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What’s the Easiest Way to Start a Blog Using GitHub and Jekyll Without Coding Skills

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Can You Really Start a Blog with GitHub If You're Not a Developer?

Yes, you absolutely can. While GitHub and Jekyll are often associated with software engineers and programmers, non-coders can also use them to create and run beautiful, fast, and free blogs. The key is knowing which steps matter, which can be skipped, and how to approach everything without getting overwhelmed.

Why Even Use GitHub Pages Instead of WordPress or Blogger?

If you're wondering why you should use GitHub at all, here are a few compelling reasons:

  • Zero cost: GitHub Pages is completely free, including custom domain support.
  • No ads: Your site will never show unwanted ads or banners.
  • Fast and secure: Static sites load incredibly fast and don’t need plugins or databases.
  • Professional look: Themes like Mediumish give your blog a polished feel with minimal setup.

What Do You Actually Need to Get Started?

As a beginner, you'll only need these four things to launch your first blog:

  1. A GitHub account
  2. A pre-built Jekyll theme like Mediumish
  3. Basic internet access
  4. Patience and curiosity

Step 1: Create Your Free GitHub Account

This is your first and most important step.

How to Create an Account Without Technical Jargon

  1. Go to github.com.
  2. Click Sign Up at the top right.
  3. Fill in your email, username, and password.
  4. Choose the free plan when asked about your goals or preferences.
  5. Confirm your email address through the message GitHub sends to you.

This is just like signing up for Gmail or Instagram—don’t worry about the coding stuff GitHub shows you on the homepage.

Step 2: Understand the Concept of a Repository

A repository (or repo) is a container for all your website files. Think of it as your blog's folder in the cloud.

What Kind of Repository Should You Create?

  • If you want your blog URL to be yourname.github.io, name your repository exactly like that.
  • If you want it to be something like yourname.github.io/blog, name it blog or anything you prefer.

You’ll use this repository to store the Jekyll theme and your content.

Step 3: Get the Mediumish Theme Without Writing Code

The easiest way is to find a GitHub repository where Mediumish is already set up, then duplicate it into your account using a feature called Fork.

Here’s How You Can Fork a Ready-to-Use Jekyll Theme

  1. Visit a ready-made Jekyll Mediumish theme repository (search “Jekyll Mediumish GitHub” in Google).
  2. Click the Fork button at the top right.
  3. The theme is now copied into your own GitHub account.

This step alone sets you up with a working blog structure without downloading or coding anything.

Step 4: Rename Your Repository If Needed

If the repository you forked isn’t named yourusername.github.io, you can rename it by going to:

  1. Your repository on GitHub
  2. Click Settings
  3. Edit the repository name at the top

Step 5: Turn On GitHub Pages for Your Blog

This step makes your blog go live on the internet:

  1. Go to the repository’s Settings
  2. Scroll to Pages section (left sidebar)
  3. Choose the source branch (usually main)
  4. Click Save

After a few seconds, GitHub gives you a public URL for your blog, like https://yourusername.github.io.

Step 6: Customize Your Blog Content

You’ll see files like _config.yml, _posts/, and index.html. Don’t panic—you can edit these files directly in GitHub’s web interface without installing any software.

What Should You Edit First?

  • _config.yml: Add your site title, description, and author name.
  • _posts/: Edit one of the existing blog posts to write your first article.
  • index.html: This is your homepage layout. You can keep it default for now.

What If You Don’t Understand YAML or Markdown?

You don’t have to. Just treat them like simple text files with a few symbols. For example, a blog post looks like this:

---
title: "My First Blog Post"
date: 2025-07-03
---

Hello world! This is my first post.

The --- lines tell Jekyll where the metadata starts and ends. You don’t need to change anything else.

What to Do If Something Breaks?

Don’t worry—GitHub doesn’t delete anything. If you mess up a file, you can always revert to an older version. That’s the beauty of version control.

Can You Use a Custom Domain Later?

Yes. Once you're confident, you can point your own domain (like myawesomeblog.com) to GitHub Pages. GitHub has a simple guide for this, and there’s no extra cost.

Conclusion

You don’t need to be a developer to start a blog on GitHub Pages using the Mediumish theme. By forking a theme repository and editing text files directly in your browser, you can launch a professional-looking blog in less than an hour.

Final Tips for Beginners

  • Bookmark your repository and GitHub Pages settings so you can return easily.
  • Keep practicing by editing one file at a time.
  • Read other people’s Jekyll sites to learn how they structure their blogs.
  • Join online communities or forums if you get stuck—there are many friendly people willing to help.

What's Next?

In the next part, we’ll walk through editing the _config.yml file to personalize your blog and change how it looks—still without writing code.

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