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Getting Started with Hugo Static Site Generator

A comprehensive guide to building fast, modern websites with Hugo

2 min read

Hugo is one of the most popular static site generators available today. In this post, I'll walk you through the basics of getting started with Hugo and why it's an excellent choice for building modern websites.

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Why Choose Hugo?

Hugo offers several advantages that make it stand out:

  1. Blazing Fast: Hugo generates sites in milliseconds, even for sites with thousands of pages
  2. No Dependencies: A single binary file is all you need
  3. Flexible: Extensive template system and shortcodes
  4. Great Documentation: Comprehensive and well-maintained docs

Getting Started

Installation

First, you need to install Hugo on your system. The installation process varies by operating system:

macOS (using Homebrew):

brew install hugo

Windows: Download the latest release from the Hugo releases page.

Creating Your First Site

Once Hugo is installed, creating a new site is straightforward:

hugo new site my-website
cd my-website

Adding a Theme

Themes make it easy to get started. You can add a theme as a Git submodule:

git init
git submodule add https://github.com/theme-author/theme-name themes/theme-name

Then add the theme to your config.toml:

theme = "theme-name"

Content Creation

Hugo uses Markdown for content. Create a new post:

hugo new posts/my-first-post.md

Edit the file and add your content:

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

Welcome to my first Hugo post!

Building and Deploying

To build your site:

hugo

This generates a public directory with your static site, ready to deploy to any web server or hosting service.

Conclusion

Hugo is an excellent choice for building fast, modern websites. Its simplicity and speed make it perfect for blogs, portfolios, documentation sites, and more.