Eleventy Chirpy Blog Template screenshot

Eleventy Chirpy Blog Template

Author Avatar Theme by Muenzpraeger
Updated: 31 Jan 2022
73 Stars

Blog template for 11ty based on Chirpy UX

Overview:

The eleventy-chirpy-blog-template is a version of the popular Chirpy Jekyll blog theme that has been rebuilt using the 11ty framework. It offers a user-friendly interface and a range of features that make it suitable for personal blogs. The theme is optimized for performance, SEO, and accessibility. It also includes features such as responsive image optimization, syntax highlighting, and support for search functionality.

Features:

  • Lighthouse Performance: The theme scores high on Lighthouse performance metrics, ensuring fast loading times and an optimized user experience.
  • Dark Mode: Users can switch to a dark mode for better readability in low light conditions.
  • SEO and OpenGraph Optimization: The theme is optimized for search engines and social media sharing, allowing users to easily customize their metadata.
  • Responsive Images Optimization: Images are automatically optimized for different device sizes, reducing load times and improving performance.
  • Accessibility: The theme is designed with accessibility in mind, following best practices to ensure all users can access the content.
  • JavaScript and CSS Build Optimization: The JavaScript and CSS code is optimized for production builds, improving performance and reducing file sizes.
  • Syntax Highlighting: Code snippets are highlighted using Prism, making them easier to read and understand.
  • RSS, Sitemap, and JSON-LD: The theme includes support for generating RSS feeds, sitemap.xml, and JSON-LD, improving website visibility and search engine indexing.
  • Algolia Search: The theme supports Algolia Search, allowing users to incorporate powerful search functionality into their blogs.

Installation:

To install the eleventy-chirpy-blog-template, follow these steps:

  1. Clone this repository to your local machine.
  2. Change into the cloned directory.
  3. Install the dependencies. If you prefer npm over yarn, remove the yarn.lock file and run npm install instead.
  4. Start the local development process.
  5. Open the page, usually on http://localhost:8080, and explore the template.

Please note that this template relies on the NODE_ENV environment variable for build processes. For production builds, make sure to set the value to “production” to enable minification of CSS and JS.

If you want to improve build times, you can add the generated images to your git repository. The .gitignore file already contains a commented section for this purpose.

Before installing the dependencies, it is recommended to use Volta, a tool that simplifies the management of Node versions.

Summary:

The eleventy-chirpy-blog-template is a reimagining of the popular Chirpy Jekyll blog theme using the 11ty framework. It offers a range of features, including performance optimization, dark mode, SEO enhancements, responsive image optimization, accessibility features, build optimizations, syntax highlighting, support for RSS and other formats, and Algolia Search integration. The theme can be easily installed using the provided instructions, and it provides an opinionated setup with documentation and flexibility for customization.