Make the installation docs less dependent of GitHub pages

[niconoe]

I am trying to experiment with Petridish but it seems, at least from the docs that it is rather tied to GitHub pages. I struggled a bit with this: the recommended method assumes it's for a Project site and doesn't exactly match the experience with a user/organization site. Also, while GitHub pages is convenient, I think there might be a lot of good reasons we want to host it elsewhere.

I therefore wanted to first develop a local site on my machine, and think about the hosting later. I was not able to use the third suggested method: Install Petridish as gem-based theme. But if I am not mistaken, the gem is not published yet: https://rubygems.org/search?query=petridish

Note that there's also a typo (what -> want?) in the following sentence: "If you do not what to use remote_theme, see the Jekyll documentation to install (gem-based) themes."

This also references the remote_theme settings, which is also GitHub pages-specific, I think.

It would be great if the documentation showed a bit more clearly that Petridish-based sites can be conveniently hosted on GitHub pages, but that it is also a standard Jekyll theme that can be used (and how?) whatever your hosting choices are. Maybe a few small changes to the documentation + automatic pushes on rubygems for each release would be enough?

I'm volunteering to be a guinea pig if useful since I have a site to build, but not urgently :)

PS: I am not really familiar with Jekyll, maybe that's why I can't really connect the dots by myself.

[peterdesmet]

Thanks @niconoe. To be honest, I have not tested the Gem-based installation, so it is very likely some elements are missing (like it being published at rubygems). Help/testing would be appreciated.

[niconoe]

Indeed, I think a first useful step so I can help testing is to actually publish the theme at rubygems.

I would proceed like that:

• read generic instructions about creating a gem and publishing a gem at rubygems
• check Jekyll-specific considerations
• apply this new knowledge and publish it :)
• we can then do a quick test from the user point of view (follow Jekyll docs to use a theme from a gem) and check for obvious issues
• if all goes well, I can start using it on my site and report issues if needed
• then, I suggest to automate the "publishing to rubygems" part (maybe with GitHub actions, each time a GitHub release is created)

I guess it's better if do the publishing part yourself, so you appear as the gem owner/maintainer. I don't have experience with the process, but if you'd like to work with 4 hands on this, we can arrange a session (remotely or at VAC) for that.

[peterdesmet]

The theme is now published at https://rubygems.org/gems/jekyll-theme-petridish

Since petridish was to similar to an already existing gem petri_dish, I had to name it jekyll-theme-petridish (following what seems the most common naming convention). Once you have installed it:

gem install jekyll-theme-petridish

You can refer to it in your _config.yml with:

theme: jekyll-theme-petridish

The theme might include a bit too much clutter (incl. _data files) at the moment. Will create a separate issue for that, but let me know what you find useful on a fresh install.