How I Made This Blog with Jekyll

Hi! Welcome to my blog. If you’re reading this, it means I actually shipped it.

My first post here was just a markdown test — Markdown Goes Brrrrr — to make sure headings, code blocks, and tables render correctly. This is my first real post: why I made this blog and how.

Why I wanted a blog

I love writing, so I wanted a personal space to talk about anything, from tech to personal life. No algorithm, no likes, just my own little corner on the internet.

I also wanted a place where I can write badly at first and get better over time.

Why Jekyll?

I picked Jekyll because:

It’s just markdown. I write in _posts/, push, and done.
It’s free. Hosted on GitHub Pages with a custom domain.
No database, no CMS. Just static files I fully control.

My stack is pretty simple:

jekyll for the site
jekyll-tailwindcss for styling
jekyll-seo-tag and jekyll-paginate for SEO and pagination

How I built it in an afternoon

Created a new Jekyll site and added the Gemfile dependencies:

bundle install
bundle exec jekyll serve

Set up _config.yml with my title, pagination, and permalinks:

title: cyrls's blog
paginate: 10
permalink: /:title/
show_excerpts: true

Made custom layouts in _layouts/ — default, home, post, and profile for my about page.
Added posts in _posts/ using the format YYYY-MM-DD-title.md.
Deployed to GitHub Pages and pointed my custom domain to it with a CNAME file:

blog.gemasatriatama.web.id

That was it. Visit, refresh, blog online.

One problem I hit

Ruby dependencies. Classic.

My fix was boring but works: delete Gemfile.lock, run bundle install again, and make sure I’m using the same Ruby version locally and in GitHub Actions. If jekyll serve fails, 90% of the time it’s a gem version issue.

What’s next?

Honestly, just writing more. I want to post about:

my dev setup and tools I actually use
small things I’m learning
personal life stuff

No strict schedule. Just write when I have something to say.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love, Peace, and Gawl
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