How to Set Up the Mediumish Jekyll Theme on GitHub Pages

Why Choose the Mediumish Theme for Your GitHub Pages Blog

If you’re searching for a clean, responsive, and professional-looking theme to host your blog or portfolio using GitHub Pages, the Mediumish Jekyll theme is one of the best starting points. It mimics the aesthetic of Medium.com but allows full ownership and control of your content.

Benefits of the Mediumish Theme

• Responsive Design: Works perfectly on mobile, tablet, and desktop.
• Modern Aesthetic: Ideal for personal blogging, storytelling, or writing-focused portfolios.
• SEO-Friendly Structure: Well-organized HTML output suitable for indexing by search engines.
• Easy Setup: Fully compatible with GitHub Pages and Jekyll default configuration.

How to Fork and Clone the Mediumish Theme Repository

The fastest way to get started is by forking the official Mediumish Jekyll repository and cloning it to your machine. This preserves the directory structure and keeps you updated with the latest theme versions.

Steps to Get the Repository

1. Go to the Mediumish Jekyll GitHub repository (search: "wowthemesnet/mediumish-theme-jekyll").
2. Click on Fork to create a copy under your own GitHub account.
3. Open your terminal and clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/mediumish-theme-jekyll.git

4. Change into the project directory:

cd mediumish-theme-jekyll

Configuring the Site on Your Local Machine

Before deploying, you should configure and test the theme locally. This helps ensure your content, links, and layout work properly.

Install Jekyll and Dependencies

Make sure Ruby and Bundler are installed on your machine. Then, install the required gems:

bundle install

Start the Local Development Server

bundle exec jekyll serve

This will launch your site at http://localhost:4000. Open it in your browser to see the default layout.

Customizing the Theme for Your Personal Brand

The Mediumish theme comes with default content. You’ll want to make it your own by customizing several key files.

Key Configuration Files

• _config.yml: Site-wide settings such as title, URL, social links, Google Analytics, and more.
• _data/settings.yml: Controls many elements like logo, hero title, intro paragraphs, etc.
• _posts/: Where your blog content lives, using the Markdown format.

Editing _config.yml

Update the title, description, and base URL for your blog:

title: My Tech Blog
description: Thoughts on code, development, and more.
url: "https://yourusername.github.io"
baseurl: ""

Customizing Home Page Elements

Edit _data/settings.yml to change your name, homepage tagline, or even disable certain sections:

author:
  name: Jane Doe
  bio: Full-stack developer and open-source contributor.
  email: janedoe@example.com

Deploying the Mediumish Theme to GitHub Pages

Once your customization is complete, it’s time to publish your site online using GitHub Pages.

Push Your Changes to GitHub

git add .
git commit -m "Customize Mediumish theme"
git push origin main

Enable GitHub Pages

Go to the Settings tab in your repository, scroll down to the Pages section, and select the branch (usually main) and root directory. Click Save.

Your blog will be live at: https://yourusername.github.io

Adding New Blog Posts with Markdown

Posts in Jekyll use Markdown and live inside the _posts folder. Each post file must follow the naming convention YYYY-MM-DD-title.md.

Example Post Structure

---
layout: post
title: "How I Learned Git"
author: janedoe
categories: [development, git]
description: "A personal journey into mastering Git for version control."
---
Your blog content goes here.

Optimizing Your Mediumish Site for SEO

Even though the theme is SEO-friendly by default, there are still best practices you should follow to boost visibility.

SEO Tips for Mediumish Users

• Write descriptive meta tags in each post’s front matter.
• Use descriptive permalinks with meaningful keywords.
• Ensure every image uses an alt attribute.
• Submit your GitHub Pages blog to Google Search Console.

Using Google Analytics and Disqus with Mediumish

The Mediumish theme supports both Google Analytics and Disqus comments. You can enable them through _config.yml.

Google Analytics Example

google_analytics: UA-XXXXXXXXX-X

Disqus Integration

disqus_shortname: your-disqus-id

Common Pitfalls and How to Fix Them

New users often face configuration issues. Here are some common errors and their solutions:

Wrong Base URL

If your site doesn’t load styles or images, check your baseurl in _config.yml. If your repo is yourusername.github.io, leave baseurl as empty string.

Build Failures on GitHub Pages

Check GitHub Pages’ build log under the Actions tab. Make sure your theme does not use unsupported plugins. Mediumish uses safe plugins compatible with GitHub Pages.

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

The Mediumish theme offers a polished, no-fuss way to start blogging with Jekyll and GitHub Pages. By forking and customizing this theme, you get the best of both worlds: a beautiful site and full control over your content and hosting.

Where to Go From Here

• Add more posts using Markdown.
• Experiment with Jekyll collections or custom layouts.
• Link your site with a custom domain.
• Automate deployment with GitHub Actions.

Once you're comfortable with Mediumish, you can even develop your own custom theme from scratch — using what you've learned as a solid foundation.