Tailpages is a Jekyll website template that pairs TailwindCSS styling with GitHub Pages free hosting, so users can publish a static site or blog directly from a GitHub repository.
What is Tailpages?
Tailpages is a Jekyll website template based on TailwindCSS, designed to be hosted for free on GitHub Pages. It takes Markdown content for static pages and blog posts and renders it into a minimalist static website with elegant typography. The project page links to a live demo at https://harrywang.me/ and to two tutorials, one for no-code setup and one for developers.
Key Features
Tailpages bundles styling, typography, and content tools into a single Jekyll setup.
- Minimalist design — Inspired by the Indigo template, with a clean layout focused on content.
- Elegant typography — Uses the TailwindCSS Typography plugin and the Inter font from rsms.me.
- Markdown authoring — Static pages and blog posts are written in Markdown and compiled by Jekyll into HTML.
- Code highlighting — Uses highlight.js for syntax highlighting, with a code example linked from the demo site.
- LaTeX support — Includes MathJax to render LaTeX math, demonstrated in the demo's LaTeX example.
- Table of contents — Uses the jekyll-toc plugin to generate a table of contents for posts.
- Free hosting — Since the output is a static Jekyll site, it can be served from GitHub Pages without hosting costs.
- Tutorials — A no-code tutorial and a technical tutorial explain how to set up the template; both are available on Medium and on the author's blog.
Who should use Tailpages?
Tailpages suits three main groups: non-coders, Jekyll developers, and technical writers.
- Non-coders — People who want a personal website or blog without writing code can follow the no-code tutorial to configure the template through GitHub's web interface.
- Jekyll developers — Developers can fork the repository and customize layouts, content, or TailwindCSS settings using the technical tutorial.
- Technical writers and academics — Authors who want to publish posts with code samples or LaTeX math benefit from the built-in highlight.js and MathJax integrations.
Use cases
The template's built-in features support three concrete publishing workflows.
- Publish a personal blog — Write posts in Markdown, let Jekyll generate the static site, and push it to GitHub Pages for free hosting.
- Create documentation sites — Use static pages with a generated table of contents to structure longer documentation.
- Share technical tutorials — Combine syntax-highlighted code blocks and LaTeX formulas in one post, which is useful for lecture notes or developer guides.
FAQ
Is Tailpages free to use?
Yes. Tailpages is designed to be hosted through GitHub Pages at no cost, and no pricing tier is mentioned on the project page.
Do I need to know how to code to use Tailpages?
No. The project includes a no-code tutorial that shows how to set up the website and blog without writing code. A separate technical tutorial is provided for people who want to set up the development environment from scratch.
What notations does Tailpages support?
Tailpages supports Markdown authoring, LaTeX math via MathJax, and syntax highlighting via highlight.js. It also uses jekyll-toc to generate a table of contents.
What is the Indigo template?
The Indigo template is a Jekyll theme by Sérgio Kopplin that inspired Tailpages' minimalist design. Tailpages lists this inspiration on its project page.
