jcu-research-website-starter — Jekyll Starter Template

SHA-256: 0afe64cd8c738e48a4f99cd92ed2331a877af6ef91861fadc6588dcc5d2e77f4

2026-10-11T08:05:05.431Z

# JCU research website starter

This is a starter site for the JCU research website theme. It uses the theme as a remote Jekyll theme, so project teams can edit Markdown content and publish through GitHub Pages.

## Setup

1. Rename this repository for your project.
2. Update `title`, `description`, `url`, and `baseurl` in `_config.yml`.
3. Edit `index.md`, `project.md`, and `contact.md`.
4. Update `_data/navigation.yml` when you add or remove pages.

The remote theme is pinned in `_config.yml` to release `v1.1.0`, which includes gallery and carousel image-shape support. The included samples and supporting image assets match that release.

## Theme settings

The `theme_settings` block in `_config.yml` sets a sample project logo, the site colour palette, contrasting text and link colours, and alert colours. Other optional settings are commented out; uncomment only the values you want to override.

The header displays the configured project logo. To use your own logo, add an image to `assets/images/` and update `project_logo` and `project_logo_alt` in `_config.yml`. Set `header_logo` if the header needs a separate version.

The site configures Inter for body text and Literata for headings. Formatting comes directly from the remote theme, with no local layout, CSS, or JavaScript overrides. The project logo and matching SVG favicon use the site palette.

## Homepage layout

The starter homepage uses `layout: landing-page`, which is the theme layout for polished landing pages driven by front matter. Edit the `hero` and ordered `blocks` list in `index.md` to customise the homepage. Full-width blocks can use the `achievements`, `carousel`, `standard`, `split-hero`, `background-hero`, `partner-logos`, and `page-cards` types. Set `background: "primary"` or `"secondary"` to select a coloured background independently of the block type.

Use `sample-content/pages/landing-page-blocks.md` as a reference for the available full-width page blocks and optional fields.

## Sample content

This starter includes optional sample content under `sample-content/`, plus sample images in `assets/sample-images/`. Use these pages to see how theme configuration changes affect Markdown formatting, content blocks, galleries, logos, tables, colours, and responsive layouts.

When the project site is ready for real content, delete `sample-content/`, remove the `Sample content styles` section from `_data/navigation.yml`, and remove any unused sample images from `assets/sample-images/`.

## Local preview

Install dependencies:

```bash
bundle install
```

Run the site locally:

```bash
bundle exec jekyll serve
```

Then open the local URL printed by Jekyll.

## GitHub Pages

For a project site at `https://USERNAME.github.io/REPOSITORY-NAME/`, set:

```yml
url: "https://USERNAME.github.io"
baseurl: "/REPOSITORY-NAME"
```

For an organisation or user site at `https://USERNAME.github.io/`, set:

```yml
url: "https://USERNAME.github.io"
baseurl: ""
```