Migrating a Jekyll Chirpy Site from GitHub Pages to Netlify

Migrating a Jekyll Chirpy Site from GitHub Pages to Netlify

Migrating your Jekyll Chirpy site from GitHub Pages to Netlify can bring additional flexibility, better performance, and ease of use. If you’re considering or currently undergoing this transition, this guide will walk you through the essential steps, potential gotchas, and configurations required for a smooth migration based on multiple resources and experiences.

Why Migrate from GitHub Pages to Netlify?

While GitHub Pages provides a convenient hosting solution, it has limitations in terms of customizability, build environment control, and performance optimizations. Netlify, on the other hand, offers a range of benefits:

• Continuous deployment: Netlify can rebuild your site whenever you push changes to your repository.
• Better build control: With Netlify, you can define custom build commands and environments.
• Free SSL: Easy SSL certificate management.
• Global CDN: Netlify provides a built-in Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster page load times.

Now, let’s dive into the migration process.

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Step 1: Prepare Your Project for Netlify

Before starting the migration, there are a few things you’ll need to set up for Netlify.

1.1 Ruby Version Configuration

Ensure your .ruby-version file points to the correct Ruby version. This was a major issue for many, and setting it to a compatible version such as 3.2.2 is crucial for Netlify’s build process to succeed.

Create or update the .ruby-version file with the following content:

3.2.2

This ensures Netlify will use the correct Ruby version during the build process.

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Step 2: Set Up Netlify for Your Jekyll Site

2.1 Netlify Configuration

Once you have prepared your project, the next step is to configure Netlify. In your Netlify dashboard, set up a new site and link it to your GitHub repository.

You will need to define the following build settings:

• Build Command:
  Use the Jekyll build command to compile your site:

  bundle exec jekyll build
  

• Publish Directory:
  Jekyll outputs the static site files to the _site directory, so set the publish directory to:

  _site
  

• Base Directory:
  Set this to the root directory of your repository:

  /
  

• Functions Directory:
  This should be set to:

  netlify/functions
  

Additionally, ensure you add the following environment variable to your Netlify settings:

JEKYLL_ENV=production

This ensures that Jekyll builds your site with the production environment settings, which is critical for performance and proper URL generation.

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Step 3: Fix Timezone, URL, and Base URL Settings

To avoid common issues with URLs and timezones when migrating to Netlify, you should review your _config.yml settings.

3.1 Set Timezone

Ensure the timezone is correctly set in _config.yml:

timezone: America/New_York  # Or your preferred timezone

3.2 Update URL and Base URL

Set the correct url and baseurl in _config.yml:

url: "https://yoursite.netlify.app"  # Replace with your Netlify domain
baseurl: ""  # Leave this empty if deploying to the root domain

Updating these configurations ensures that your site links and assets resolve correctly in the new environment.

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Step 4: Resolve Other Gotchas

During the migration, you may encounter additional issues. Below are some common gotchas:

• Gem dependencies: Ensure your Gemfile is up to date with the necessary dependencies. Netlify uses this file to install the required gems.

• Caching: Some users have reported issues with CSS caching after migration. To avoid this, ensure proper cache busting techniques are in place, especially for assets.

• Redirects: If you’re migrating an existing site with many users or backlinks, make sure to set up redirects from the old URLs to the new Netlify-hosted URLs.

• Custom domains: If you’re using a custom domain, configure your domain’s DNS settings to point to Netlify. Netlify’s documentation provides a clear guide on this.

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Step 5: Test and Deploy

After setting up everything in Netlify, run the build process to ensure there are no issues. Push your changes to GitHub and watch as Netlify automatically builds and deploys your site.

• Build Status: You can monitor your build status on Netlify’s dashboard. If there are any issues, check the logs for specific error messages.
• Performance Checks: Once deployed, test the site for performance improvements. Netlify’s global CDN should deliver faster load times.

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Conclusion

Migrating from GitHub Pages to Netlify provides more control over your build process and a range of powerful features. By following the steps outlined above and keeping an eye out for potential issues, you should be able to smoothly transition your Jekyll Chirpy site to Netlify and enjoy a more robust hosting environment.

With the right Ruby version, proper build configurations, and careful attention to URLs and timezone settings, the process is manageable and can result in significant performance benefits for your site.

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By following these steps, you should be able to successfully migrate your Jekyll Chirpy site from GitHub Pages to Netlify. Happy coding!