Setting up your development environment

To edit the Prospector website, you will need some software installed and set up on your local machine. This walkthrough should get you there: please edit if you find omissions or mistakes!

Step 1) Set up Jekyll: the static website generator

Jekyll is the static website generator which powers GitHub Pages and lots of other blogs and static sites.

Instructions for installing Jekyll on Windows are based on those available from this page.

1. Install Ruby - use Ruby Installer. Install a 32-bit version WITH DEVKIT. Ruby+Devkit 2.6.6-1 (x86) is recommended. Make sure to run the ridk install step on the last stage of the installaton wizard. Please note this step could take a while. Again, install the 32-bit version and not the 64-bit version to avoid running into any compatibility issues.
2. Install jekyll and its dependencies - run gem install bundler wdm jekyll in a new command prompt.

Condragulations, you have jekyll!

Step 2) Set up Node.js and NPM: the javascript platform

Node features npm, the "node package manager" which is used for installing and managing all of the myriad javascript tools and libraries that are needed to build a modern fancy website.

1. Install Node -- the version "recommended for most users" is fine. It is currently 12.17.0 LTS.
2. Install some required tools into the global npm path. From a command window:

   npm install --global webpack surge 
   

   This installs webpack, which is a javascript preprocessor and surge, tools for free webhosting.

Condragulations, you have set up Node!

Step 3) You will need Git

• If you don't already have Git installed, get it from from https://www.git-scm.com
  • I think choosing all the default options in the installer should be fine
• There are several settings which make Git work better. After installation is finished, open a command prompt and type in the following commands:

  git config --global pull.rebase true
  git config --global push.default simple
  git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  git config --global user.email your@email.address
  

Condragulations, you have Git!

Step 4) You will want a good text editor

The is the topic of many flamewars. I really like Sublime Text 3 and Notepad++ but please use whatever you want. But whatever you choose, find its settings panel and:

• Enable "Replace tabs with spaces"
• Set "Default tab width" to 2
• Enable "Trim trailing spaces on save"

On Notepad++ the first two options are oddly under Settings / Preferences / Language.

Condragulations, you have a decent text editor!

Your development environment is now set up! You can now advance to Building Prospector locally.