How I Made a Terminal Shortcut for My Blog Server

Every time I wanted to preview my blog locally, I had to do three things:

1. Open the terminal
2. Type cd ~/Desktop/Nebula0/nebula0.com (navigate to the blog folder)
3. Type bundle exec jekyll serve (start the server)

Now I just type nb.

What ~/.bashrc Is

~/.bashrc is a hidden text file in your home folder. Breaking the name down:

• ~ = your home folder (in my case, /home/tariq)
• . at the start of bashrc = a hidden file (press Ctrl+H in your file manager to see hidden files)
• bashrc = “bash run commands”: a config file the terminal reads every time you open it

You can view this file with any text editor.

Because the terminal reads this file on startup, anything you put in it runs automatically every time you open a new terminal window.

Typing an Alias vs Saving One

You can define an alias two ways:

Method	How long it lasts
Type it directly in the terminal	Disappears when you close the window
Save it to ~/.bashrc	Stays forever

If I had just typed alias nb='...' in the terminal, the shortcut would only work in that one window and would be gone after I closed it. By adding the line to ~/.bashrc, it’s saved permanently.

What OpenCode Added

I opened ~/.bashrc and added this line to the bottom:

alias nb='cd ~/Desktop/Nebula0/nebula0.com && bundle exec jekyll serve'

Breaking it down:

• alias nb= — creates a shortcut called nb (short for nebula)
• cd ~/Desktop/Nebula0/nebula0.com — step 2 from above: navigate to the blog folder
• && — “if the first part worked, run the next.” Chains commands together
• bundle exec jekyll serve — step 3: start the local server

Making It Work

Since I already had a terminal open when the file was edited, I ran source ~/.bashrc once. This tells the terminal: “re-read the file now” instead of waiting for me to open a new terminal.

If you open a brand new terminal, the alias is already there & no need to run anything.

Usage

From now on, I open the terminal, type nb, and the server starts. Ctrl+C stops it. Best time saver ever lol.