I Built a Modern Jekyll Theme with Tailwind CSS (Free Template)

Ali Hatami — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:18:12 +0000

I recently needed a personal blog. I wanted something minimal, fast, and easy to customize. Most Jekyll themes felt outdated or overly complex, so I built my own.

Meet al-minimal

A modern Jekyll theme powered by Tailwind CSS, designed specifically for developers who want to focus on writing, not theme configuration.

Why Another Jekyll Theme?

Problem 1: Outdated Design
Most Jekyll themes look like they're from 2015. I wanted something that feels modern with a clean dark theme.

Problem 2: Configuration Hell
Many themes require hours of tweaking. I wanted something that works out of the box.

Problem 3: GitHub Pages Compatibility
Lots of themes don't deploy smoothly on GitHub Pages. This one does, with GitHub Actions handling everything automatically.

Features

🎨 Modern Design

Clean, minimal interface
Beautiful dark theme
Mobile-first responsive design
Built with Tailwind CSS (utility-first approach)

📝 Content Focused

Markdown blog posts
Pagination (10 posts per page)
Auto-generated table of contents
Tags system for organization
Projects portfolio section

🚀 Developer Experience

One-click setup with GitHub template
Automated GitHub Actions deployment
Clean URLs (no .html extensions)
Fast and lightweight
Comprehensive documentation

🔍 SEO & Sharing

Automatic sitemap generation
Meta tags for social sharing
RSS feed
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, Telegram sharing

Quick Start

1. Use the Template

Click "Use this template" on the GitHub repo and name it yourusername.github.io

2. Configure

Edit _config.yml:

title: Your Name
email: your-email@example.com
url: "https://yourusername.github.io"
icon: ⚛️

social:
  - icon: fa-brands fa-github
    link: https://github.com/yourusername
    name: GitHub

3. Add Content

Create _posts/2025-01-15-my-first-post.markdown:

---
layout: post
title: "My First Post"
date: 2025-01-15 10:00:00 +0000
tags: [tutorial, getting-started]
excerpt: "A brief description"
---

Your content here...

4. Deploy

Push to GitHub. Actions deploys automatically to https://yourusername.github.io

That's it! 🎉

Technical Decisions

Why Tailwind CSS?

Utility-first: No writing custom CSS
Consistent: Design tokens built-in
Flexible: Easy to customize
Modern: Keeps the theme contemporary

Why Jekyll?

GitHub Pages native support
No server required
Simple and reliable
Markdown-based

Project Structure

.
├── _includes/      # Reusable components
├── _layouts/       # Page templates
├── _posts/         # Blog posts
├── _projects/      # Portfolio projects
├── assets/         # CSS, images
├── docs/           # Documentation
└── _config.yml     # Configuration

Documentation

I wrote comprehensive guides:

What's Next?

Considering adding:

Dark/light theme toggle
Search functionality
Series/multi-part posts
Reading time estimates

What features would you want? Drop a comment!

Try It Out

🔗 GitHub: https://github.com/alihtt/al-minimal

📄 License: MIT (use it however you want!)

⭐ Star it if you find it useful!

How I Built a Django Honeypot to Catch Attackers (and What I Learned)

Ali Hatami — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:04:04 +0000

If you've ever run a Django site, you've probably seen the endless stream of bots trying to brute-force your /admin/ page. After watching my logs fill up with failed login attempts, I decided to do something about it.

The Problem

Attackers know Django uses /admin/ by default. They hammer it with credential stuffing, brute force attacks, and automated scanners. While rate limiting helps, it's reactive. I wanted something proactive.

The Solution: HoneyGuard

I built HoneyGuard, a Django package that creates fake admin login pages (honeypots). Here's how it works:

1. Fake Login Pages

Move your real admin to /secret-admin/ (or whatever), and let HoneyGuard serve a convincing fake at /admin/. Attackers waste their time, and you gather intel.

2. Behavioral Detection

HoneyGuard catches:

Too-fast submissions (< 2 seconds = bot)
Too-slow submissions (> 10 minutes = abandoned form or scanner)
Hidden honeypot fields (invisible fields that bots fill out)

3. Intelligence Gathering

Every attempt is logged with:

IP address, user agent, timestamp
Username/password length (not the actual password!)
Risk score based on detected anomalies
Request timing and suspicious patterns

4. Alerts & Integration

Email alerts for high-risk attempts
Django signals for custom handlers
Console logging for development

Quick Start

pip install django-honeyguard

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django_honeyguard',
]

HONEYGUARD = {
    'EMAIL_RECIPIENTS': ['security@example.com'],
    'ENABLE_CONSOLE_LOGGING': True,
}

# urls.py
urlpatterns = [
    path('', include('django_honeyguard.urls')),
    path('secret-admin/', admin.site.urls),  # Your real admin
]

That's it! Now /admin/ is a honeypot, and your real admin is safely hidden.

What I Learned

1. Timing attacks are real: Bots submit forms in milliseconds. Humans take 5-30 seconds minimum.

2. WordPress wannabes: You'd be surprised how many bots hit /wp-admin.php on Django sites. HoneyGuard includes a fake WordPress login too.

3. Fail fast validation: I validate all settings at Django startup, so you catch config errors immediately.

4. Signals > callbacks: Using Django's signal system makes it easy for users to integrate custom behavior without modifying HoneyGuard.

Try It Out

📦 PyPI: pip install django-honeyguard
📚 Docs: https://django-honeyguard.readthedocs.io
🔗 GitHub: https://github.com/alihtt/django-honeyguard

What's Next?

I'm considering adding:

Geo-IP blocking for repeat offenders
Machine learning for pattern detection
Integration with fail2ban

What features would you find useful? Drop a comment!

DEV Community: Ali Hatami

I Built a Modern Jekyll Theme with Tailwind CSS (Free Template)

Meet al-minimal

Why Another Jekyll Theme?

Features

🎨 Modern Design

📝 Content Focused

🚀 Developer Experience

🔍 SEO & Sharing

Quick Start

1. Use the Template

2. Configure

3. Add Content

4. Deploy

Technical Decisions

Why Tailwind CSS?

Why Jekyll?

Project Structure

Documentation

What's Next?

Try It Out

How I Built a Django Honeypot to Catch Attackers (and What I Learned)

The Problem

The Solution: HoneyGuard

1. Fake Login Pages

2. Behavioral Detection

3. Intelligence Gathering

4. Alerts & Integration

Quick Start

What I Learned

Try It Out

What's Next?