Jekyll Site Helpers Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Static Site Generation (SSG) Optimization: Enables faster, cache-friendly asset handling (e.g., cachebusting) for Jekyll-based marketing sites, blogs, or documentation portals, reducing reliance on build-time tools like Webpack.
• Build vs. Buy: Justifies buying this lightweight package over custom Ruby/Jekyll plugin development for teams lacking Ruby expertise or needing quick, reusable solutions.
• Roadmap for CMS-Like Features: Supports incremental adoption of Jekyll for content-heavy products (e.g., SaaS docs, internal wikis) by simplifying asset management without migrating to a full CMS.
• Performance-Critical Use Cases: Ideal for high-traffic static sites where asset caching and relative path resolution are bottlenecks (e.g., e-commerce product pages, news sites).
• Developer Experience (DX): Reduces frontend-backend handoff friction by standardizing asset paths and cache strategies across teams.

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt When:

  • Your static site uses Jekyll and requires cachebusting, relative path resolution, or dynamic asset versioning (e.g., for CDN compatibility).
  • You prioritize simplicity over customization—this package offers plug-and-play functionality with minimal configuration.
  • Your team lacks Ruby expertise but needs Jekyll-specific optimizations.
  • You’re evaluating low-maintenance asset pipelines (e.g., replacing manual ?v=1.2 queries or complex build scripts).

• Look Elsewhere If:

  • You need advanced asset processing (e.g., image optimization, WebP conversion)—consider tools like jekyll-assets or eleventy-img.
  • Your site relies on dynamic content (e.g., user-generated assets)—a headless CMS (e.g., Strapi + static site generator) may be better.
  • You require active maintenance or enterprise support—this package is unmaintained (last update: 2016) and has low adoption.
  • You’re using non-Jekyll SSGs (e.g., Hugo, Next.js)—seek native solutions for those ecosystems.

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This package lets us leverage Jekyll’s simplicity for static content (e.g., docs, marketing sites) while solving two critical pain points: asset caching (to improve CDN performance) and path consistency (to avoid broken links). By adopting it, we eliminate manual cachebusting hacks and reduce frontend build complexity—saving dev time and improving site reliability. It’s a lightweight, MIT-licensed solution with no vendor lock-in, ideal for teams already using Jekyll or evaluating static site generators."

For Engineering: *"jekyll-site-helpers provides three key filters/tags to streamline asset management in Jekyll:

1. cachebuster: Automatically appends file modification timestamps to URLs (e.g., image.jpg?v=1620000000) for cache invalidation—compatible with HTML5 Boilerplate’s server configs.
2. relativity: Converts absolute paths to relative ones (e.g., /images/logo.png → ../images/logo.png), fixing broken links in nested directories.
3. filebuster: Uses a _config.yml variable for versioning, useful for pre-built assets or non-existent files. Installation is trivial: Add it to composer.json, drop it into src/_plugins/, and use filters like {{ '/image.jpg' | cachebuster | relativity }}. Perfect for teams wanting Jekyll’s simplicity without custom Ruby dev work."*