Overview
Back in 2020, I was searching for a way to have a digital “home base” that would be aesthetically attractive, easy to update, and minimize the annoying parts of coding a responsive modern webpage. That’s when I found GitHub Pages site and I’ve been an enthusiastic advocate ever since.
This project is a great way to get hands-on experience with version control, github workflows, DNS configuration, SEO and basically get skin-in-the-game towards managing your online presence… for free!
Online resources were super helpful in some respects but I also found myself scraping together a wealth of information sources in order to correctly configure my local development environment, my publishing workflow over multiple environments, as well as learning how to make the Jekyll theme configurability work for my purposes. Over time, I curated and created this supporting documentation:
- Project page describes the “What, Why, How” of this deliverable and its related competencies
- Tutorial Series: Build a free, pretty, SEO friendly digital hub with GitHub pages
Audience
- Professionals and academics looking to establish their online presence
- Students who want to start building their portfolio early
- Career-switchers documenting their learning journey
- Hobbyists sharing their projects and insights
- Anyone interested in learning to build a website, regardless of their current professional status
Description
This modern static website serves as my digital portfolio and knowledge-sharing hub. The site leverages GitHub Pages (free hosting, automated eploymets, Jekyll (a Ruby-based static site generator), layout customization from Minimal Mistakes theme, and resolves to a custom domain. The outcome? Building (1) a sustainable platform for sharing technical insights and project work, (2) a habit of semi-regular content updates, and (3) inspiring me to continue personal brand development in my communities.
Project Highlights
- Built a static website using Jekyll and GitHub Pages, prioritizing performance, security, and ease of maintenance
- Created a responsive design using the Minimal Mistakes theme, ensuring optimal viewing experience across all devices
- Established a streamlined content management workflow using Markdown and git-based version control
- Configured custom domain setup with HTTPS security, ensuring a professional and secure web presence
- Created an intuitive information architecture to showcase portfolio projects and blog content effectively
Core Skills
- Domain Knowledge: Static Site Architecture, Web hosting concepts, DNS management
- Software Workflows: Local development environment setup, Version control, Deployment automation
- Project Management: Project documentation, Resource optimization, Technical decision making and planning
- Communication & Design: Content organization, Technical writing, Information Architecture design, UI/UX considerations
Tools & Technologies
- Static Site Generator: Jekyll for efficient site generation and content management
- Hosting & Deployment: GitHub Pages for free hosting and deployment automation
- Version control: Git for repository management, development branches
- Content Layout: Minimal Mistakes theme for easy content organization, customization and maintenance (Markdown, HTML/CSS, JS)
- Custom Domain Configuration: Squarespace now manages Google Domains, configure accordingly
Learn More:
GitHub Repository | Explore App :)