In the first post on this blog, I shared that I’m using Jekyll to deliver my content. So far, I’m very pleased, but today I ran into two limitations.

What I like the most about blogging with Jekyll is that it is a static site. My site’s files are in plain text (saved as .md) and accessible from many devices (including my iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.). They are not in a proprietary file format or database. I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging using a static site for some time. I looked into Blot and Collected Notes. I highly recommend both tools. I settled on using Jekyll because I’m enjoying tinkering with it and learning about web tools in the process.

But no tool is perfect. Today, I learned about two limitations of writing in Jekyll: (1) No tooltips and (2) bullet points limit.

(1) No Tooltips

I wanted to create tooltips for glossary entries. So, when a reader hovers over (or taps) on a term, the definition appears in a popup.

My current glossary is structured as Pages. I was considering simplifying the setup by using one YAML file (glossary.yml). Then, I could pull information from that file using includes. One benefit of using this setup is it can allow you to create tooltips for the entries.

I successfully created glossary.yml and pulled its content into a Glossary page. But I was unable to create the tooltips. I learned that I need Bootstrap, which I currently don’t have installed as I’m using Jekyll’s basic Minima theme.

(2) Bullet Points Limit

Apparently, I love creating lists using bullet points, and I love nesting those lists. Jekyll, however, doesn’t like nested lists as much as I do. I discovered today that I’m limited to three levels.

Today, I also came across Static Site Generators, which lists 460 static site generators. A younger Hani would have been tempted to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the generators, which would have led into a research hole. But I’m content (even happy) with Jekyll, despite its limitations. In fact, the limitations are merely opportunities:

  1. An invitation to learn more about Jekyll and how to implement tools like Bootstrap (or to find other solutions for my tech issues).
  2. A challenge to create simpler structures for my lists.
  3. An opportunity to embrace the reality of imperfection, and resist the lure of a greener grass somewhere else.