Introduction

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Get started with Hinode, a clean documentation and blog theme for your Hugo site based on Bootstrap 5.

Hinode is a clean documentation and blog theme for Hugo - an open-source static site generator. Based on the Bootstrap framework, the rendered site is fast, secure, and responsive. Hinode uses FlexSearch to enable full text search across your site. Finally, the theme provides optional support for Node Package Manager (npm) to automate the build process and to keep track of dependencies. More information is available on the about page.

Prerequisites

Hinode is a Hugo theme that uses modules to install and maintain various components. It can be installed using either Hugo or npm. If you would like to take advantage of automation, the npm approach is recommended. Hinode requires the following software to be installed on your local machine:

Software	Hugo	npm	Remarks
Go binary			Required for Hugo modules, including Hinode itself
Hugo (extended)			Embedded as npm binary
Node.js			The installation package includes npm
Git	recommended		Recommended for version control
Dart Sass	optional	optional	Required when using Dart Sass transpiler

Installation

The next steps describe the approach how to initialize a new Hinode site using either Hugo or npm.

Create a new site

hugo new site my-hinode-site && cd my-hinode-site

Initialize the module system

hugo mod init example.com/my-hinode-site
echo "[[module.imports]]\npath = 'github.com/gethinode/hinode'" >> hugo.toml

Start a development server
```
hugo server
```

Create a new repository

Go to github.com and login to GitHub as needed. Next, click the green button Use this template to initialize a new repository based on the Hinode template.

Alternatively, you can use the GitHub cli to initialize the repository from the command line. Replace --private with --public if you wish to create a public repository instead.
```
gh repo create my-hinode-site --private --template="https://github.com/gethinode/template.git"
```
Configure a local site

Assuming your repository is owner/my-hinode-site, use the git command to clone the repository to your local machine.
```
git clone https://github.com/owner/my-hinode-site && cd my-hinode-site
```
Now install the npm packages and hugo modules.
```
npm install && npm run mod:update
```
Start the development server
```
npm run start
```

Adding content

The main Hinode repository contains a folder exampleSite with sample content for a blog and a project portfolio. The examples are available in English, French, and Dutch. Review the following items on to how organize and enrich your content.

Hinode uses Markdown and templates to define the content for your website. See the content management page for more details.

Hinode uses a structured approach to organize and present content. See the content organization page for more details.

Hinode uses a mix of basic Markdown syntax enriched with Bootstrap styling for the typography. Review the typography documentation for more details.

Generate internal links and external links using a combination of Markdown and Hugo shortcodes. You can optionally manage your external links in a central configuration file. Review the links documentation for more details.

Hinode supports responsive images out-of-the-box. Hinode uses Hugo to preprocess images on the server. By taking advantage of so-called image sets, the client’s browser can decide which image to download whilst reducing the download size. Review the image documentation for more details.

Hinode enhances the basic tables available in Markdown with optional styling features provided by Bootstrap. You can customize the accentuation, adjust the borders, and make tables more compact. Review the tables documentation for more details.

Hinode provides out-of-the box access to the free icons of Font Awesome . The icon library provides various styling options. Review the icons documentation for more details.

Quick configuration settings

The main site configuration is available in ./config/_default. Review the following items to get you started.

Hinode uses a base layout for the home page, list pages, and individual pages. Individual pages can also be configured as documentation page instead of a regular page. Review the layout documentation for more details.

Hinode uses eight configurable theme colors. You can adjust them in the style section of /config/_default/params.toml. Review the colors documentation for more details.

Set the themeFont and themeFontPath in the style section of /config/_default/params.toml to adjust the main font. Hinode includes supports for Emoji by default. Review the fonts documentation for more details.

Configure each supported language in config/_default/languages.toml. Set the default behavior in config/_default/hugo.toml. Review the languages documentation for more details.

Define the main menu entries for each language in config/_default/menus. For example, the English menu entries are defined in menus.en.toml. See the navigation documentation for more details.

Advanced configuration settings

The next topics give an overview of the advanced configuration settings.

Hinode supports npm packages to automate various tasks. In addition, it uses Hugo’s mounted folders to create a virtual file system. Review the advanced settings overview for more details.

Hinode uses Bootstrap’s Sass files to generate the cascading style sheets of the website. The main entrypoint is defined in assets/scss/app.scss. See the styles documentation for more details.

Hinodes uses npm to include the latest JavaScript files of external packages such as Bootstrap and FlexSearch . All local and external files are bundled in a single JavaScript file. See the scripts documentation for more details.

Hinode replaces Boostrap’s embedded icons with file-based icons to comply with its security settings. The icon files are parameterized to use the theme colors. See the icons documentation for more details.

Hinode uses rather strict security policies to ensure the site is secure by default. Be sure to include references to external sources in the header configuration to avoid broken links. The settings of the local development server are defined in config/_default/server.toml. Similar settings are defined in the netlify.toml file provided in the repository’s root when deploying to Netlify . See the server documentation for more details.

Last updated: September 6, 2023 • Include Dart Sass (e389ac2)

On this page

Docs

Prerequisites

Installation

Adding content

Adding content

Organize the content

Enrich Markdown content with Bootstrap styling

Use Markdown and Hugo shortcodes to generate links and cross-references

Add responsive images optimized for multiple screen sizes and devices

Apply Bootstrap styling to your tables

Include Font Awesome icons on the fly

Quick configuration settings

Review the layout options

Adjust the theme colors

Set the main font

Configure the supported languages

Define the main menu

Advanced configuration settings

Review the approach to dependency management and virtualization

Adjust the build pipeline for Sass files

Bundle JavaScript files for deployment

Process icon files to apply theme colors

Refine header settings to adjust the Content Security Policy