web/_posts/2019-08-08-write-a-new-post.md

---
title: Writing a New Post
author: cotes
date: 2019-08-08 14:10:00 +0800
categories: [Blogging, Tutorial]
tags: [writing]
render_with_liquid: false
---

This post will guide you how to write a post on _Chirpy_ theme. Even if you have previous experience with Jekyll, this article is worth reading, because many features require specific variables to be set.

## Naming and Path

Create a new file named `YYYY-MM-DD-TITLE.EXTENSION`{: .filepath} and put it in the `_posts`{: .filepath} of the root directory. Please note that the `EXTENSION`{: .filepath} must be one of `md`{: .filepath} and `markdown`{: .filepath}. If you want to save time of creating files, please consider using the plugin [`Jekyll-Compose`](https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-compose) to accomplish this.

## Front Matter

Basically, you need to fill the [Front Matter](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/front-matter/) as below at the top of the post:

```yaml
---
title: TITLE
date: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS +/-TTTT
categories: [TOP_CATEGORIE, SUB_CATEGORIE]
tags: [TAG]     # TAG names should always be lowercase
---
```

> The posts' _layout_ has been set to `post` by default, so there is no need to add the variable _layout_ in the Front Matter block.
{: .prompt-tip }

### Timezone of Date

In order to accurately record the release date of a post, you should not only set up the `timezone` of `_config.yml`{: .filepath} but also provide the post's timezone in variable `date` of its Front Matter block. Format: `+/-TTTT`, e.g. `+0800`.

### Categories and Tags

The `categories` of each post are designed to contain up to two elements, and the number of elements in `tags` can be zero to infinity. For instance:

```yaml
---
categories: [Animal, Insect]
tags: [bee]
---
```

### Author Information

The author information of the post usually does not need to be filled in the _Front Matter_ , they will be obtained from variables `social.name` and the first entry of `social.links` of the configuration file by default. But you can also override it as follows:

Add author information in `_data/authors.yml` (If your website doesn't have this file, don't hesitate to create one.)

```yaml
<author_id>:
  name: <full name>
  twitter: <twitter_of_author>
  url: <homepage_of_author>
```
{: file="_data/authors.yml" }

And then set up the custom author in the post's YAML block:

```yaml
---
author: <author_id>
---
```

> Another benefit of reading the author information from the file `_data/authors.yml`{: .filepath } is that the page will have the meta tag `twitter:creator`, which enriches the [Twitter Cards](https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-for-websites/cards/guides/getting-started#card-and-content-attribution) and is good for SEO.
{: .prompt-info }

## Table of Contents

By default, the **T**able **o**f **C**ontents (TOC) is displayed on the right panel of the post. If you want to turn it off globally, go to `_config.yml`{: .filepath} and set the value of variable `toc` to `false`. If you want to turn off TOC for a specific post, add the following to the post's [Front Matter](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/front-matter/):

```yaml
---
toc: false
---
```

## Comments

The global switch of comments is defined by variable `comments.active` in the file `_config.yml`{: .filepath}. After selecting a comment system for this variable, comments will be turned on for all posts.

If you want to close the comment for a specific post, add the following to the **Front Matter** of the post:

```yaml
---
comments: false
---
```

## Mathematics

For website performance reasons, the mathematical feature won't be loaded by default. But it can be enabled by:

```yaml
---
math: true
---
```

## Mermaid

[**Mermaid**](https://github.com/mermaid-js/mermaid) is a great diagrams generation tool. To enable it on your post, add the following to the YAML block:

```yaml
---
mermaid: true
---
```

Then you can use it like other markdown languages: surround the graph code with ```` ```mermaid ```` and ```` ``` ````.

## Images

### Caption

Add italics to the next line of an image，then it will become the caption and appear at the bottom of the image:

```markdown
![img-description](/path/to/image)
_Image Caption_
```
{: .nolineno}

### Size

In order to prevent the page content layout from shifting when the image is loaded, we should set the width and height for each image:

```markdown
![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: width="700" height="400" }
```
{: .nolineno}

Starting from _Chirpy v5.0.0_, `height` and `width` support abbreviations (`height` → `h`, `width` → `w`). The following example has the same effect as the above:

```markdown
![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: w="700" h="400" }
```
{: .nolineno}

### Position

By default, the image is centered, but you can specify the position by using one of the classes `normal`, `left`, and `right`.

> Once the position is specified, the image caption should not be added.
{: .prompt-warning }

- **Normal position**

  Image will be left aligned in below sample:

  ```markdown
  ![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: .normal }
  ```
  {: .nolineno}

- **Float to the left**

  ```markdown
  ![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: .left }
  ```
  {: .nolineno}

- **Float to the right**

  ```markdown
  ![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: .right }
  ```
  {: .nolineno}

### Shadow

The screenshots of the program window can be considered to show the shadow effect, and the shadow will be visible in the `light` mode:

```markdown
![Desktop View](/assets/img/sample/mockup.png){: .shadow }
```
{: .nolineno}

### CDN URL

If you host the images on the CDN, you can save the time of repeatedly writing the CDN URL by assigning the variable `img_cdn` of `_config.yml`{: .filepath} file:

```yaml
img_cdn: https://cdn.com
```
{: file='_config.yml' .nolineno}

Once `img_cdn` is assigned, the CDN URL will be added to the path of all images (images of site avatar and posts) starting with `/`.

For instance, when using images:

```markdown
![The flower](/path/to/flower.png)
```
{: .nolineno}

The parsing result will automatically add the CDN prefix `https://cdn.com` before the image path:

```html
<img src="https://cdn.com/path/to/flower.png" alt="The flower">
```
{: .nolineno}

### Image Path

When a post contains many images, it will be a time-consuming task to repeatedly define the path of the images. To solve this, we can define this path in the YAML block of the post:

```yml
---
img_path: /img/path/
---
```
{: .nolineno }

And then, the image source of Markdown can write the file name directly:

```md
![The flower](flower.png)
```
{: .nolineno }

The output will be:

```html
<img src="/img/path/flower.png" alt="The flower">
```
{: .nolineno }

### Preview Image

If you want to add an image to the top of the post contents, specify the attribute `path`, `width`, `height`, and `alt` for the image:

```yaml
---
image:
  path: /path/to/image/file
  width: 1000   # in pixels
  height: 400   # in pixels
  alt: image alternative text
---
```

Except for `alt`, all other options are necessary, especially the `width` and `height`, which are related to user experience and web page loading performance. The above section "[Size](#size)" also mentions this.

Starting from _Chirpy v5.0.0_, the attributes `height` and `width` can be abbreviated: `height` → `h`, `width` → `w`. In addition, the [`img_path`](#image-path) can also be passed to the preview image, that is, when it has been set, the  attribute `path` only needs the image file name.

Starting from _Chirpy v5.2.0_, the property for the preview image is changed to `image.path`. If upgrading the theme from a prior version, you will have to update posts' metadata to use new image property.

## Pinned Posts

You can pin one or more posts to the top of the home page, and the fixed posts are sorted in reverse order according to their release date. Enable by:

```yaml
---
pin: true
---
```

## Prompts

There are several types of prompts: `tip`, `info`, `warning`, and `danger`. They can be generated by adding the class `prompt-{type}` to the blockquote. For example, define a prompt of type `info` as follows:

```md
> Example line for prompt.
{: .prompt-info }
```
{: .nolineno }

## Syntax

### Inline Code

```md
`inline code part`
```
{: .nolineno }

### Filepath Hightlight

```md
`/path/to/a/file.extend`{: .filepath}
```
{: .nolineno }

### Code Block

Markdown symbols ```` ``` ```` can easily create a code block as follows:

````md
```
This is a plaintext code snippet.
```
````

#### Specifying Language

Using ```` ```{language} ```` you will get a code block with syntax highlight:

````markdown
```yaml
key: value
```
````

> The Jekyll tag `{% highlight %}` is not compatible with this theme.
{: .prompt-danger }

#### Line Number

By default, all languages except `plaintext`, `console`, and `terminal` will display line numbers. When you want to hide the line number of a code block, add the class `nolineno` to it:

````markdown
```shell
echo 'No more line numbers!'
```
{: .nolineno }
````

#### Specifying the Filename

You may have noticed that the code language will be displayed at the top of the code block. If you want to replace it with the file name, you can add the attribute `file` to achieve this:

````markdown
```shell
# content
```
{: file="path/to/file" }
````

#### Liquid Codes

If you want to display the **Liquid** snippet, surround the liquid code with `{% raw %}` and `{% endraw %}`:

````markdown
{% raw %}
```liquid
{% if product.title contains 'Pack' %}
  This product's title contains the word Pack.
{% endif %}
```
{% endraw %}
````

Or adding `render_with_liquid: false` (Requires Jekyll 4.0 or higher) to the post's YAML block.

## Learn More

For more knowledge about Jekyll posts, visit the [Jekyll Docs: Posts](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/posts/).