Updating Ye Olde Jekyll
I have not experienced the dreaded slow build times reported by other Jekyll users perhaps because I have not yet surpassed “critical mass” on posts.
However with so many shiny new static site generators (SSGs) out in the wild, it never hurts to take a another look.
Alternatives to Jekyll
Gatsby.js
- Written in React and uses shiny new GraphQL API.
- Able to migrate existing posts from Jekyll, WordPress and more.
- Comes with the usual learning curve caveats.
- Resolves slow build time issue for large sites.
- Great documentation.
- Loads of plugins.
Hugo
- Written in Go, aka Golang.
- Billed as “the fastest tool of its kind.”
- Publish in Markdown, using Go templates.
- Ships with Disqus, but can be modified to use other commenting systems.
Pelican
- Written in Python.
- Publish in Markdown or reStructuredText.
- Templates (themes) via Jinja2.
- Import content from WordPress, RSS.
- Also ships with Disqus and able to be customized.
Hexo
- Written in nodeJS.
- Publish in Markdown.
- Fast build time.
- Powerful CLI.
Middleman
- SSG “using all the shortcuts and tools in modern web development.”
- Ruby gem uses Rails middleware as a standalone framework.
- Highly customizable.
- Publish in ERb & Haml for dynamic content.
- More for Web marketing and documentation than blogging.
Finally I must mention for historical fact:
Octopress
- A collection of plugins and features built into Jekyll.
- Excellent for inspiration in tinkering with your own Jekyll sites.
- No longer maintained. 💀
If and when my day of build time reckoning comes, I will take the opportunity to plunge into Hugo just to learn a bit of Go!
There are tons of blog posts out there regarding this topic, including:
- Blog post on Gatsby to Jekyll migration
- Another blogger migrating from Jekyll to Gatsby
- Old but relevant article about how Smashing Magazine migrated from WordPress to shiny new JAMstack