Jekyll Xixia is a free, open-source Jekyll theme that builds a clean, mobile-friendly blog on Bootstrap, with a collapsible navbar and a modular sidebar. Created by developer zxixia and hosted on GitHub, it is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, allowing commercial use with attribution.
What is Jekyll Xixia?
Jekyll Xixia is a Jekyll theme designed for personal blogs and simple static websites. It takes standard Jekyll content and renders it with a Bootstrap-based layout that includes a sidebar and responsive navigation. The theme is intentionally modular, making it easy to swap or extend components. It was created by zxixia and is available on GitHub with a live demo and an example blog.
Key Features
- Bootstrap-based layout — Uses Bootstrap for its grid and UI components, providing a familiar responsive foundation (not to be confused with the older jekyll-bootstrap project).
- Mobile-friendly navigation — Includes a collapsible navbar; on phones the sidebar is hidden, but its links remain accessible through the nav menu.
- Modular sidebar — The sidebar contains a links pane, and any additional sections you add behave the same way, appearing in the mobile nav menu automatically.
- Easy to modify — The theme is built around component and element reuse, so you can adjust styles and structure without digging through tangled code.
- Open-source contributions — Pull requests are encouraged and accepted, and contributors are advised to periodically merge upstream changes to stay current.
Who should use Jekyll Xixia?
- Personal bloggers — Publish a clean blog with a sidebar and responsive design that works on all devices.
- Jekyll developers — Use the theme as a learning resource or a starting point for custom Jekyll projects, thanks to its modular architecture.
- Static site owners — Deploy a simple site on GitHub Pages or any Jekyll-compatible host without paying for a premium theme.
What can you do with Jekyll Xixia?
- Set up a blog quickly: Clone the repository, add your posts, and run Jekyll to get a live site with a professional look.
- Customize the sidebar: Add new sections to the sidebar and they'll automatically become accessible on mobile through the navbar.
- Learn Jekyll theming: Study how the theme reuses components and elements to understand Jekyll's templating model.
License
Jekyll Xixia is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This means you can use, remix, and build upon it commercially as long as you credit the original theme and provide a link back to the GitHub repository.
Alternatives
- Jekyll Clean Theme — Another Bootstrap-based Jekyll theme that inspired Jekyll Xixia, also available on GitHub.
Pricing
Jekyll Xixia is free to download and use. There are no paid tiers; the theme is open source under a permissive CC BY 4.0 license.
FAQ
Is Jekyll Xixia free?
Yes, Jekyll Xixia is free to download from GitHub and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. You can use it even for commercial projects, as long as you attribute the original creator.
Does Jekyll Xixia work on mobile?
Yes. The theme uses a collapsible navbar and hides the sidebar on smaller screens. Sidebar links are still available through the nav menu, and any additional sidebar sections appear there as well.
Can I modify Jekyll Xixia?
Absolutely. The theme is designed to be easy to modify, with a modular structure that reuses components. The README explicitly encourages pull requests and recommends merging upstream changes to keep your fork up to date.
