How to create a site with Github Pages (in ArchLinux) - Definitive and Simple Guide

Hello, today I will explain how to make a site on GitHub Pages easily in Archlinux.

NOTE: this article will be updated if the procedure changes.

First, you need Ruby. Install it with:

sudo pacman -Syu ruby gcc make git

Then you need Bundler. Install it after you have insalled Ruby.

gem install bundler

Creating a repository

Now, go to GitHub.

1. In the upper-right corner of any page of GitHub, use the + drop-down menu, and select New repository.

1. Type a name for your repository and an optional description. The username must match <username>.github.io, and are allowed only lowercase letters.

Creating the site

1. Open a terminal (QTerminal, Konsole, Gnome Terminal, etc.)

2. You need to make a local copy of your repository.

   $ mkdir <username>.github.io
   

3. Enter the folder.

   $ cd THE-FOLDER-YOU-CREATED
   

4. Launch the command:

   $ git init
   # Initialize the repository
   

5. The site can be published in the master branch, but personally, it is better to use the gh-pages branch. So, let’s create and checkout the gh-pages branch.

   $ git checkout --orphan gh-pages
   

6. Now, install Jekyll. Unfortunately, Jekyll, if installed from “gem”, will not run on ArchLinux. Thus, we will install it from the AUR.

7. After we installed Jekyll, we must create a new Jekyll site with the command:

   $ jekyll new --skip-bundle .
   

8. Open the Gemfile that Jekyll created.

9. Add “#” to the beginning of the line that starts with gem "jekyll" to comment out this line.

10. Add the github-pages gem by editing the line starting with # gem "github-pages". Change this line to:

    gem "github-pages", "~> 228", group :jekyll_plugins
    

11. Save and close the Gemfile.

12. from the command line, run

    bundle install
    

13. Optionally, make any necessary edits to the _config.yml file. This is required for relative paths when the repository is hosted in a subdirectory.

    domain: my-site.github.io - # if you want to force HTTPS, specify the domain without the http at the start, e.g. example.com
    url: https://my-site.github.io - # the base hostname and protocol for your site, e.g. http://example.com`
    baseurl: /REPOSITORY-NAME/ - # place folder name if the site is served in a subfolder
    

14. Add and commit your work.

    $ git add .
    $ git commit -m "Initial GitHub Pages site with Jekyll"
    

15. Add your repository on GitHub.com as a remote, replacing USER with the account that owns the repository and REPOSITORY with the name of the repository.

    $ git remote add origin git@github.com:USER/REPOSITORY.git
    

16. Push the repository to GitHub.

    $ git push -u origin gh-pages
    

Completed! Your site is now at https://<username>.github.io. See you soon for the guide on how to set up a theme for Jekyll. Bye!