Before you get started: knowledge dependencies

Understanding how to use Wax is dependent first on a basic understanding of the following:

• The terminal and/or command line on your computer (and, by extension, how local directories and file storage work)
• Git (and, by extension, GitHub)
• HTML, Markdown, and CSS (on a basic level)
• Jekyll (particularly how to read YAML files and page front matter)

This seems like a whole laundry list, but in reality, many of the tools, languages, or systems on this list are easy to understand once you get the hang of them.

Since the Git-related commands are run through the command line, I recommend learning the list of technical concepts in the order they appear above. You can use the resources below to get started:

• Command Line:
  • What is Terminal on Mac? - Apple Support
  • macOS Terminal (zsh) - The Beginners’ Guide (for Mac)
  • Introduction to the Bash Command Line, Programming Historian
  • Windows commands, Microsoft Learn
• Git & GitHub
  • Git and GitHub Tutorial for Beginners
  • Git - Documentation
  • GitHub Docs
• HTML, CSS, & Markdown
  • Introduction to HTML
  • CSS Introduction
  • Markdown Guide
• Jekyll
  • Building a static website with Jekyll and GitHub Pages, Programming Historian
  • Front Matter, Jekyll • Simple, blog-aware, static sites

How do I know if I know enough?

This is relative, but my best estimate would be that if you can do the following, you’re probably prepared to start working with Wax:

• Change directories using a command in the command line. Successfully run a command using the command line.
• Create a respository in GitHub. Create a file and add content in GitHub. Create a folder in GitHub.
• Understand basic differences between HTML and Markdown.
• Write some Jekyll front matter for a page.