low

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A minimal, retro-inspired Jekyll theme for engineers who care about the metal.

low is a lightweight Jekyll theme designed for technical blogging — inspired by Fabien Sanglard’s website.
It’s meant for developers who write about low-level programming, graphics, operating systems, emulation, and the craft of software.

No JavaScript frameworks. No build pipelines. Just clean HTML, monospace typography, and focus on content.

✳ Features

  • ⚙️ Zero-dependency design — pure HTML + CSS, no JavaScript.
  • 💾 Retro technical aesthetic — monospaced typography and print-like layout.
  • 🧱 Simple structure — easily fork, modify, or embed in existing Jekyll setups.
  • 📰 RSS + SEO ready — via jekyll-feed, jekyll-seo-tag, and jekyll-sitemap.
  • 🗓️ Archive view — grouped by year, auto-generated from posts.
  • 🖋️ Clean code blocks — styled for low-level and C-style syntax.
  • 🪶 Compact footer — © year + author, nothing more.

🧩 Directory Structure

low/
├── _layouts/
│ ├── default.html # Base layout (includes header/footer)
│ ├── home.html # Main index page
│ ├── post.html # Individual post layout
│ └── archive.html # Yearly archive page
│
├── _includes/
│ ├── head.html # Metadata + styles
│ ├── header.html # Top navigation bar
│ ├── footer.html # Minimal one-liner footer
│ ├── post-list.html # Reusable post index
│ └── post-meta.html # Date + tags for posts
│
├── assets/
│ └── css/
│ └── main.scss # Global theme styles
│
├── _sass/
│ └── theme/
│ └── _syntax.scss # Rouge syntax highlighting
│
└── low.gemspec # Jekyll theme definition

⚡ Installation

Add it to your Jekyll site:

bundle add low

🧠 Philosophy

This theme follows the same principles as the projects it’s meant to host:

  • Understand what runs under the hood.
  • Respect simplicity.
  • Prefer text over tools.

It’s ideal for developers writing deep dives into:

  • retro-game rendering,
  • CPU emulation,
  • assembly or C,
  • framebuffer graphics,
  • or OS development logs.

🧭 Example Site

The theme ships with an example/ site that demonstrates:

  • index listing posts under Articles,
  • /archive/ for yearly grouping,
  • /rss.xml for feed readers.

Run it locally:

cd example
bundle exec jekyll serve

Open: http://127.0.0.1:4000

🪞 Credit

Heavily inspired by the aesthetic and minimalism of Fabien Sanglard