Jekyll-IndieWeb

Jekyll-IndieWeb is a Jekyll theme that gives people without a web presence a quick start to publishing on the IndieWeb, including support for Micropub posts. It is a formal Jekyll theme (distributed as a gem) with a companion starter repository called Steal This Repo, and it runs on the Ruby-based Jekyll static site generator with Gulp as its build tool.

What is Jekyll-IndieWeb?

Jekyll-IndieWeb is a Jekyll theme designed to get a new site owner up and running with the basics of the IndieWeb. It takes a standard Jekyll site structure and outputs a static website that supports IndieWeb protocols and conventions. The project is maintained by miklb and evolved from an earlier quick-start repository into a theme with a companion demo site for testing and customization.

Key Features

• Micropub support — Initial support for Micropub posts was added in version 0.2, letting you publish to your site from IndieWeb clients.
• PostCSS compilation — All CSS lives as plain CSS in assets/css/_inc and is compiled via PostCSS for browser compatibility; you never edit the generated assets/css/main.css directly.
• Gulp build tasks — The Gulpfile provides build and watch tasks: build generates the _site directory, and watch rebuilds on CSS or Jekyll file changes, replacing the need to run bundle exec jekyll serve.
• Theme gem distribution — Version 2.0.0 beta is released as a theme gem, so you can install it as a dependency and override files in your own site.
• Companion starter repo — The Steal This Repo repository gives you a forkable starting point that benefits from theme improvements.
• Modern CSS approach — CSS targets 2019 browsers, with PostCSS backfilling compatibility, keeping the styling dependency-light.

Who is it for?

• People new to the IndieWeb — They can get a personal site with IndieWeb basics quickly without deep technical knowledge.
• Jekyll users — Developers who want an IndieWeb-ready theme can install the gem and customize it.
• Event organizers — The theme was designed to allow overriding main.css in individual response sites for event-specific customizations.

What can you do with Jekyll-IndieWeb?

• Start a personal IndieWeb site — Set up a blog or homepage that follows IndieWeb conventions without building everything yourself.
• Publish via Micropub — Use IndieWeb clients to post content to your Jekyll site (initial support in 0.2).
• Customize the look — Override the compiled CSS by editing files in _inc or by providing your own main.css in your site.

How does it work?

Install the theme by cloning the repository or using it as a gem, then run bundle install and npm i to install Jekyll and Gulp dependencies. Use gulp watch during development; it watches assets/css/_inc and Jekyll files and rebuilds automatically. For production, run gulp build to generate the _site directory.

Pricing

Jekyll-IndieWeb is open-source and free to use. The license file points to the Jekyll license, which is MIT.

FAQ

Is Jekyll-IndieWeb a standalone site?

No, it is a Jekyll theme, not a standalone site. You need a Jekyll site to apply it to, or you can fork the companion Steal This Repo starter repository.

Do I need to edit compiled CSS?

No. All source CSS lives in the assets/css/_inc directory and is compiled by PostCSS into assets/css/main.css. Make your changes in _inc and commit all files when submitting a pull request.

What does the Gulp watch task do?

It watches both the assets/css/_inc directory for CSS changes and Jekyll file changes, then rebuilds the appropriate files. It replaces the need to run bundle exec jekyll serve.