This tutorial will guide you how to write a post in the _Chirpy_ template, and it's worth reading even if you've used Jekyll before, as many features require specific variables to be set.
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.
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`.
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:
Having said that, the key `author` can also identify multiple entries.
> The 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.
By default, the first words of the post are used to display on the home page for a list of posts, in the _Further Reading_ section, and in the XML of the RSS feed. If you don't want to display the auto-generated description for the post, you can customize it using the `description` field in the _Front Matter_ as follows:
```yaml
---
description: Short summary of the post.
---
```
Additionally, the `description` text will also be displayed under the post title on the post's page.
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/):
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.
We use [**MathJax**][mathjax] to generate mathematics. For website performance reasons, the mathematical feature won't be loaded by default. But it can be enabled by:
- **Inserting equation numbering** should be added with `$$\begin{equation} math \end{equation}$$`
- **Referencing equation numbering** should be done with `\label{eq:label_name}` in the equation block and `\eqref{eq:label_name}` inline with text (see example below)
> Starting with `v7.0.0`, configuration options for **MathJax** have been moved to file `assets/js/data/mathjax.js`{: .filepath }, and you can change the options as needed, such as adding [extensions][mathjax-exts].
> If you are building the site via `chirpy-starter`, copy that file from the gem installation directory (check with command `bundle info --path jekyll-theme-chirpy`) to the same directory in your repository.
[**Mermaid**](https://github.com/mermaid-js/mermaid) is a great diagram generation tool. To enable it on your post, add the following to the YAML block:
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:
You can make images follow theme preferences in dark/light mode. This requires you to prepare two images, one for dark mode and one for light mode, and then assign them a specific class (`dark` or `light`):
If you host the media resources on the CDN, you can save the time of repeatedly writing the CDN URL by assigning the variable `cdn` of `_config.yml`{: .filepath} file:
Once `cdn` is assigned, the CDN URL will be added to the path of all media resources (site avatar, posts' images, audio and video files) starting with `/`.
When a post contains many images, it will be a time-consuming task to repeatedly define the path of the media resources. To solve this, we can define this path in the YAML block of the post:
If you want to add an image at the top of the post, please provide an image with a resolution of `1200 x 630`. Please note that if the image aspect ratio does not meet `1.91 : 1`, the image will be scaled and cropped.
Note that the [`media_subpath`](#media-subpath) can also be passed to the preview image, that is, when it has been set, the attribute `path` only needs the image file name.
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:
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:
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:
-`types` - specify the extensions of additional video formats separated by `|`. Ensure these files exist in the same directory as your primary video file.
> It's not recommended to host video files in `assets` folder as they cannot be cached by PWA and may cause issues.
> Instead, use CDN to host video files. Alternatively, use a separate folder that is excluded from PWA (see `pwa.deny_paths` setting in `_config.yml`).
{: .prompt-warning }
## Audios
### Audio File
If you want to embed an audio file directly, use the following syntax:
```liquid
{% include embed/audio.html src='{URL}' %}
```
Where `URL` is an URL to an audio file e.g. `/assets/img/sample/audio.mp3`.
You can also specify additional attributes for the embedded audio file. Here is a full list of attributes allowed.
-`title='Text'` - title for an audio that appears below the audio and looks same as for images
-`types` - specify the extensions of additional audio formats separated by `|`. Ensure these files exist in the same directory as your primary audio file.
> It's not recommended to host audio files in `assets` folder as they cannot be cached by PWA and may cause issues.
> Instead, use CDN to host audio files. Alternatively, use a separate folder that is excluded from PWA (see `pwa.deny_paths` setting in `_config.yml`).
