hugo-goa — Hugo Starter Template

SHA-256: dc540cd2cd9c213061f5367c6b0fe162ed841e0d0e0147ae5df329c2467824ec

2026-10-02T16:56:50.283Z

# Goa

Goa is a clean, simple and minimalist theme for blogs and personal websites.

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/desktop-home.png" alt="Screenshot Desktop" width="600">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/mobile-home.png" alt="Screenshot Mobile" width="200">

[![GitHub license](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/LICENSE)
[![GitHub stars](https://img.shields.io/github/stars/shenoydotme/hugo-goa.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/stargazers)
[![GitHub forks](https://img.shields.io/github/forks/shenoydotme/hugo-goa.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/network)
[![quality badge](https://img.shields.io/badge/cuteness-overload-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://www.emergencykitten.com/)
[![quality badge](https://img.shields.io/badge/quality-awesome-green.svg?style=flat-square)](https://www.emergencykitten.com/)

## Demo

You can find the demo site in action [here](https://shenoydotme.github.io/hugo-goa-demo) and the source [here](https://github.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa-demo).

## Installation

```
hugo new site quickstart
cd quickstart
git init
git submodule add https://github.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa.git themes/hugo-goa
echo "theme = 'hugo-goa'" >> hugo.toml
hugo server
```

## Content creation

### Creating a Post

To create a new page or post in Hugo, follow these steps:

#### Create a New Post

Use the following Hugo command to create a new post. This will create a Markdown file for your post in the specified directory.

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

#### Edit the Post

After creating the post, you can go ahead and edit the newly created file. You'll find it under the `content/posts` directory in your Hugo site's content folder.

#### Preview Your Edits

To preview your edits in real-time, you can run the Hugo server with draft posts included. You can use either of these commands:

```bash
hugo server --buildDrafts
```

or

```bash
hugo server -D
```

#### Publishing Your Post

Once you have finished editing and are ready to publish your post, set `draft = false` in the article's front matter. This step is crucial to ensure that Hugo includes your post in the generated site.

Remember, until you set `draft = false`, Hugo will treat the post as a draft, and it won't appear in your published site unless you use the `-D` or `--buildDrafts` flags with `hugo server`.

### Organizing pages

To create standalone pages in Hugo, such as an "About" page or a "Projects" page, you can indeed override the default list behavior by adding an index.md file in the corresponding content directory. This approach allows for more control over the content and presentation of these specific pages, setting them apart from regular blog posts or list pages.

#### Create the Directory and index.md File:

To create a new standalone page, like a "Projects" page, you need to first create an index.md file in the appropriate directory. Use the Hugo command to do this:

```bash
hugo new projects/index.md
```

This command will create a new directory named projects inside the content folder of your Hugo site and then create an index.md file inside this projects directory.

#### Edit the index.md File:

Open the newly created index.md file in your text editor. This file will act as the main content file for your standalone page. Here, you can add the content for your "Projects" page.

#### Customize the Front Matter:

At the top of the index.md file, you will find the front matter, which is used by Hugo to store metadata about the page. You can customize this front matter as needed for your page.

#### Apply Custom Layouts (Optional):

If you want to apply a custom layout to this page, you can create a new layout file in the layouts directory of your Hugo site. For example, you might create a layout specifically for the projects page. Then, reference this custom layout in the front matter of your index.md file.

#### Build Your Site:

After setting up your index.md file and any custom layouts, run the Hugo command to build your site:

```
hugo --cleanDestinationDir
```

This will generate the static files for your site, including your new standalone page, in the public directory.

Remember, the index.md file in a directory allows you to create a standalone page with its own content and layout, different from the auto-generated list pages for blog posts or other content types. This method provides flexibility in organizing and presenting different types of content on your Hugo site.

### Publish the site

To publish your site using Hugo without deploying it, you need to run a specific command that tells Hugo to generate the static site in the public directory. This command will create all the necessary files like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images. To ensure that draft, future, or expired content is not included, you will use a particular flag with the command.

Here is the command you need to run in your terminal or command prompt where your Hugo site project is located:

```bash
hugo --cleanDestinationDir
```

This command does the following:

- **hugo**: This is the basic command to build your site.
- **--cleanDestinationDir**: This flag cleans out the public directory before building. It ensures that only current content is published, and no old or unwanted files are left in the directory.

Remember, this process only generates the static files in the public directory of your Hugo project. It does not deploy these files to a web server or hosting service. For deployment, you would need to follow additional steps depending on your hosting solution.

### Page settings

These settings are at the page level.

- `showpagemeta`: default=`true`. This allows you to disable page meta information from being displayed. For example, this setting is disabled [here](https://shenoydotme.github.io/hugo-goa-demo/about/) and enabled [here](https://shenoydotme.github.io/hugo-goa-demo/coderag/).

- `showcomments`: default=`true`. Enables or disable comments. For example, this setting is disabled [here](https://shenoydotme.github.io/hugo-goa-demo/blog/third/) and enabled [here](https://shenoydotme.github.io/hugo-goa-demo/blog/first/).

## Configuration

The provided [hugo.toml](https://github.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/blob/master/exampleSite/hugo.toml) describes all options and features that are supported. Configure it your way!

### Basic Configuration

These are site wide configuration parameters that are used by this template.

- `baseURL`: This is the root of your site.
- `buildDrafts`: default=`false`. Enables or Disable building drafts when hugo is run.
- `canonifyURLs`: default=`false`. Prefix all relative URLs with your base URL. [More Information](https://gohugo.io/extras/urls#canonicalization).
- `languageCode`: Used to set site localization preferences. eg. `en-US`.
- `contentDir`: Where hugo can find your content. eg. `content`.
- `layoutDir`: Where hugo can find your templates. eg. `layouts`.
- `publishDir`: Where hugo generates the static site. eg. `public`.
- `author`: Site author name. eg. `Papyrus Apps`.
- `title`: Site title name. eg. `Papyrus Apps`.
- `theme`: Your theme name should be set to `hugo-goa` if using this theme.

## Hugo Built-in Features

These are features that hugo provides and are used by this template.

- `disqusShortname`: Your discusShortname if you want to enable comments on your posts.
- `googleAnalytics`: Your google analytics id for tracking.
- `enableRobotsTXT`: Enable or disable search engines from crawling your site.

## Site Settings `[params]`

These are settings that are specific to this theme.

- `author`: Main author name. eg. `Papyrus Apps`.
- `intro`: Author introduction. This field supports markdown. eg. `Innovative Tech Guru`.
- `description`: Author description. This field supports markdown. eg. `Leading the charge at [Papyrus Apps](https://papyrusapps.com)`.
- `authorimage`: Location of author image under static/img or assets/images directory. eg. `headshot.jpg`
- `dateformat`: Golang date format to be used on this site. eg. `Jan 2, 2006`

### Site Meta Settings `[params.meta]`

These settings are included in the site's meta section.

- `description`: User this field to describe your site to search engines. eg. `Simple minimalist theme`.
- `keywords`: Keywords that desribe your site. eg. `minimalist,blog,goa,hugo,developer`.

### Social Accounts `[params.social]`

These settings to display your social accounts.

- `github`: Your [Github](https://github.com) username.
- `instagram`: Your [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com) username.
- `xing`: Your [Xing](https://www.xing.com) username.
- `linkedin`: Your [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com) username.
- `twitter`: Your [Twitter](https://twitter.com) username.
- `facebook`: Your [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com) username.
- `google`: Your [Google](https://www.google.com) username.
- `googlescholar`: Your [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com) account ID. [How to get this ID](#google-scholar)
- `medium`: Your [Medium](https://medium.com) username.
- `devto`: Your [dev.to](https://dev.to) username.
- `stackoverflow`: Your [StackOverflow](https://stackoverflow.com) username.
- `angellist`: Your [AngelList](https://angel.co) username.
- `lastfm`: Your [Last.fm](https://www.last.fm) username.
- `goodreads`: Your [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com) username.
- `gitlab`: Your [Gitlab](https://gitlab.com) username.
- `bitbucket`: Your [BitBucket](https://bitbucket.org) username.
- `fivehundredpx`: Your [500px](https://500px.com) username.
- `flickr`: Your [Flickr](https://flickr.com) username.
- `foursquare`: Your [Foursquare](https://foursquare.com) username.
- `hackernews`: Your [Y Combinator Hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com) username.
- `kickstarter`: Your [Kickstarter](https://kickstarter.com) username.
- `patreon`: Your [Patreon](https://patreon.com) username.
- `pintrest`: Your [Pintrest](https://pintrest.com) username.
- `steam`: Your [Steam](https://steamcommunity.com) username.
- `reddit`: Your [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com) username.
- `snapchat`: Your [Snapchat](https://snapchat.com) username.
- `keybase`: Your [Keybase](https://keybase.io) username.
- `twitch`: Your [Twitch](https://twitch.tv) username.
- `youtube`: Your [YouTube](https://youtube.com) channel ID.
- `soundcloud`: Your [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com) username.
- `tumblr`: Your [Tumblr](https://tumblr.com) username.
- `strava`: Your [Strava](https://strava.com) username.
- `skype`: Your [skype](https://skype.com) username.
- `telegram`: Your [Telegram](https://telegram.com) username.
- `holopin`: Your [Holopin](https://www.holopin.io) username.
- `bluesky`: Your [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/) username.
- `whatsapp`: Your phone number. Follow the steps [here](https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/26000030/). [Privacy Warning](#privacy-warning)
- `email`: Your email. [Privacy Warning](#privacy-warning)
- `pgp`: Your PGP key. The value should be set to the key fingerprint, and the public key should pe placed in static/key_fingerprint.txt

#### Privacy Warning

It is recommended to keep your private data (phone number/ email) private. Especially if you don't use them for business. Adding it to your public will expose your data to the public. This is irreversible.

#### Account Details

##### Google Scholar

To get this ID, go to Google Scholar, press the "My Profile" tab at the top, then copy the text after the `user=` till the first subsequent `&` (e.g. the `ACCOUNT_ID` part in `https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ACCOUNT_ID&hl=en`).

### Extras `[params.extra]`

These settings for extra features that this site uses.

- `copyright`: Add a copyright statement to the bottom of the theme. eg. `© 2026. Papyrus Apps. [Some Rights Reserved](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)."`
- `rss`: Enable rss icon next to social accounts.
- `poweredby`: Help promote this theme and give the authors credit. eg. `true` or `false`.
- `highlightjs`: Use highlightJS to highlight code on your site. eg. `true` or `false`.
- `socialmarkup`: Adds links that conform to the [Schema.org](schema.org) markup. See this [link](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/social-profile) for more.

### Main Menu `[[menu.main]]`

These settings for the main menu that is displayed on the home page.

- `name`: Name of menu item. eg. `blog`
- `weight`: Weight of this menu item. Higher items go to the bottom. eg. `100`
- `url`: Root URL for this section/page. eg. `/blog/`.

Example:

```toml
[[menu.main]]
    name = "blog"
    weight = 100
    url = "blog/"
[[menu.main]]
    name = "about"
    weight = 200
    url = "about/"
[[menu.main]]
    name = "projects"
    weight = 300
    url = "projects/"
```

## Features

- Responsive
- Minimalist
- Bootstrap 5
- Font Awesome 6
- HighlightJS
- Disqus support for commenting
- Built-in support for 404 pages, Disqus comments and Google Analytics.

## Screenshots

### Mobile

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/mobile-home.png" alt="Mobile Home" width="200">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/mobile-page.png" alt="Mobile Page" width="200">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/mobile-posts.png" alt="Mobile Posts" width="200">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/mobile-post.png" alt="Mobile Post" width="200">

### Desktop

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/desktop-home.png" alt="Desktop Home" width="600">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/desktop-page.png" alt="Desktop Page" width="600">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/desktop-posts.png" alt="Desktop Posts" width="600">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/images/desktop-post.png" alt="Desktop Post" width="600">

## Contributing

### Bug Reports

1. Search Github Issues to see if the bug has been previously filed.
2. If it has been filed, +1 the post. This helps us in assessing impact and priortitizing the bug.
3. If not previously filed, open a new Github Issue and describe in detail. Attach error traces and provide relavant details to help us solve it.
4. For Hugo issues, search the Hugo [Forum](https://discuss.gohugo.io/)

### Feature Requests

1. Search Github Issues to see if the feature has been previously requested.
2. If it has been filed, +1 the post. This helps us in assessing popularity and priortitizing the feature.
3. If not previously filed, open a new Github Issue and describe it in detail.

### Pull Requests

1. Clone the repository, create the feature/bug branch.
2. Code.
3. Make sure your code follows the style of the project.
4. Test it thoroughly.
5. Open a PR requesting for it to be merged.
6. Describe the feature or issue your are solving in detail.
7. Wait for its approval.
8. Merge and Rejoice.

## Attribution

The theme's design was inspired by many blogs and themes:

1. [Hugo Cocoa](https://themes.gohugo.io/cocoa/).
2. [Hugo Vec](https://themes.gohugo.io/hugo-theme-vec/).
3. [Hugo Agency](https://themes.gohugo.io/agency/).

## License

Licensed under the [MIT](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT) License. See the [LICENSE](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shenoydotme/hugo-goa/master/LICENSE) file for more details.

## Authors

- Raj Shenoy
  - web: [shenoydotme](https://shenoy.me)
  - twitter: [@shenoydotme](https://twitter.com/shenoydotme)
- Papyrus Apps
  - web: [Papyrus Apps](https://papyrusapps.com)
  - twitter: [@papyrusapps](https://twitter.com/papyrusapps)