Better Gem Support (v6.5)

27 Jul 2017 in Hydejack

Hydejack v6.5 includes various quality-of-life improvements, especially when using the gem-based version of the theme.

This maintenance release includes various quality-of-life improvements, especially when using the gem-based version of the theme. These changes come in handy when using Hydejack for a quick (project-) page: The home layout, which is used when using jekyll new, is now a proper layout that displays a few posts/pages below the regular content, and it is again possible to define an author in _config.yml without setting up a _data directory (for more, see blow).

Version 6.5 also includes smaller design adjustments. Most notably, the default font is now Noto Sans. With the benefit of hindsight, using a serif font in combination with the slab headings feels more like a bug in the design than anything else. However, should you be happy with Noto Serif (the previous default font), there is no need to worry — this only effects the default setting.

For the full patch notes, read on.

Patch Notes

Added

Hydejack now uses additional Jekyll plugins by default, which make working with GitHub more convenient. They have been added to the Gemfile and _config.yml. Note that existing users need to update their _config.yml:

gems:
  - jekyll-default-layout # new
  - jekyll-feed
  - jekyll-optional-front-matter # new
  - jekyll-paginate
  - jekyll-redirect-from
  - jekyll-relative-links # new
  - jekyll-sitemap

Added licenses folder that includes the full license texts of licenses mentioned in NOTICE.md.

You can, once again, define the author in _config.yml. Using _data/authors.yml is still recommended (and takes precedence), but this option is more convenient when setting up a quick (project-) page using the gem-based theme. Also, a mini-version of _data/social.yml can be provided as part _config.yml, e.g.:

author:
  social:
    github: https://github.com/qwtel/hydejack
    npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/hydejack
    download: https://github.com/qwtel/hydejack/archive/v8.1.1.zip

data_social:
  github:
    name: GitHub
    icon: icon-github
  npm:
    name: npm
    icon: icon-npm
  download:
    name: Download
    icon: icon-box-add

A download icon has been added to the default icon font and _data/social.yml has been updated.
Added _includes/my-scripts.html, _sass/my-inline.scss and _sass/my-style.scss to make it easier to add custom scripts and styles without modifying the source. This is especially handy when using the gem-based version of the theme.

Changed

Loading web fonts now starts earlier and content download no longer blocks swapping out the fallback font for the new font. Previously, a page containing lots of images could have delayed displaying the web fonts significantly.
The home layout no longer contains a message suggesting that you don’t use it.
The home layout now shows up to 5 blog posts and up to 5 pages blow the regular content.
The version history has been moved from docs/<version>/versions.md to CHANGELOG.md.
The license notices have been moved from docs/<version>/licenses.md to NOTICE.md.
Updated gem and npm dependencies

Design

The default font has been changed from “Noto Serif” to “Noto Sans”. If you have a font entry in _config.yml, this will have no effect.
nap.jpg is no longer used as default background image in the gem-based theme.
The sidebar content width is now limited to the width of the sidebar (this only effects large screens).
Project cards and pagination buttons now have slightly rounded borders for a less “rigid” look.

How to restore the old styles

If you would like to use the old font, add the following to _config.yml:

font_heading: "'Roboto Slab', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"
font:         "'Noto Serif', Georgia, serif"
google_fonts: "Roboto+Slab:700|Noto+Serif:400,400i,700,700i"

If you were relying on the default setting for the background image, add the following to _config.yml:

image: /hydejack/assets/img/nap.jpg

Note that you have to replace /hydejack with your baseurl.

To restore the old sidebar, open (or create) _sass/my-inline.scss and add the following:

@media screen { .sidebar-sticky { left: 2rem; max-width: none; } }

To remove the border radius, open (or create) _sass/my-inline.scss and add the following:

.card, .pagination-item { border-radius: 0!important; }