Gem-based Themes
Beginning with version 3.2, Jekyll introduced a Gem-based theme system, which allows you to leverage community-maintained templates and styles to customize your site’s presentation. Jekyll themes package layouts, includes, and stylesheets in a way that can be overridden by your site’s content. It’s a great way to maintain a separation of content and code, and makes it possible to share themes across multiple sites.
Sites on the free developer plan can make use of the new GitHub Pages-approved Minima theme, while all paid plans (including legacy and Personal plans) can take full advantage of custom themes.
Installing themes
Installation may vary depending on the theme, but typically involves two steps.
1) Add to or create a Gemfile for your site, and reference your theme. For example, we’ve added the Minima theme here:
source 'https://rubygems.org'
gem 'jekyll'
gem 'minima'
2) Next, enable theme theme in your site’s _config.yml file:
theme: minima
You may need to follow additional instructions, so make sure to review the theme’s documentation.
To test your site locally, install and build your site using bundle exec:
$ bundle install
$ bundle exec jekyll serve
When previewing or publishing your site within Siteleaf, themes defined in your Gemfile will be automatically installed.
Installing themes from Git repositories
Themes are installed from RubyGems by default, but can also be installed from any public Git repository.
Here’s how to install Minima from GitHub:
gem 'minima', git: 'https://github.com/jekyll/minima.git'
You can use shortcuts for :github, :gist, and :bitbucket:
gem 'minima', github: 'jekyll/minima'
You can also specify a particular :ref, :branch, or :tag:
gem 'minima', github: 'jekyll/minima', tag: 'v1.2.0'
The Git repository must be publicly accessible for Siteleaf to access install your theme.
Using third-party themes with GitHub Pages
To use a theme other than Minima with GitHub Pages, make sure to choose the “Compiled by Siteleaf” format in your hosting settings. With this option, Siteleaf will pre-compile your site before pushing it to GitHub.