Getting Started with Hugo: A Beginner’s Guide

Hugo is one of the most popular open-source static site generators. It’s written in Go and known for its blazing fast build times and flexible content management. This guide will walk you through creating your first Hugo site.

Why Choose Hugo?

  • Speed: Hugo is incredibly fast, generating most sites in milliseconds
  • Simple: Easy to install and start using
  • Flexible: Supports any kind of content
  • Feature-rich: Built-in templates, shortcodes, and i18n support

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have:

  • Basic knowledge of Markdown
  • A text editor (VS Code, Sublime Text, etc.)
  • Terminal/Command Line familiarity
  • Git (optional, but recommended)

Installation

On macOS

brew install hugo

On Windows

choco install hugo

On Linux

snap install hugo

Creating Your First Site

  1. Create a new site:

    hugo new site my-awesome-site
cd my-awesome-site

  2. Add a theme:

    git init
git submodule add https://github.com/theNewDynamic/gohugo-theme-ananke themes/ananke
echo "theme = 'ananke'" >> hugo.toml

  3. Create your first post:

    hugo new content posts/my-first-post.md

Basic Site Structure

my-awesome-site/
├── archetypes/
├── assets/
├── content/
├── data/
├── layouts/
├── static/
├── themes/
└── hugo.toml
  • archetypes: Template files for new content
  • content: Your website’s content files
  • layouts: HTML templates
  • static: Static files (images, CSS, JavaScript)
  • hugo.toml: Site configuration

Content Management

Hugo uses Markdown files with front matter for content. Here’s an example:

---
title: "My First Post"
date: 2024-01-10
draft: false
---

Your content here...

Common Commands

  • hugo server: Start development server
  • hugo server -D: Include draft content
  • hugo: Build site
  • hugo new [path]: Create new content

Customizing Your Site

1. Configuration

Edit hugo.toml:

baseURL = 'https://example.org/'
languageCode = 'en-us'
title = 'My Awesome Site'
theme = 'ananke'

[params]
  description = "Welcome to my website"
  favicon = "favicon.ico"

2. Custom Layouts

Create custom layouts in layouts/:

layouts/
├── _default/
│   ├── single.html
│   └── list.html
└── partials/
    └── header.html

Deployment

  1. Run hugo to build your site
  2. Upload the public/ directory to your web host

Popular deployment options:

  • Netlify
  • GitHub Pages
  • Vercel
  • AWS S3

Best Practices

  1. Organize Content: Use sections and taxonomies
  2. Optimize Images: Use Hugo’s image processing
  3. Version Control: Use Git for your site
  4. Configure Properly: Set all important parameters in hugo.toml

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

  • Not running hugo server while developing
  • Forgetting to update theme submodules
  • Ignoring Hugo’s built-in features
  • Not using Hugo’s content organization features

Next Steps

After mastering the basics, explore:

  • Custom shortcodes
  • Content types and archetypes
  • Multilingual support
  • CSS frameworks integration
  • Hugo Pipes for asset processing

Conclusion

Hugo provides a robust foundation for building static websites. Start small, experiment with features, and gradually build up your site’s complexity as you become more comfortable with the framework.

Resources

Have questions about getting started with Hugo? Leave a comment below!