Creating a blog using Jekyll, Github Pages, and AcademicPages

Why did I choose Jekyll?

I have seen a couple good Jekyll personal websites and blogs, and I like the simplicity and elegance of the design. I also like how there are templates that I can use to get started quickly. I also like how I can write my posts in Markdown, which is a lot easier than writing HTML.

How did I choose a template?

I looked up “Jekyll personal website” on YouTube and I found a video by Boris Meinardus, who used the AcademicPages template. I fell in love with the design and decided to use it for my website.

How did I set up my website?

I followed the instructions on the AcademicPages GitHub page. I forked the repository, renamed it to zzuo123.github.io, and enabled GitHub Pages. I then followed the instructions to customize my website. I also followed the instructions to set up a blog.

How did I write my first blog post?

I followed the instructions on the AcademicPages GitHub page. I created a new file in the _posts folder and named it 2023-12-18-blog-post1.md. I then copied the template from the AcademicPages GitHub page and edited it to create my first blog post.

Some problems that I have encountered and yet to solve

1. I didn’t really get local development to work. I tried to follow the instructions on the AcademicPages GitHub page, and use the bundle exec jekyll liveserve command to run the website locally. However, despite successfully installing all dependencies, Jekyll seem to only recognize the url specified in “_config.yml” but not “_config.dev.yml”, causing the website to not render properly.
   • Update: I got local development to work by running bundle exec jekyll s instead of bundle exec jekyll liveserve.
2. There are several subpages that I don’t need, such as “Talks” and “Teaching”. I tried to delete them, but the website doesn’t render properly after I deleted them.
3. I don’t know how to add a favicon to my website. I tried to follow the instructions on the AcademicPages GitHub page, but it didn’t work.
4. I am also not sure how to add images to blog posts.
   • Update: I figured out how to add images to blog posts. I just need to put the image in the “images/blog_images” folder and use the following code to add the image to the blog post: ![image description](/images/blog_images/image_name.png)
5. I am not sure how to add a table of contents to blog posts.