What Can We Learn from Beginners Who Succeeded with Jekyll
Why Do Some Beginners Thrive with Jekyll While Others Quit?
Learning a new tool like Jekyll can feel like opening a complex machine. Some people peek inside, panic, and shut the lid. But others—often with no technical background—keep exploring until they figure it out.
What makes the difference? It's not intelligence or tech experience. It's mindset, strategy, and curiosity. In this article, we'll look at real stories from beginners who successfully built their first Jekyll blogs, and extract lessons that any newcomer can follow.
Case Study 1: The Designer Who Hated Code
Name: Mira
Background: Graphic designer, no coding skills
Goal: Portfolio site without WordPress
Her Approach
- Started with a prebuilt Jekyll theme (Chirpy)
- Edited text files on GitHub only — no local setup
- Googled every error and took notes
What She Learned
Mira said her biggest surprise was how little she needed to code. “At first I thought I had to learn Ruby, but all I did was change words in files. Once I realized that, I stopped being afraid.”
Lesson for You
Start with what works. Don’t build from scratch. Use themes that are already functional. The less you have to change, the faster you gain confidence.
Case Study 2: The Blogger Who Moved from WordPress
Name: Arman
Background: Travel writer
Goal: Faster-loading blog with full control
His Strategy
- Forked a Jekyll blog template from GitHub
- Used Markdown to write posts offline
- Added a search bar using a third-party script
What Went Wrong
“I broke my layout five times,” Arman admitted. “But GitHub saved me. I just reverted to the last commit.”
What Helped Him Continue
He joined a Jekyll subreddit where others helped fix small issues. “One tip saved my whole site. I realized I didn’t have to figure everything out alone.”
Lesson for You
Community matters. Join forums, Discords, or subreddits. Learning in public accelerates your growth.
Case Study 3: The Teacher Learning for a Side Project
Name: Rosa
Background: High school teacher
Goal: Classroom resources website
What She Did
- Learned Markdown first using Obsidian
- Practiced creating static pages locally before uploading
- Used collections for organizing subjects
What She Said
“I treated it like preparing a lesson plan. I didn’t try to ‘learn Jekyll’ — I just asked how to do one thing at a time.”
Lesson for You
Don’t aim to master the whole system. Focus on real use-cases: one feature, one function, one page at a time.
What Patterns Do These Beginners Share?
Despite their different goals and backgrounds, these beginners all share key habits that helped them push through confusion and frustration:
1. They Worked With Templates, Not from Scratch
Every story starts with a theme. They didn’t open a blank folder and try to invent Jekyll—they used what others built.
2. They Used GitHub Web Editor
None of them used local environments at first. GitHub’s “Edit this file” interface was enough for days or weeks of learning.
3. They Broke Things — and Recovered
They weren’t afraid to make mistakes. Because Git tracks everything, recovery was just a few clicks away.
4. They Asked for Help
Each person leaned on a community at some point. A quick reply from someone more experienced saved hours of struggle.
What Should You Do If You’re Still Hesitating?
You don’t need to “be ready.” You just need to start with a low-risk experiment. Here’s a 3-day beginner challenge you can follow.
Day 1: Fork and Launch
- Fork a Jekyll theme like Mediumish on GitHub
- Enable GitHub Pages in the repo settings
- Change the site title and description in
_config.yml
Day 2: Publish One Blog Post
- Create a new file in the
_postsfolder - Use Markdown to write a simple post
- Commit your changes and view it live
Day 3: Add a New Page
- Create
about.mdin the root directory - Use front matter to define layout and title
- Link it in your theme’s navigation
Three days. No coding degree. No installations. Just small wins that lead to a real, working website.
Conclusion
Jekyll isn’t just for developers. It’s for thinkers, creators, teachers, writers, and learners — especially those willing to tinker, break things, and figure them out one step at a time.
Final Advice from Real Beginners
- Mira: “You don’t have to know code. Just know where to click.”
- Arman: “Google the error message. Someone’s solved it already.”
- Rosa: “Make it about the project, not the tool.”
If you’ve been on the fence about trying Jekyll, know this: every confident user you see today was once a confused beginner. The only difference is—they started.