020/chirpy-static-assets#readme).

### Running Local Server

You may want to preview the site contents before publishing, so just run it by:

```console
$ bundle exec jekyll s
```

Or run the site on Docker with the following command:

```console
$ docker run -it --rm \
    --volume="$PWD:/srv/jekyll" \
    -p 4000:4000 jekyll/jekyll \
    jekyll serve
```

After a while, the local service will be published at _<http://127.0.0.1:4000>_.

## Deployment

Before the deployment begins, check out the file `_config.yml`{: .filepath} and make sure the `url` is configured correctly. Furthermore, if you prefer the [**project site**](https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/about-github-pages#types-of-github-pages-sites) and don't use a custom domain, or you want to visit your website with a base URL on a web server other than **GitHub Pages**, remember to change the `baseurl` to your project name that starts with a slash, e.g, `/project-name`.

Now you can choose ONE of the following methods to deploy your Jekyll site.

### Deploy by Using Github Actions

For security reasons, GitHub Pages build runs on `safe` mode, which restricts us from using plugins to generate additional page files. Therefore, we can use **GitHub Actions** to build the site, store the built site files on a new branch, and use that branch as the source of the GitHub Pages service.

Quickly check the files needed for GitHub Actions build:

- Ensure your Jekyll site has the file `.github/workflows/pages-deploy.yml`{: .filepath}. Otherwise, create a new one and fill in the contents of the [sample file][workflow], and the value of the `on.push.branches` should be the same as your repo's default branch name.

- Ensure your Jekyll site has file `tools/deploy.sh`{: .filepath}. Otherwise, copy it from here to your Jekyll site.

- Furthermore, if you have committed `Gemfile.lock`{: .filepath} to the repo, and your runtime system is not Linux, don't forget to update the platform list in the lock file:

  ```console
  $ bundle lock --add-platform x86_64-linux
  ```

After the above steps, rename your repository to `<GH_USERNAME>.github.io` on GitHub.

Now publish your Jekyll site by:

1. Push any commit to remote to trigger the GitHub Actions workflow. Once the build is complete and successful, a new remote branch named `gh-pages` will appear to store the built site files.

2. Browse to your repository on GitHub. Select the tab _Settings_, then click _Pages_ in the left navigation bar, and then in the section **Source** of _GitHub Pages_, select the `/(root)` directory of branch `gh-pages` as the [publishing source][pages-src]. Remember to click <kbd>Save</kbd> before leaving.

    ![gh-pages-sources](/posts/20190809/gh-pages-sources.png){: width="1580" height="250" }

3. Visit your website at the address indicated by GitHub.

### Manually Build and Deploy

On self-hosted servers, you cannot enjoy the convenience of **GitHub Actions**. Therefore, you should build the site on your local machine and then upload the site files to the server.

Go to the root of the source project, and build your site as follows:

```console
$ JEKYLL_ENV=production bundle exec jekyll b
```

Or build the site on Docker:

```console
$ docker run -it --rm \
    --env JEKYLL_ENV=production \
    --volume="$PWD:/srv/jekyll" \
    jekyll/jekyll \
    jekyll build
```

Unless you specified the output path, the generated site files will be placed in folder `_site`{: .filepath} of the project's root directory. Now you should upload those files to the target server.

## Upgrading

It depends on how you use the theme:

- If you are using the theme gem (there will be `gem "jekyll-theme-chirpy"` in the `Gemfile`{: .filepath}), editing the `Gemfile`{: .filepath} and update the version number of the theme gem, for example:

  ```diff
  - gem "jekyll-theme-chirpy", "~> 3.2", ">= 3.2.1"
  + gem "jekyll-theme-chirpy", "~> 3.3", ">= 3.3.0"
  ```
  {: .nolineno file="Gemfile" }

  And then execute the following command:

  ```console
  $ bundle update jekyll-theme-chirpy
  ```

  As the version upgrades, the critical files (for details, see the [Startup Template][starter]) and configuration options will change. Please refer to the [Upgrade Guide](https://github.com/cotes2020/jekyll-theme-chirpy/wiki/Upgrade-Guide) to keep your repo's files in sync with the latest version of the theme.

- If you forked from the source project (there will be `gemspec` in the `Gemfile`{: .filepath} of your site), then merge the [latest upstream tags][latest-tag] into your Jekyll site to complete the upgrade.
The merge is likely to conflict with your local modifications. Please be patient and careful to resolve these conflicts.

[starter]: https://github.com/cotes2020/chirpy-starter
[use-starter]: https://github.com/cotes2020/chirpy-starter/generate
[workflow]: https://github.com/cotes2020/jekyll-theme-chirpy/blob/master/.github/workflows/pages-deploy.yml.hook
[chirpy-4.1.0]: https://github.com/cotes2020/jekyll-theme-chirpy/releases/tag/v4.1.0
[pages-src]: https://docs.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/configuring-a-publishing-source-for-your-github-pages-site
[latest-tag]: https://github.com/cotes2020/jekyll-theme-chirpy/tags