MyBlog

MyBlog is a Jekyll-powered blog theme forked from LessOrMore, designed specifically for taking Markdown notes rather than publishing traditional blog posts.

What is MyBlog?

MyBlog is a Jekyll blog theme that repurposes Jekyll Collections as note repositories, allowing images to sit alongside Markdown files in the same folder — something the standard _posts directory cannot do. The theme runs on Jekyll and GitHub Pages and is maintained by GitHub user marquistj13. It takes collections defined in menu_config.yml and Markdown notes placed in corresponding folders, then renders them as navigable blog pages.

The theme was adapted from LessOrMore, but its configuration differs from the original: instead of editing the root _config.yml, users edit template_config.yml and menu_config.yml inside the _config_with_python folder, then run buildMenu.py to regenerate site navigation.

Key Features

• Collection-based notes — notes live in Jekyll Collections (e.g., ReadingNotes, ScholarThings), so each note's images can be stored in the same directory as the Markdown file.
• Python menu builder — buildMenu.py reads menu_config.yml and generates header dropdown menus, requiring PyYAML and jinja2.
• Bilingual menus — menu_config.yml supports both Chinese and English names for each menu item, as in 阅读笔记 / ReadingNotes.
• Subfolder indexing — the theme auto-generates index listings for subfolders inside each collection, based on URL paths and Liquid's url_decode filter.
• Local preview — jekyll serve -w -b "" provides live preview during note writing; Ubuntu and Windows run scripts are included.
• Search, comments, and analytics — an update adds Google site search, Disqus comments, and visitor counting to the theme.
• Standard Jekyll features — pagination, sitemap, and jemoji are supported via a sample Gemfile.

Who should use MyBlog?

MyBlog suits Jekyll users who want a self-hosted knowledge base or notebook on GitHub Pages, especially those who frequently include images in notes and find _posts image handling limiting. It is also for developers comfortable editing YAML and running Python scripts.

Students and researchers can organize reading notes into separate collections; technical bloggers can use subfolders to group notes by topic; command-line users who don't mind running buildMenu.py after each config change will find the workflow straightforward.

What can you do with MyBlog?

• Researchers: keep literature notes in a ReadingNotes collection, with figures stored directly beside each note's Markdown file.
• Learners: create topic-specific collections like ScholarThings and use dropdown menus to switch between subjects.
• Bloggers: migrate an existing Jekyll blog to Collections to work around the _posts image insertion limitation.

How does MyBlog work?

After cloning the repository, edit template_config.yml for blog metadata and menu_config.yml for navigation menus inside _config_with_python, then run buildMenu.py to regenerate the data files and serve the site with jekyll serve. Steps:

1. Clone the repo from https://github.com/marquistj13/MyBlog.
2. Edit template_config.yml (set baseurl to your project name) and menu_config.yml (define menu items and collection folders).
3. Run python3 buildMenu.py (requires PyYAML and jinja2).
4. Start jekyll serve --port 4000 --incremental for local preview, or push to GitHub Pages.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Supports images inside note folders, a key advantage over _posts.
• Menu structure is data-driven via YAML, making it easy to add new sections.
• Local preview with incremental builds speeds up writing.

Cons:

• Subfolder names containing Chinese characters appear as ASCII codes in generated indexes when the Liquid version doesn't support url_decode.
• The author states the template is not polished and has rough edges, being built mainly for personal use.

Alternatives

• LessOrMore — the original Jekyll theme from which MyBlog is forked, offering conventional blog features without the Collection-based note-taking approach.

FAQ

How do I configure the blog metadata?

Edit template_config.yml in the _config_with_python folder. The baseurl should match your GitHub project name, or be empty if using a *.github.io repository.

What Python libraries does buildMenu.py need?

It depends on PyYAML and jinja2. If you use Anaconda, you can create an environment with conda -n myblog python=3.6 PyYAML jinja2.

Why do my Chinese folder names show as ASCII codes in the index?

The automatic subfolder index extracts names from URLs and decodes them with Liquid's url_decode filter, which is only available in newer Liquid versions. On older versions, the raw ASCII-encoded URL is displayed.

Do I need to run buildMenu.py every time I change the menu?

Yes. Any edit to template_config.yml or menu_config.yml must be followed by running buildMenu.py so the navigation menus are regenerated before serving the site.

Can I preview the blog locally before pushing changes?

Yes, if Jekyll is installed locally, run jekyll serve -w -b "" to preview with live reload. The repository includes example scripts for Ubuntu and Windows.