Add Categories In Jekyll

25 Dec 2020 - Jekyll

I recently added categories, i.e., grouping my blogs by topics, into my website. To group blogs in Jekyll, you will need to use collections. Basically I followed the instructions here to create my blog categories, which is quite straightforward. Here I’m providing a quick summary:

1. In the _config.yml file, adding following lines:

    collections:
      categories:
        output: true
   

2. Creating a directory _categories. Inside this directory, creating files such as jekyll.md. You will need to create a file for each category.

3. In the file, specifying as many properties as you want in the front matter. For example,

    ---
    short_name: jekyll
    name: Jekyll
    ---
   

   Later on you will use those defined properties to link you post into a category.

4. Adding a page, e.g., category.md, to list all categories.

5. For your post, adding a category property in the front matter. For example, adding category: jekyll. The property’s value should be one of your categories.

6. The last but not the least, in your navigation bar, adding a tab for the category page so that you can jump into that page.

That’s it. For a detailed example, you can find it on Jekyll’s website.