If you’ve been using Jekyll for a while, you’ve probably run into this problem: not everything fits neatly into the chronological blog post model.

That’s where Jekyll collections come in - and honestly, they’re a game-changer once you understand how to use them properly.

What Are Jekyll Posts?

Posts are Jekyll’s original content type, designed for chronological content like blog entries.

Characteristics of Posts

  • Date-based: Filenames must include dates (YYYY-MM-DD-title.md)
  • Chronological ordering: Automatically sorted by date
  • Built-in pagination: Easy to paginate through posts
  • RSS feeds: Automatically included in site feeds
  • Categories and tags: Built-in taxonomy support

Example Post Structure

---
layout: post
title: "My Blog Post"
date: 2025-07-20
categories: [blogging, jekyll]
tags: [tutorial, web-development]
---

What Are Jekyll Collections?

Collections are groups of related documents that don’t need to follow chronological order.

Characteristics of Collections

  • Flexible naming: No date requirements in filenames
  • Custom organization: Organize by topic, not time
  • Custom metadata: Define your own front matter fields
  • Flexible URLs: Control permalink structure
  • Queryable: Easy to filter and sort programmatically

Example Collection Structure

---
layout: post
title: "API Documentation"
category: "technical"
difficulty: "advanced"
version: "2.1"
last_updated: 2025-07-20
---

When to Use Each

Use Posts For:

  • Blog entries - Personal thoughts, announcements, news
  • Time-sensitive content - Updates, releases, events
  • Chronological narratives - Project progress, learning journeys
  • Regular publishing - Weekly updates, monthly reviews

Use Collections For:

  • Documentation - API docs, user guides, tutorials
  • Portfolio items - Projects, case studies, work samples
  • Reference material - Recipes, tools, resources
  • Structured content - Team members, products, services

Setting Up Collections

1. Configure in _config.yml

collections:
  tutorials:
    output: true
    permalink: /tutorials/:name/
  projects:
    output: true
    permalink: /work/:name/

2. Create Collection Directories

_tutorials/
  getting-started.md
  advanced-techniques.md
_projects/
  project-alpha.md
  project-beta.md

3. Set Default Layouts

defaults:
  - scope:
      path: "_tutorials"
      type: "tutorials"
    values:
      layout: "tutorial"
      category: "learning"

Practical Examples

Blog Post Example

---
layout: post
title: "Why I Switched to Jekyll"
date: 2025-07-20
categories: [blogging, tools]
tags: [jekyll, static-sites, productivity]
---

Last month, I decided to migrate my blog from WordPress to Jekyll...

Collection Item Example

---
layout: project
title: "E-commerce Platform"
technology: ["React", "Node.js", "MongoDB"]
status: "completed"
client: "TechCorp"
duration: "6 months"
featured: true
---

This project involved building a scalable e-commerce platform...

Advanced Techniques

Querying Collections

Cross-referencing Content

<!-- In a blog post, reference related how-tos -->

Custom Sorting

Best Practices

Content Organization

  1. Use descriptive filenames: advanced-git-workflows.md not tutorial1.md
  2. Consistent front matter: Define standard fields for each collection
  3. Logical grouping: Group related content in the same collection

Performance Considerations

  1. Limit collection size: Large collections can slow build times
  2. Use pagination: For collections with many items
  3. Optimize images: Compress images in collection items

SEO Optimization

  1. Unique titles: Each item should have a distinct title
  2. Meta descriptions: Use excerpts or custom descriptions
  3. Structured data: Add schema markup for better search visibility

Conclusion

Choose posts for time-based content and collections for everything else. This approach gives you the flexibility to organize content logically while maintaining Jekyll’s simplicity and power.

The key is understanding your content’s nature and choosing the right tool for the job. Most sites benefit from using both: posts for regular updates and collections for structured, reference material.