Dev Portfolio Blog

dev-portfolio-blog is a minimal Jekyll theme distributed as a Ruby gem, designed to build a personal blog and portfolio site on GitHub Pages with configurable themes, analytics, comments, and category organization.

What is dev-portfolio-blog?

dev-portfolio-blog is a free, open-source Jekyll theme (MIT License) that turns a standard Jekyll site into a personal blog and portfolio. You supply markdown posts and YAML configuration; the theme generates a static HTML site with home, blog index, about, and categories pages. It targets Ruby 3.2 and Jekyll 4.4, works on GitHub Pages, and is maintained by rohitjain00.

Key Features

• Built-in theme variants — Choose between Default, Solarized, and Sepia themes, each available in light and dark modes, by setting the theme configuration in _config.yml.
• Google Analytics — Add your tracking ID under the google_analytics config key to enable visitor analytics; a placeholder value keeps analytics disabled.
• Disqus comments — Set disqus.shortname in _config.yml and opt in per post with a comments: true front matter flag to display comment threads.
• Blog categories — Add multiple categories to each post's YAML front matter and generate a /categories/ page with the provided categories layout.
• Emoji support — Posts written in markdown can include emoji characters directly, rendered in the output.
• Performance-focused — The README reports high PageSpeed scores for the demo site's home, blog, and about pages, with badges linked to Google PageSpeed Insights.
• Pagination and minification — Integrates with the jekyll-paginate-v2 and jekyll-minifier plugins; add the plugin and config to enable auto-pagination and HTML/CSS/JS minification.
• Docker development — A compose.yml file creates a consistent development environment with Ruby 3.2, Jekyll 4.4, and Node.js, so you can preview the site at http://localhost:4000 without installing dependencies locally.

Who is it for?

• Developers starting a personal blog — Use the theme to publish markdown posts with category organization, comments, and analytics in one setup.
• Professionals building a portfolio — Set the home layout with custom home_text and a resume URL to showcase your work and background.
• Jekyll beginners — Follow the detailed README instructions (layout YAML, Gemfile edits, page creation) to get a working site even without prior Jekyll experience.
• GitHub Pages users — Because it is a Jekyll theme, you can publish the generated site directly to GitHub Pages, and the demo repo shows how to use GitHub Actions to deploy the built _site folder.

What can you do with dev-portfolio-blog?

• Launch a blog quickly — Create _posts markdown files with yyyy-mm-dd-postname.md naming; the blog index shows each post's description or a 30-word plain-text excerpt.
• Customize the look — Switch between Default, Solarized, and Sepia themes in light or dark mode via configuration, with no code changes needed.
• Organize content with categories — Add a categories.md page with the categories layout to let readers search posts by topic from the YAML front matter.
• Set up a modern dev workflow — Use the provided Docker Compose setup to build and serve the site locally, or run one-off Jekyll commands inside the container for testing.

How does dev-portfolio-blog work?

Add gem "dev-portfolio-blog" to your Gemfile and set theme: dev-portfolio-blog in _config.yml, then run bundle install. Create the required pages (index.md, blog.md, about.md, categories.md) with the documented layouts and permalinks, then write posts as markdown in _posts. Jekyll builds the static site; optional plugins enable pagination and minification.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Free and open source under the MIT License.
• Multiple visual themes with light/dark mode built in.
• Works on GitHub Pages and includes a Docker-based development environment.
• Active demonstration site with high PageSpeed scores.

Cons:

• Limited to Jekyll; it cannot be used with other static site generators.
• Comments and analytics require external accounts (Disqus and Google) and manual configuration.

Pricing

Free — the theme is distributed as an open-source Ruby gem under the MIT License, with no tiers or paid plans.

Alternatives

• minima — the default Jekyll theme referenced in the README; it provides a simpler base without built-in theme switching or category pages.

FAQ

Is dev-portfolio-blog free?

Yes. The theme is open source and released under the MIT License, so you can use and modify it freely for personal or commercial projects.

How do I install dev-portfolio-blog?

Add gem "dev-portfolio-blog" to your Jekyll site's Gemfile, set theme: dev-portfolio-blog in _config.yml, and run bundle install. You can also fork the demo repository at https://github.com/rohitjain00/rohitjain00.github.io and update the files.

Does the theme support comments?

Yes, via Disqus. Configure disqus.shortname in _config.yml and add comments: true to a post's front matter. If disqus.shortname is left blank, comments are disabled.

How do I enable Google Analytics?

Set the google_analytics key in _config.yml to a real measurement ID. The dummy value G-XXXXXXXXXX keeps analytics disabled until you replace it.

What Ruby and Jekyll versions are required?

The project targets Ruby 3.2 and Jekyll 4.4. The Docker environment uses a ruby:3.2-bullseye image, and native setups should install Ruby 3.2, Bundler, and Node.js.