Create a Jekyll blog on GitHub Pages, using the Minimal-Mistakes Theme

github_pages_jekyll_minimal_mistakes.md

Creating a Jekyll blog on GitHub Pages with Minimal-Mistakes

Setup

First, create a new Jekyll site and corresponding GitHub Pages repository, then test it locally at http://localhost:4000:

$ gem install jekyll bundler
$ jekyll new <REPO>/
Running bundle install in /Users/<USER>/Development/GitHub/<REPO>... 
$ cd <REPO>/
$ bundle exec jekyll serve

Push the site to the GitHub Pages repository

$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit
$ git remote add origin git@github.com:<GITHUBUSER>/<REPO>.git
$ git push -u origin master

To use the Minimal-Mistakes theme, edit the Gemfile and _config.yml files:

diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 32de02c..ffe96ce 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 #
 # This will help ensure the proper Jekyll version is running.
 # Happy Jekylling!
-gem "jekyll", "~> 3.6.2"
+#gem "jekyll", "~> 3.6.2"
+gem "github-pages", group: :jekyll_plugins
+gem "jekyll-remote-theme"
 
 # This is the default theme for new Jekyll sites. You may change this to anything you like.
 gem "minima", "~> 2.0"
@@ -25,3 +27,5 @@ end
 # Windows does not include zoneinfo files, so bundle the tzinfo-data gem
 gem 'tzinfo-data', platforms: [:mingw, :mswin, :x64_mingw, :jruby]
 
+# Try the Minimal Mistakes theme
+gem "minimal-mistakes-jekyll"

diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index f91333e..6d8f5e4 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@ github_username:  jekyll
 
 # Build settings
 markdown: kramdown
-theme: minima
+theme: minimal-mistakes-jekyll
+remote_theme: "mmistakes/minimal-mistakes"
 plugins:
   - jekyll-feed
+  - jekyll-remote-theme
 
 # Exclude from processing.
 # The following items will not be processed, by default. Create a custom list

Update the Ruby bundle and test the site locally:

$ bundle update
$ bundle exec jekyll serve

Commit the changes, then push the site to the repository.