Start by making modifications to Gemfile as desired.

Then enter a special environment designed just for running bundler:

nix-shell -A bundler

From here you can run various commands:

# rewrite Gemfile.lock, applying any changes to Gemfile
bundle lock

# update gems to latest versions
bundle update

# update just one gem
bundle update some-gem

Notes:

• The only platform in Gemfile.lock should be “ruby”. Remove the others if they show up.
• After any changes, make sure to remove the hash from our_gemset.nix before running nix-shell again.

Setting up a Linux system with Nix

1. You will need a functional Linux-like system. MacOS should work fine, but I have not tried. If you are using Windows, I recommend WSL.
2. Install nix:
   • On relatively recent Linux versions, run sudo apt install nix-bin to get a recent enough version of nix.
   • Otherwise, follow the official installation instructions.
3. Verify that nix --version gives at least version 2.18.

Cloning the repository

1. Follow instructions on GitHub to create a new repository. Do not initialize it with any files such as a README.
2. Clone the repository.
3. From your repository, pull in this template:

    git remote add simple-pages git@github.com:pdg137/simple-pages.git
    git pull simple-pages master
   

Running the server

1. Run nix-shell. It should download a bunch of stuff and then give you a prompt after a few minutes.
2. Run ./server. The server will be available at http://localhost:4000/
3. WSL users: you will need to run a browser in WSL (e.g. chromium http://localhost:4000/) or else forward port 4000 to the Windows system.

Publishing your pages

1. Run git push to update your pages on GitHub.
2. In your project settings on GitHub, find the section for Pages, and set it to “master branch”.
3. Find that section again and follow the link to your new site.

Making changes

1. Edit files as desired.
2. Run the server to preview them. (Note that it auto-updates as you edit.)
3. Run git commit -a, check what appears, write a commit message, save, and exit.
4. Run git push.
5. After a minute, GitHub pages should be showing the updated pages.

Basic instructions for GitHub pages are here.

1. Learn how to use a good text editor. Good choices:
   • Atom
   • Notepad++
   • Emacs (advanced)
2. Download and install Git for Windows.
3. Download and run the latest Ruby+Devkit from Ruby Installer.
4. Download a copy of the simple-pages repository and rename it to your own project’s name.
5. In the project folder, run update.bat. This will take a few minutes to download and build various Ruby packages from the Internet.
6. Run server.bat.

A browser tab should open with a preview of your new site! Next you can customize your site with _config.yml and index.md and start writing posts.