Hexo Theme Cards is a card-style blogging theme for Hexo, the Node.js static site generator, that transforms Markdown posts into a clean grid of image cards with built-in donation, comment, and search features.
What is Hexo Theme Cards?
This theme takes Markdown content and Hexo configuration as input and produces a static website featuring a card-style layout. It is a fork of hexo-theme-skapp, originally created by Mrminfive, and modified by adymilk. The theme is freely available on GitHub with an online demo at adymilk.github.io. It is designed for speed, with the homepage averaging about 1.6 seconds to load, and it follows current UI design guidelines to display correctly on any device.
Key Features
- Card-style layout — Posts are displayed as cards with a recommended thumbnail size of 900 by 364 pixels, giving the homepage an image-driven grid.
- Sponsorship support — Includes a dedicated sponsor page, text-based donations, and customizable payment methods (e.g., custom QR codes) to accept support.
- Comment system — Built-in comments that require no login or captcha, encouraging reader engagement.
- Site search — Integrated search functionality lets visitors find posts without leaving the blog.
- Image lazy loading — Images load lazily to reduce initial page weight and improve performance.
- Photography page — A dedicated page for photo posts, useful for photographers to showcase galleries.
- Category tabs — Articles can be browsed via category tabs on the homepage.
- One-command deploy — Running
hexo d -ggenerates and deploys the site while automatically submitting it to Baidu for SEO indexing.
Who is it for?
- Personal bloggers — Individuals who want a visually clean, card-based blog without the complexity of a full CMS.
- Photographers — Users who need a photography page to display image galleries as blog posts.
- Chinese-language content creators — The theme includes Baidu push integration and Chinese documentation, making it ideal for audiences in China.
- Hexo users — Anyone already using Hexo who wants a feature-rich theme with donation and comment capabilities.
What can you do with it?
- Showcase photography: Publish photo posts in the dedicated photography section to create a visual portfolio.
- Accept donations: Set up a personal sponsor page with custom payment codes to collect support from readers.
- Engage readers with comments: Allow readers to comment without creating accounts or solving captchas.
- Speed up your blog: Benefit from lazy loading and optimized assets to keep the homepage fast.
How does it work?
A typical workflow is to install the theme into your Hexo site, write posts in Markdown with a thumbnail front-matter set to a 900-by-364 image, and run hexo d -g to generate and deploy the static site while pushing to Baidu. The theme uses Stylus for styling and Markdown for content, making it compatible with standard Hexo workflows.
Pros and cons
Pros: fast load times, rich feature set, comments without login or captcha, and one-command deployment with Baidu push.
Cons:
- Mobile sidebar navigation is not yet implemented.
- Automatic English/Chinese post switching is not yet available.
Pricing
Free and open source. The theme can be downloaded or cloned directly from its GitHub repository.
FAQ
Is Hexo Theme Cards free?
Yes, it is open source on GitHub, so you can download, use, and modify it freely.
Does it support comments?
Yes, it includes a built-in comment system that requires no login or captcha from readers.
What image size should I use for post thumbnails?
The theme recommends thumbnails sized 900 by 364 pixels to fit the card layout correctly.
How do I deploy with Baidu push?
Run hexo d -g (generate and deploy) and the theme automatically submits the site to Baidu for search indexing.
Are there any missing features?
According to the changelog, mobile sidebar navigation and English/Chinese post switching are planned but not yet implemented.
