ReganCipher Blog Setup Guide This guide will help you integrate the Jekyll blog with your existing Squiglink measurements site. 📁 File Structure Your repo should look like this after adding the blog: regancipher.github.io/ │ ├── _config.yml # Jekyll configuration (NEW) ├── index.html # Blog homepage (NEW) ├── Gemfile # Ruby dependencies (NEW - see below) │ ├── _layouts/ # Page templates (NEW) │ ├── default.html │ ├── home.html │ └── review.html │ ├── _includes/ # Reusable components (NEW) │ ├── header.html │ ├── footer.html │ └── youtube-embed.html │ ├── _posts/ # Your blog posts (NEW) │ └── 2025-10-30-qcy-h3-review.md │ ├── assets/ # Static assets (NEW) │ ├── css/ │ │ └── main.css │ └── images/ │ └── reviews/ │ ├── measurements/ # Your EXISTING Squiglink setup │ ├── data/ │ ├── styles/ │ ├── index.html │ └── … (all your existing files) │ └── about.md # About page (NEW - optional) 🚀 Installation Steps Step 1: Add Jekyll Dependencies Create a Gemfile in your repo root: rubysource “https://rubygems.org”

gem “github-pages”, group: :jekyll_plugins gem “jekyll-seo-tag” gem “jekyll-sitemap” gem “jekyll-feed” Step 2: Update Your Measurements Link In your measurements site, add a link back to the blog. Edit measurements/index.html and add something like: html← Back to Reviews Step 3: Configure GitHub Pages

Go to your repo settings Navigate to “Pages” Set source to: Deploy from branch main (or master) GitHub will automatically build Jekyll sites

Step 4: Add Your First Review Copy the sample post structure from _posts/2025-10-30-qcy-h3-review.md and customize it: markdown— layout: review title: “Your Product Name Review” date: 2025-10-30 brand: “Brand Name” price: “$XX.XX” rating: 8.0 verdict: “One-sentence verdict here”

image: /assets/images/reviews/product-name.jpg measurement_url: “https://regancipher.github.io/measurements/?share=Product_Name” youtube_id: “YOUR_YOUTUBE_ID”

pros:

  • Pro point 1
  • Pro point 2

cons:

  • Con point 1
  • Con point 2

affiliate_links:

  • retailer: “Amazon” price: “$XX.XX” url: “https://amazon.com/your-link”

excerpt: “SEO-friendly excerpt for this review”

Your markdown content here… 🔗 Integrating Measurements Option 1: iFrame Embed (Recommended) Your Squiglink measurements can be embedded using the measurement_url field in your post frontmatter: yamlmeasurement_url: “https://regancipher.github.io/measurements/?share=Product_Name” The review template will automatically create an iframe embedding your measurement graph. Option 2: Direct Link If you prefer just linking to measurements instead of embedding: markdownView full measurements → 🎨 Customization Colors Edit assets/css/main.css to change the color scheme. Key variables are at the top: css:root { –primary-bg: #0d1117; /* Main background / –accent-color: #58a6ff; / Links and buttons / / … etc */ } Logo Replace the emoji (🎧) in _includes/header.html with:

Your own emoji An image: ReganCipher

Adding Pages Create new pages by adding markdown files to the root: markdown— layout: default title: About permalink: /about/ —

About ReganCipher

Your content here… 📊 SEO Optimization

  1. Every Post Should Have:

Descriptive title with product name Excerpt (appears in search results) Relevant tags/categories Featured image

  1. URL Structure Jekyll automatically creates SEO-friendly URLs: /reviews/2025/10/qcy-h3-review/
  2. Internal Linking Link between reviews and to your measurements: markdownSimilar to the QCY H2, but with improved ANC. 🔧 Local Testing (Optional) To test locally before pushing: bash# Install Jekyll gem install bundler jekyll

Navigate to your repo

cd regancipher.github.io

Install dependencies

bundle install

Run local server

bundle exec jekyll serve

View at http://localhost:4000

📝 Writing Workflow

Create new post in _posts/ folder using naming format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md Add frontmatter with all metadata (see sample post) Write content in markdown Add images to assets/images/reviews/ Add measurement link from your Squiglink database Add YouTube embed using video ID Commit and push to GitHub Wait 1-2 minutes for GitHub Pages to rebuild Check live site at regancipher.github.io

🎯 Affiliate Links For each product, add affiliate links in the frontmatter: yamlaffiliate_links:

  • retailer: “Amazon” price: “$39.99” url: “https://amazon.com/dp/XXXXX?tag=your-tag”
  • retailer: “AliExpress” price: “$34.99” url: “https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/your-link” These will automatically display in a “Where to Buy” section with proper nofollow attributes. 🚨 Important Notes Measurements Directory The Jekyll config specifically excludes your measurements/ directory from processing, so your Squiglink setup won’t be affected. Image Optimization

Use WebP format when possible for faster loading Compress images before uploading Recommended size: 1200x630px for featured images

Git Workflow bashgit add . git commit -m “Add [Product] review” git push origin main 📈 Analytics Setup Add Google Analytics by editing _config.yml: yamlgoogle_analytics: UA-XXXXXXXXX-X 🐛 Troubleshooting Site not building?

Check GitHub Actions tab for build errors Verify YAML frontmatter syntax Ensure all liquid tags are closed properly

Measurements not loading?

Verify the measurement_url is correct Check that the product exists in your Squiglink database Test the URL directly in browser

Styling looks broken?

Clear browser cache Check that main.css path is correct Verify CSS file is committed to repo

🎓 Next Steps

Add more reviews using the sample post as template Customize colors to match your YouTube branding Add Google Analytics to track traffic Create category pages for organizing reviews Add search functionality (using lunr.js) Set up email newsletter (using Substack or similar)

📞 Need Help?

Jekyll docs: https://jekyllrb.com/docs/ GitHub Pages: https://docs.github.com/pages Liquid syntax: https://shopify.github.io/liquid/

Remember: Every commit triggers a rebuild. Changes typically appear within 1-2 minutes on your live site.