Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme

Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme is a minimal, bold, responsive blogging theme for Jekyll, created by Hossain Mohd. Faysal, that turns a plain Jekyll site into a mobile-friendly blog with circular navigation, large feature images, Disqus comments, and built-in social sharing tags, all distributed under the GNU GPL v2 license.

What is Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme?

Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme is a free and open-source Jekyll theme based on the Minimal Mistakes design by Michael Rose. It accepts Jekyll posts written in Markdown with YAML front matter and outputs a static HTML site with a bold, minimal look. The theme was built for the author's own blog at theevilgenius.tk and is maintained on GitHub.

The theme requires Jekyll and uses kramdown for Markdown processing. It includes a Grunt build script for theme development, supports Pygments, Coderay, and Highlight.js for code syntax highlighting, and works with Internet Explorer 9 and all modern browsers.

Key Features

• Responsive circular navigation — Uses CSS3 transforms to provide a navigation menu that adapts to mobile devices.
• Responsive layout — Looks correct on mobile, tablet, and desktop viewports without extra configuration.
• Large feature images — Posts can declare an image in YAML front matter to showcase favorite content.
• Disqus comments — Enable comments per post by setting the disqus_shortname in _config.yml.
• Read-time calculation — Uses the read-time.rb plugin to estimate reading time based on word count.
• Social sharing tags — Adds Open Graph and Twitter Cards meta tags automatically for better social sharing.
• Simple search — Overlays search results based on post titles using the simpleJekyllSearch.js plugin.
• Sitemap and 404 page — Includes a custom 404 page and a sitemap for search engines.
• Font choices — Uses Electrolize and Abel from Adobe Edgefont for readable typography.
• Build tools — Comes with a Gruntfile and LESS source files for easy customization.

Who is it for?

Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme is for bloggers who want a bold, minimal design without writing a theme from scratch. Developers building a new Jekyll site can fork the repository, edit _config.yml, and publish immediately. Designers can use the LESS files and Grunt build process to alter the styling efficiently.

What can you do with it?

• Personal bloggers: Publish posts with large feature images, and the theme automatically computes read time and adds social sharing cards.
• Jekyll developers: Use the Grunt build script and LESS source to compile and theme, then submit changes back via GitHub issues.
• Self-hosted site owners: Set up Disqus comments, enable search, and get a custom 404 page without extra plugins.

How does Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme work?

To start a new site, install Jekyll, fork the repository on GitHub, clone it locally, then edit _config.yml to set your title, description, owner information, social links, and navigation. Add posts in _posts with the required YAML front matter. For an existing Jekyll site, copy the _includes, _layouts, plugins, assets, and images folders, plus key files like index.html, about.md, categories.html, and tags.html, and merge the config variables.

Pricing

Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme is free and open source, released under the GNU General Public License version 2. You can use it on your site without attribution, though the author appreciates a shoutout on Twitter to @hmfaysal.

FAQ

Is Jekyll HMFAYSAL Theme free?

Yes, the theme is distributed under GPL v2, so it is free to use, modify, and redistribute. There are no paid tiers or license fees.

What browsers are supported?

The theme is compatible with Internet Explorer 9 and all modern browsers. It degrades gracefully in older browsers, so content remains readable though some visual effects may be simplified.

How do I enable comments?

Set the disqus_shortname variable in _config.yml to your Disqus site shortname. Individual posts can override this by setting comments: true in their front matter.

Does the theme include search?

Yes, a simple search overlay is included, powered by simpleJekyllSearch.js. It filters post titles and displays results over the page.

Can I customize the theme?

Yes, the theme includes LESS source files in assets/less and a Grunt build script. You can also edit the HTML in _includes and _layouts. Under GPL v2, you are free to modify and reuse it.