How do I configure GitHub to use non-supported Jekyll site plugins?

Question

I just created a great gallery for my Jekyll blog which builds perfectly on my localhost:4000. However, GitHub pages doesn't support the Jekyll Gallery Generator plug-in I am using: https://github.com/ggreer/jekyll-gallery-generator

I read about the alternative method of hosting Jekyll on a traditional host using FTP (uploading the _site directory) http://jekyllrb.com/docs/deployment-methods/ However, rather than reconfigure my entire site and hosting, It would be great if GitHub Pages could be used somehow even though I'm using a non-supported plugin.

What is a workaround for this?

score 48 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 31 '15 at 15:49

48

Depending if you deal with a User/Organization (UO) site or a Project site (P), do :

from your working folder git init
git remote add origin git@github.com:userName/userName.github.io.git (UO) or git remote add origin git@github.com:userName/repositoryName.git (P)
jekyll new . creates your code base
in _config.yml, set the baseurl parameter to baseurl: '' (UO) or baseurl: '/repositoryName' (P)
in .gitignore add _site, it will be versioned in the other branch
jekyll build will create the destination folder and build site.
git checkout -b sources (UO) or git checkout master (P)
git add -A
git commit -m "jekyll base sources" commit your source code
git push origin sources (UO) or git push origin master (P) push your sources in the appropriate branch
cd _site
touch .nojekyll, this file tells gh-pages that there is no need to build
git init init the repository
git remote add origin git@github.com:userName/userName.github.io.git (UO) or git remote add origin git@github.com:userName/repositoryName.git (P)
git checkout master (UO) or git checkout -b gh-pages (P) put this repository on the appropriate branch
git add -A
git commit -m "jekyll first build" commit your site code
git push origin master (UO) or git push origin gh-pages (P)

You now have something like Octopress does. Look at their rake file, there are some nice comments inside.

edited Jan 31 '15 at 15:49

aaron-coding

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answered Jan 31 '15 at 13:37

David Jacquel

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Thanks David, great answer! My site is now running the gallery with the workflow you described: http://raisingthelittleone.com/ I do want to mention, however, that if you are using a custom domain (such as I am) even the Project Pages baseurl stays as a blank string. – aaron-coding Jan 31 '15 at 15:23
Thanks David. It's an amazing step forward in life. Baby.create!(name: "Luna") =D – aaron-coding Feb 03 '15 at 08:29
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this is a great detailed answer. but in step 15, case **UO**, you don't actually have to `git checkout master` since you'll be automatically this branch – yaitloutou Jan 25 '17 at 19:06
if you have this setup, how do you keep the master sync with sources folder? – Yakalent Apr 12 '18 at 01:19
are you using two .gitignores here? one for each branch? – Harry Moreno Aug 24 '19 at 04:44
@HarryMoreno one .gitignore for me. – David Jacquel Aug 24 '19 at 06:13
THANK YOU, you saved my day! – Florent F Mar 29 '21 at 15:02

Abdul Rauf · Answer 2 · 2018-07-21T09:24:41.027

Better way is to configure Travis to automate deployment of jekyll with non-supported plugins. Follow Travis getting started guide to enable Travis for your repo.

Create script/cibuild with the following content

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e # halt script on error

bundle exec jekyll build
touch ./_site/.nojekyll # this file tells gh-pages that there is no need to build

Create .travis.yml with the following content (modify as required)

language: ruby
rvm:
- 2.3.3

before_script:
 - chmod +x ./script/cibuild # or do this locally and commit

# Assume bundler is being used, therefore
# the `install` step will run `bundle install` by default.
script: ./script/cibuild

# branch whitelist, only for GitHub Pages
branches:
  only:
  - master

env:
  global:
  - NOKOGIRI_USE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES=true # speeds up installation of html-proofer

sudo: false # route your build to the container-based infrastructure for a faster build

deploy:
  provider: pages
  skip_cleanup: true
  keep-history: true
  local_dir: _site/  # deploy this directory containing final build
  github_token: $GITHUB_API_KEY # Set in travis-ci.org dashboard
  on:
    branch: master

Deployment steps (after every push):

Build will be created using our custom script script/cibuild in _site directory
_site will be pushed to gh-pages branch.
github pages will serve site as it is without building it again (because of .nojekyll file)

Reference: My repository https://github.com/armujahid/armujahid.me/ is using this method for continuous integration using Travis CI

How do I configure GitHub to use non-supported Jekyll site plugins?

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