freshStart is a Hugo theme that turns a static site into a personalized start page for managing bookmarks, search engines, and quick links.
What is freshStart?
freshStart is a responsive Hugo theme that generates a single-page start page from a YAML configuration file. You define search engines, navigation links, and bookmark groups in config.yaml, and the theme renders them as a clean, icon-based dashboard. It runs on the Hugo static site generator and is available as an open-source project on GitHub under the repository rz3n/hugo-theme-freshstart.
Key Features
- Grouped bookmarks — Organize links into named groups (e.g., dev, docs, tools), each with its own Font Awesome icon and a list of named URLs.
- Multiple search engines — Configure search engines like Google and DuckDuckGo with an
activatedflag and a custom icon; the start page can present them as quick-search shortcuts. - Custom navigation links — Add nav items such as Gmail or Twitter with a Font Awesome icon and optional color modifier classes (e.g.,
red,aqua,blue). - YAML-driven configuration — All content is defined in a
config.yamlfile underparams, making the theme declarative and version-controllable. - Font Awesome icons — Icons come from Font Awesome's icon set, referenced by class names such as
fab fa-githuborfas fa-code-branch. - Simple installation — Install by adding the theme as a git submodule:
git submodule add https://github.com/rz3n/hugo-theme-freshstart.git themes/freshstart. - Responsive design — The theme is described as responsive and aims to stay clean and fast.
Who is it for?
- Hugo users — Anyone already building sites with Hugo can drop this theme into an existing site to add a start page.
- Developers — Developers who want a self-hosted, customizable browser home page with quick access to GitHub, docs, and search engines.
- Privacy-focused users — Users who prefer hosting their own bookmark page instead of using cloud-based bookmark services, since all data stays in a static YAML file.
What can you do with freshStart?
- Replace your browser's new-tab page — Deploy the static site and point your browser's start page URL to it, giving you search and bookmarks in one clean page.
- Organize tool documentation — Group links to documentation for tools like Docker, Puppet, and Terraform into a docs group for fast access.
- Create a personal dashboard — Combine navigation shortcuts and bookmark groups to build a minimal dashboard for the sites you visit daily.
How does freshStart work?
Install the theme as a git submodule, then create or update config.yaml with your searchEngines, nav, and bookmarks definitions under params. Run the Hugo build command (hugo) to generate a static site; the start page is rendered from that YAML config with no external database or runtime.
Pricing
freshStart is a free, open-source Hugo theme hosted on GitHub.
Alternatives
- Heimdall — A self-hosted dashboard that offers a visual interface and app integrations.
- Flame — A self-hosted start page with a built-in editor and custom application tiles.
FAQ
Is freshStart free?
Yes, freshStart is a free, open-source theme. You can clone or submodule it directly from GitHub and use it without charge.
What do I need to use freshStart?
You need a Hugo site. The installation guide shows adding the theme as a git submodule inside your Hugo site directory, then configuring config.yaml with your own search engines, nav links, and bookmarks.
How do I add a search engine?
In config.yaml, under params.searchEngines, add an entry with a name, a URL (e.g., https://google.com/search), an icon class, and set activated: true to display it. The example shows Google and DuckDuckGo.
Can I customize the icons for bookmarks?
Yes. Each bookmark, group, or nav item can specify a Font Awesome icon class, such as fab fa-github or fas fa-code-branch. Optional color classes like red, aqua, and blue are also used in the example config.
Does freshStart require JavaScript?
The theme is a static site generated by Hugo; the page itself loads icon fonts from Font Awesome. The documentation does not mention any required JavaScript libraries.
