Expanding my personal website from a one-page site to include a blog and portfolio has been a major undertaking. I work with code as a technical writer and STEM professional, but I do not bill myself as a coder or developer. Writing a Jekyll site’s architecture from the ground up has dramatically expanded my comprehension of website design, CSS/Sass, HTML, JavaScript, etc. Over the next series of posts, I want to share my experiences with fellow beginners who are frustrated or intimidated by the challenges modifying and coding a website.

Starter tip: Select a theme to act as a base template for later modifications.

My base theme was forked from Nathan Randecker’s particle theme which acts as my current site’s Homepage. I have completely rewritten the site’s root directory architecture, reconfigured the CSS and Sass relations, added new functionality and sections to the site, but the aesthetics of the original theme remain relatively untouched. This has allowed me to focus on creating a site which suits my needs without overwhelming myself by starting from scratch.

I recommend other beginners find a simple website theme then modify the root directory to resemble Jekyll’s Step-by-Step Tutorial as a starting point.

NOTE: Though this site is currently live, I am in the process of distilling any excess or repetitive code and making modifications to ensure nothing was lost between local testing and deployment.