System Specs Page

I created this site to share the specs of my computer collection. Due to demand, I have chosen to open source it.

This is a simple Jekyll website that uses a series of YAML files to compile a list of computers and their specs. There's not much to it.

Live demo

Prerequisites

To build this site, you'll need to install Ruby and Jekyll (instructions).

This guide also assumes that you are at least somewhat familiar with the command line.

Setup

First, download the latest release from the releases page. Then, follow the instructions in the Adding Computers section below to set up your computers.

To build the site, navigate to this directory in your terminal and run jekyll build. Upload the contents of the public folder to your web server. Easy!

Adding Computers

Each computer is represented by a Markdown (.md) file in the _site/_computers directory. Jekyll will automatically parse these files to generate the final page. The filename of these files doesn't have any impact on the built site.

Here's a sample. Note that the properties of the computer are preceded and followed by ---. This is important, because it tells Jekyll where it can find the metadata that describes this machine. For more info, see their docs on front matter.

---
name: "My Cool Laptop"
thumb: "edge15.png"
type: "Laptop"
released: 2014
acquired: 2015
mfg: "Lenovo"
short_model: "Edge 15"
model: "Edge 15 (Flex 2 Pro)"
cpu: "Intel Core i5-4210U, 2.70 GHz"
mem: "6 GB DDR3"
hdd: "256 GB SanDisk SSD Plus"
video: "Intel HD Graphics 4400"
os:
  - "Windows 10 Home"
  - "Linux Mint 20"
---

The following properties are supported at this time:

• name: The name of the computer. This is displayed at the top of the entry and also used to generate the anchor on the page.

• custom: If set to true the computer will be represented as a custom build which changes what properties are displayed (see below). It is ignored otherwise.

• disposed: If set to true the computer will be displayed in the "Past Systems" section of the page instead of the main list. It is ignored otherwise.

• thumb: The filename of the thumbnail to display. This should be a 100x100 PNG file located in _site/thumbnails.

• type: The type of computer displayed in the sidebar. I usually use "Desktop" or "Laptop".

• released: The year the computer was released, displayed in the sidebar. This will be ignored and replaced by acquired for custom builds.

• acquired: The year the computer was purchased or built.

• mfg: The manufacturer of the computer. Ignored for custom builds.

• short_mfg: The manufacturer name displayed on the sidebar. If omitted, mfg will be displayed instead. Ignored for custom builds.

• model: The full model name of the computer. Ignored for custom builds.

• short_model: The model name displayed on the sidebar. If omitted, model will be displayed instead. Ignored for custom builds.

• case: The case/chassis of the computer. Displayed only for custom builds.

• mb: The motherboard of the computer. Displayed only for custom builds.

• cpu: The CPU of the computer. Only one is supported at this time.

• mem: The RAM spec of the computer.

• hdd: The disk(s) in the computer, if any. This can either be a string or a YAML array of strings.

• optical: The optical drive(s) in the computer, if any. This can either be a string or a YAML array of strings.

• video: The video card(s) in the computer, if any. This can either be a string or a YAML array of strings.

• os: The operating system(s) installed on the computer. This can either be a string or a YAML array of strings.

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Brandon Dusseau

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.