Post about Posting

Edit Feb 25, 2025:

the local version of bundle exec jekyll build creates your _site files with urls all using localhost.

to get it to build with the url specified in _config.yml run

JEKYLL_ENV="production" bundle exec jekyll build

THEN uploading the _site files to your server should work as expected. I hope. :)

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main jekyll documentation

In the home directory of my jekyll install (it’s in my Dropbox folder in a blog directory! instant lazy version control) there’s a _posts directory.

to creat a new posts, create a file YEAR-MONTH-DAY-title.MARKUP for example, this one is named 2024-07-23-post-about-posting.md

run bundle exec jekyll build to build the markdown file into the appropriate html files. You should see a new file appear in _site

run bundle exec jekyll serve to look at your new post locally

Once you’re happy with how the post looks, it’s time to get it off local and up to the real web.

In my case, this means that I put it in filehosting on Fastmail.

From the main Fastmail interface, I click on the File hosting area (in the chooser in the upper left where I can also choose between Calendar and Contacts etc.)

I upload the _site subfolder of my jekyll install, the output of all the build data.

To add a new post and make sure the RSS feed and the tags and everything work, I’m going to do the dumbest thing possible: replace the _site folder on Fastmail with a new copy that contains the new version of the blog.

fun parts:

• that broke the website part of fastmail immediately
• once the files all uploaded and fastmail knew they were there, I could go into the Websites area of the Files interface, and Edit the blog website and rechoose the new _site folder.
• the fastmail interface doesn’t like this! you have to swap the radio button under Publish as to Redirect and then back to Website to get it to let you choose the folder correctly!
• after re-saving the same folder in place, the blog is back up with new content

OK the dumb way was very dumb, and took my site down for a bit. It also uploads too many files instead I could

1. upload any year folders that have changed, in this case just the 2024 folder
2. upload ALL the page folders (where things sit in the pagination has just changed)
3. upload index.html, feed.xml, and sitemap.xml

this seems to work. it is tedious, but not impossible.

to simply update a post (like this one) I should be able to:

1. upload the current year folder (2024)
2. upload index.html, feed.xml, and sitemap.xml

I should be able to skip the pages folders because which posts appear on which one hasn’t changed. Though if the post is not on the first page, I may wish to upload them to make sure I get the new version of the post excerpt on the page view.