jekyll-minimal-theme

jekyll-minimal-theme is a minimal Jekyll static site generator theme for blog posts with an archive and Atom feed, designed as a ready-to-fork template pack on GitHub.

What is jekyll-minimal-theme?

jekyll-minimal-theme is a minimal Jekyll static site generator theme that takes Markdown blog posts and SCSS styles and produces a static HTML site with an index, archive, individual post pages, and an Atom feed. It runs on Jekyll, the Ruby-based static site generator, and is published by Henrythemes on GitHub with a live demo at henrythemes.github.io/jekyll-minimal-theme.

Key Features

• Minimal layout set — Includes _layouts/default.html and _layouts/post.html, plus index.html, archive.html, and feed.xml for an Atom feed.
• SCSS styling with variables — All colors and fonts are defined in css/_settings.scss, covering masthead, post title, link, body, heading, blockquote, pre, and table colors, plus font-family for body and code.
• Blog-post filename convention — Posts in _posts/ follow the YEAR-MONTH-DAY-TITLE.MARKUP format; with permalink: /:title.html, each post becomes a clean .html file at the site root.
• Public domain license — The theme and its scripts are dedicated to the public domain, with no restrictions on use.
• Easy configuration — Site title, URL, and author name are set in _config.yml, and sample posts can be deleted to start fresh.
• Static output — The Jekyll build produces a _site folder containing the generated HTML pages and a compiled css/style.css.

Who is it for?

• Bloggers starting with Jekyll — Fork the repo, delete the sample posts in _posts/, and publish their own posts with a minimal design.
• Developers who want a public-domain starter theme — They can modify the SCSS variables and layout templates without licensing concerns.
• Jekyll users who need an archive and feed — The template ships with archive.html and feed.xml out of the box, covering two common blog needs.

What can you do with it?

• Personal blogs: Create a no-frills blog by editing _config.yml for your title and URL and adding posts in Markdown.
• Jekyll learning projects: Study how a minimal theme fits together — _layouts, _posts, css/_settings.scss, and the _site output.
• Rapid prototyping: Use the theme as a base to build a custom Jekyll site with permalinks like /:title.html.

How does it work?

1. Fork or download the repository.
2. Delete the sample posts in _posts/ and change site.title, site.url, and author settings in _config.yml.
3. Run Jekyll to generate the _site folder (for example, jekyll build or jekyll serve).
4. The build outputs index.html, archive.html, feed.xml, individual post pages, and css/style.css.

Pricing

Free — the theme is dedicated to the public domain, so there is no cost or licensing restriction.

Alternatives

• Poole — by Mark Otto, the theme that jekyll-minimal-theme started from for typography and color settings.
• Pixyll — by John Otander, uses Merriweather and PT Serif fonts for the body and Lato for headings across multiple SCSS files.
• Hikari — by Mathieu Mayer-Mazzoli, uses Open Sans for body and Lora for variants across its Sass components.

FAQ

How do I set up jekyll-minimal-theme?

Fork or download the repository, delete the sample posts in _posts/, update title, url, and author in _config.yml, then run Jekyll to generate your site. The _site folder will contain the built HTML pages.

Is jekyll-minimal-theme free to use?

Yes. The theme and its scripts are dedicated to the public domain, meaning you can use them without restrictions and without paying licensing fees.

What pages and templates are included?

The template includes index.html for the blog index, archive.html for post archives, feed.xml for an Atom feed, and two layouts: default.html and post.html. It also includes css/style.scss with a _settings.scss variables file.

Can I change the typography and colors?

Yes. All color and font variables are defined in css/_settings.scss. You can edit the font stacks for body and code, plus masthead, post title, link, heading, blockquote, and table colors.

What is the post filename convention?

Posts live in _posts/ and must use the YEAR-MONTH-DAY-TITLE.MARKUP format. With permalink: /:title.html in the config, each post is generated as a clean .html file at the site root.