Jekyll Vision Casper Theme is an open-source Jekyll blog theme that adapts the Ghost Casper design to static site generation, currently in a work-in-progress state with a live demo.
What is Jekyll Vision Casper Theme?
Jekyll Vision Casper Theme is a Jekyll-based blog theme inspired by the Casper theme from the Ghost publishing platform. It takes blog content written in Markdown and uses Jekyll to generate a static HTML site, giving users a minimal, reading-focused design. The theme is maintained by hugocarreira and is openly available on GitHub, but it is explicitly marked as work in progress. Its TODO list shows that a logo, navbar, and menu are still to be added.
Key Features
- Casper-inspired design — The theme reinterprets the clean, typography-first layout of Ghost's Casper theme for Jekyll sites.
- Jekyll static generation — Content is authored in Markdown and compiled to static HTML files by Jekyll, with no server-side dynamic processing.
- Live demo — A working preview is hosted at https://hugocarreira.github.io/jekyll-vision-casper-theme, so you can see the current look and behavior.
- Open-source code — The repository is public on GitHub, has 8 stars, and is free to use, modify, and contribute to.
- Explicit development status — The project is labeled work in progress, with a public TODO list covering missing logo, navbar, and menu components.
Who should use it?
- Jekyll bloggers — People already running Jekyll who want a Casper-like alternative to the default Minima theme.
- Ghost users migrating to Jekyll — Writers familiar with Casper's look who want that same aesthetic on a simpler static site stack.
- Theme tinkerers — Developers who enjoy customizing Jekyll themes and may complete the missing logo, navbar, and menu to make it production-ready.
What can you do with it?
- Publish a personal blog — Write posts in Markdown and generate a static blog using Jekyll and this theme.
- Study a Casper port — Examine the Liquid templates and styling to see how the Ghost theme is adapted for Jekyll.
- Fork and complete it — Because the theme is open source and incomplete, you can fork the repository and add the planned navigation elements.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Free and open source.
- Uses Jekyll, a mature static site generator.
- Live demo available to see the design.
Cons:
- Work in progress; logo, navbar, and menu are not implemented.
- Limited documentation and minimal features beyond the basic Casper look.
Alternatives
- Casper — The original Ghost theme that this project adapts.
- Minima — Jekyll's default theme, which is simpler and more complete out of the box.
FAQ
Is Jekyll Vision Casper Theme free?
Yes, the theme is open source and freely available on GitHub. You can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of its open-source license.
What is the current status of the theme?
It is a work in progress. The README's TODO list includes adding a logo, a navbar, and a menu, so the theme is not yet feature-complete.
Does the theme include navigation?
Not yet. The TODO list explicitly mentions that the navbar and menu are still to be built. The current version mainly provides the basic layout and styling from the Casper design.
What blog posts can I write with this theme?
The theme works with any Jekyll blog posts, since it processes Markdown files. You can publish standard Jekyll posts with front matter, and they will be rendered in the Casper-style layout.
