I know there are gems/ themes up for snag on the Internet which probably would have been way quicker, but all I wanted was some minor tweaks. I managed to make a few changes, but when I restarted the server... everything reverted. O_O <-- me
What happened?
Do NOT mess with files in _site.
Jekyll only shows you a handful of things. The rest is hiding inside the gem. Naturally, I want in and if you're like me check out Overriding theme defaults section and for general structure Directory structure.
Pretty much the way to customize is to have your own file of whatever you want customized, a copy to tweak which will get sucked through all that _site goodness and finally spit out your beautiful edits.
Personally, I couldn't locate my theme's directory even after unhiding files, but I am a newb so it's totally possible I missed something.
Since I made a mess the first time I created a new project, left _site alone and copied folders/files I wanted to edit (ie:
_layouts, _includes, _sass, assets)
Adjust css file in assets folder. Personalize title and info in config file... You get it.
To be fair, I should have looked up how to customize first before messing with things, but where's the fun in that?
Additional resources: