5 ms·

Show HN: A no-nonsense Jekyll theme for sensible blogging

57 points by amitmerchant 7y ago

JoelMcCracken 7y ago
Maybe this will get some downvotes, but I don't get why this is on HN. There are plenty of Jekyll themes out there, does this one stand out in some way? It is quite elegant though!
- bdcravens 7y ago
  > does this one stand out in some way Maybe that's what the bullet points under "Features overview" are for :-)
  - JoelMcCracken 7y ago
    Yes, and I read it, but none of it struck me as being remarkable :-) Please don't misunderstand, I do not intend to knock the project in any way, it seems excellent, just similar to others that already exist.
- keithnz 7y ago
  I agree, this doesn't seem like it really belongs on HN, it's a very generic theme with a bad font choice that was chosen based on the font being used on pixar.com?!? . Maybe if this was a theme that had something interesting based on research or some interesting theory behind it, then yeah, it would be of interest on HN.
arendtio 7y ago
Immediate first impression: I don't like the font. So I took a closer look at it and I think the gray is too bright and the font itself... Well, it isn't too bad, but I wouldn't consider it elegant nor readable. Apart from the font, I like the clean look and minimal layout. I hope this feedback helps to improve the theme for future versions ;-)
- nthnclrk 7y ago
  +1 on this. Something easier to read, and—to match the posts description—elegant would make this a much more attractive theme. Not that it's hard to swap it out for anyone who likes the theme otherwise, but worth considering changing since first impressions will influence downloads/usage.
- popeshoe 7y ago
  I was going to post the same thing, I bet it looks great on a retina mac screen, but on my windows machine with a monitor too big for 1080p, something about it feels off. Otherwise I think it looks great though, nice job!
- burtonator 7y ago
  color is off too... the grey is too light and hard to read.
- gloflo 7y ago
  The font is about 200% too big on my phone. It managed to display just about 15 lines and does not allow zooming out...
- WorldMaker 7y ago
  It's another case of a designer using a Light font weight (designed for large headings and posters) for body text instead of a Book weight which is actually designed by the font designer for body text usage. Font weight spectrums exist for a reason and the current trend of "all text should be Light weight" is just quite frustrating. Worse, in trying to get some of the designer's own guidelines on the font's usage (designers generally are good about letting you know what they think their font is useful for), I find it is clearly a commercial font that doesn't have an open license, so this GitHub repository shouldn't even be distributing it. https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/futura-book/ https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/futura-book/
- sergiomattei 7y ago
  Yep, font is awful.
- 7y ago
futureastronaut 7y ago
OP, please add curated to the project description. I only sensibly blog with curated themes.
cookingoils 7y ago
Why? It’s so easy to make a Jekyll site / theme from scratch.
- bdcravens 7y ago
  Looks like the author put some work in ("...a fork of jekyll-now with some additional features and personal touches which I've implemented to suit my needs for my blog") and they thought others may find it useful. Sometimes that's how open source works; every project doesn't have to be a category-defining framework.
jboynyc 7y ago
Nicely done! In case people are visiting the discussion looking for more no-nonsense Jekyll theme recommendations, I recently came across this beautiful collection that seems to fit the bill: https://mademistakes.com/work/jekyll-themes/ https://mademistakes.com/work/jekyll-themes/
gloflo 7y ago
- Google Analytics integration Built-in spying on users and exposing them to a more or less hostile third-party is worse than nonsense. - A home widget to show recent GitHub commit That is total nonsense for sensible blogging. ;p
sytelus 7y ago
There are way too many issues with design: - Grey reduces contrast for black forecolors, not good for long comfortable reading - Font are too squeezed for comfortable reading - lines sprouting out from heading are unnecessarily distracting - Default always-ON scroll bars are truly ugly
robenkleene 7y ago
I also have my own a simple Jekyll theme here focused on using open-source typography: https://github.com/robenkleene/cyclist https://github.com/robenkleene/cyclist
pembrook 7y ago
As much as I hate kowtowing to google, if you want people to actually find what you write on your blog, you have to worry about implementing proper meta/open graph tags, structured data, dynamic site map, and even AMP support. I have yet to find a good static site generator theme that actually implements all of the above...and it’s a major PITA to have to implement every time.
- smessina 7y ago
  Hey! This is my kind of thing. Curious what you've tried and why it hasn't worked for you? Especially regarding AMP support: is that a necessary feature for SEO-driven blogging these days?
Raed667 7y ago
First thought: The footer moves up the page when the content isn't long enough. It should be sticky.
srndh 7y ago
Something is making it slow.

57 points by amitmerchant 7y ago

Maybe this will get some downvotes, but I don't get why this is on HN. There are plenty of Jekyll themes out there, does this one stand out in some way? It is quite elegant though!

bdcravens 7y ago
> does this one stand out in some way Maybe that's what the bullet points under "Features overview" are for :-)
- JoelMcCracken 7y ago
  Yes, and I read it, but none of it struck me as being remarkable :-) Please don't misunderstand, I do not intend to knock the project in any way, it seems excellent, just similar to others that already exist.
keithnz 7y ago
I agree, this doesn't seem like it really belongs on HN, it's a very generic theme with a bad font choice that was chosen based on the font being used on pixar.com?!? . Maybe if this was a theme that had something interesting based on research or some interesting theory behind it, then yeah, it would be of interest on HN.

arendtio 7y ago

Immediate first impression: I don't like the font. So I took a closer look at it and I think the gray is too bright and the font itself... Well, it isn't too bad, but I wouldn't consider it elegant nor readable. Apart from the font, I like the clean look and minimal layout. I hope this feedback helps to improve the theme for future versions ;-)

nthnclrk 7y ago
+1 on this. Something easier to read, and—to match the posts description—elegant would make this a much more attractive theme. Not that it's hard to swap it out for anyone who likes the theme otherwise, but worth considering changing since first impressions will influence downloads/usage.
popeshoe 7y ago
I was going to post the same thing, I bet it looks great on a retina mac screen, but on my windows machine with a monitor too big for 1080p, something about it feels off. Otherwise I think it looks great though, nice job!
burtonator 7y ago
color is off too... the grey is too light and hard to read.
gloflo 7y ago
The font is about 200% too big on my phone. It managed to display just about 15 lines and does not allow zooming out...
WorldMaker 7y ago
It's another case of a designer using a Light font weight (designed for large headings and posters) for body text instead of a Book weight which is actually designed by the font designer for body text usage. Font weight spectrums exist for a reason and the current trend of "all text should be Light weight" is just quite frustrating. Worse, in trying to get some of the designer's own guidelines on the font's usage (designers generally are good about letting you know what they think their font is useful for), I find it is clearly a commercial font that doesn't have an open license, so this GitHub repository shouldn't even be distributing it. https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/futura-book/ https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/futura-book/
sergiomattei 7y ago
Yep, font is awful.
7y ago

futureastronaut 7y ago

OP, please add curated to the project description. I only sensibly blog with curated themes.

cookingoils 7y ago

Why? It’s so easy to make a Jekyll site / theme from scratch.

bdcravens 7y ago
Looks like the author put some work in ("...a fork of jekyll-now with some additional features and personal touches which I've implemented to suit my needs for my blog") and they thought others may find it useful. Sometimes that's how open source works; every project doesn't have to be a category-defining framework.

jboynyc 7y ago

Nicely done! In case people are visiting the discussion looking for more no-nonsense Jekyll theme recommendations, I recently came across this beautiful collection that seems to fit the bill: https://mademistakes.com/work/jekyll-themes/ https://mademistakes.com/work/jekyll-themes/

gloflo 7y ago

- Google Analytics integration Built-in spying on users and exposing them to a more or less hostile third-party is worse than nonsense. - A home widget to show recent GitHub commit That is total nonsense for sensible blogging. ;p

sytelus 7y ago

There are way too many issues with design: - Grey reduces contrast for black forecolors, not good for long comfortable reading - Font are too squeezed for comfortable reading - lines sprouting out from heading are unnecessarily distracting - Default always-ON scroll bars are truly ugly

robenkleene 7y ago

I also have my own a simple Jekyll theme here focused on using open-source typography: https://github.com/robenkleene/cyclist https://github.com/robenkleene/cyclist

pembrook 7y ago

As much as I hate kowtowing to google, if you want people to actually find what you write on your blog, you have to worry about implementing proper meta/open graph tags, structured data, dynamic site map, and even AMP support. I have yet to find a good static site generator theme that actually implements all of the above...and it’s a major PITA to have to implement every time.

smessina 7y ago
Hey! This is my kind of thing. Curious what you've tried and why it hasn't worked for you? Especially regarding AMP support: is that a necessary feature for SEO-driven blogging these days?

Raed667 7y ago

First thought: The footer moves up the page when the content isn't long enough. It should be sticky.

srndh 7y ago

Something is making it slow.