This guide explains how to upgrade the Jekyll plugins and the Minimal Mistakes Jekyll theme for your GitHub Pages site.
Open your Gemfile and update the version numbers for the plugins and theme if you want to target a specific version. To always get the latest, you can remove version numbers:
gem "github-pages", group: :jekyll_plugins
gem "minimal-mistakes-jekyll"
Run the following command to update all gems (including Jekyll, plugins, and the theme):
bundle update
This will update the Gemfile.lock file with the latest compatible versions.
After updating, serve your site locally to ensure everything works:
Recommended Method (handles SSL certificate issues):
bundle exec ruby jekyll_wrapper.rb serve --livereload
Alternative - Using the dev script:
./dev.sh --livereload
Standard method (may encounter SSL certificate errors on some systems):
bundle exec jekyll serve
Visit http://localhost:4000 and check for errors or warnings in the terminal.
If you encounter SSL certificate verification errors after upgrading:
SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=error: certificate verify failed
This is common when using the jekyll-remote-theme plugin. Use the recommended method above with jekyll_wrapper.rb, which disables CRL checking for local development only.
If everything works as expected, commit the updated Gemfile and Gemfile.lock files:
git add Gemfile Gemfile.lock
git commit -m "Upgrade Jekyll plugins and Minimal Mistakes theme"
git push
Tip: If you use GitHub Pages’ default build, it will use the version of Jekyll and plugins specified by GitHub. For more control, use GitHub Actions or a custom build process.