Better Gem Support (v6.5)

27 Jul 2017 in Blog

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/v8.4.0.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; }