Moving

Moving is a clean and minimalist theme for Jekyll, the Ruby-based static site generator, designed to put the focus on pure and efficient writing. It turns a standard Jekyll site into a streamlined blog with a customizable about page, flexible date formatting, and a one-line deployment path to GitHub Pages.

What is Moving?

Moving is a Jekyll theme developed by huangyz0918 that converts a Jekyll project into a minimal blog interface. It takes your _config.yml data and Markdown posts as input and outputs static HTML pages with a clean typographic layout. The theme is open source under the MIT License and can be installed either by cloning the repository or by adding the moving gem to an existing Jekyll site.

Key Features

• Minimalist design — A clean layout with no sidebar or visual clutter, making the written content the main focus.
• GitHub Pages ready — Replace theme: moving with remote_theme: huangyz0918/moving to publish directly to GitHub Pages without extra plugins.
• Single-file configuration — All settings live in _config.yml: title, author, email, description, favicon, and whether excerpts show on the homepage.
• Custom avatar and about page — The moving.avatar_url setting displays a profile picture, and moving.about_you holds a short bio.
• Flexible date formatting — Use moving.date_format with any Liquid date filter, such as %b %d, to control how posts display dates.
• Customizable back button — Each post includes a back-to-home button whose label is set by moving.back_to.
• Local development — Run bundle install followed by jekyll serve to preview the site at http://localhost:4000.
• Simple gem integration — Add gem "moving" to your Gemfile and set theme: moving to apply the theme to a pre-existing Jekyll site.

Who is it for?

• Personal bloggers who want an elegant, distraction-free layout for long-form writing.
• Writers and journalists who value a clean typographic reading experience.
• Developers using Jekyll who need a lightweight theme that integrates with their existing setup in two lines of configuration.
• GitHub Pages users who want to publish a personal blog or portfolio for free by changing one line in _config.yml.

What can you do with Moving?

• Launch a new blog quickly by cloning the repository, editing _config.yml with your own details, and running jekyll serve.
• Convert an existing Jekyll site to Moving by adding the gem and updating the theme line in your configuration.
• Publish on GitHub Pages for free by using the remote_theme setting and pushing your code to a GitHub repository.
• Customize the reading experience by toggling show_excerpts, changing the back button text, and setting a custom date format.

How does Moving work?

Moving works like any standard Jekyll theme. Install it via gem or clone, then edit _config.yml with your site metadata and the moving block for avatar, about text, date format, and back button. Running jekyll serve builds the site locally; switching to remote_theme in the config is the only change needed to deploy to GitHub Pages. Theme files live in _layouts, _includes, _sass, and assets.

Pricing

Moving is free to use under the MIT License, allowing commercial and personal projects without any licensing cost.

FAQ

Is Moving free?

Yes, Moving is released under the MIT License, so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely in both personal and commercial projects without paying a fee.

How do I install Moving?

For a new blog, clone the repository from GitHub, run bundle install, then start a local server with jekyll serve. For an existing Jekyll site, add gem "moving" to your Gemfile, set theme: moving in _config.yml, and run bundle.

How do I deploy Moving to GitHub Pages?

In _config.yml, change the theme to remote_theme: huangyz0918/moving. Push your repository to GitHub, and Pages will build the site automatically. For local testing, keep theme: moving.

Can I change the back button text and date format?

Yes. Set moving.back_to to change the back button label on each post. Use moving.date_format with a Liquid date format like %b %d to customize how post dates appear on the homepage.