Hexo Theme Cola is a minimalist, fresh-style theme for the Hexo static site generator that turns Markdown content into a clean blog with dedicated pages for logs, friend links, categories, tags, and tools. It is developed by aizener and hosted on GitHub with 56 stars at the time of writing.
What is Hexo Theme Cola?
Hexo Theme Cola is a blog theme built for Hexo, the Node.js-based static site generator. The theme takes Markdown posts and page files as input and renders them into a multi-page website with a light, clean aesthetic described by the author as "清新大方简洁" (fresh, generous, and simple). It includes a homepage, log page, friend links page, categories page, tags page, and a tools page. The project is maintained by aizener and is publicly accessible on GitHub.
Key Features
- Homepage layout — A clean, minimal homepage that lists recent posts in a simple card-based or list-based format suitable for personal blogs.
- Markdown-to-page conversion — Converts Markdown files into fully styled pages, covering both regular posts and custom pages such as the log page.
- Log page — A dedicated section for chronological updates, changelogs, or diary entries, separate from normal posts.
- Friend links page — A built-in page for displaying blogroll links and partner websites.
- Categories page — Automatically groups all posts by category and provides a navigation page for them.
- Tags page — Groups posts by tag and provides a dedicated page for tag-based browsing.
- Tools page — A custom page type for collecting and presenting tools or resources the blogger wants to share.
- Mobile responsive design — The README lists initial mobile adaptation as a completed task, so the layouts are usable on small screens.
- Pjax navigation — Pjax is integrated so that page transitions do not cause a full browser refresh, which prevents embedded audio or music players from stopping when visitors navigate around the site.
- Water ripple effect — A subtle ripple animation is applied to interactive elements like buttons and cards.
- Local jQuery — jQuery is bundled locally instead of loaded from a CDN; the author changed to this after experiencing slow CDN loading.
- Hexo theme submission — The author submitted a pull request to the Hexo theme directory, indicating the theme is intended for public distribution.
Who is it for?
Hexo Theme Cola is for bloggers who already use Hexo and want a truthful, uncluttered design without building a theme from scratch. It works well for personal bloggers who need more pages than a typical post feed, such as a friends page, a changelog, and a tools collection. Developers who like to customize Hexo themes can read the small codebase and contribute, since the README lists open items like dark mode and GSAP animation effects. The documentation is written in Chinese, so Chinese-speaking Hexo users will find it especially approachable.
What can you do with Hexo Theme Cola?
- Personal bloggers: Build a full-featured blog with Markdown and have the theme generate a homepage, log, friend links, categories, tags, and a tools page automatically.
- Bloggers who embed audio: Use Pjax support so embedded music or audio players continue playing when readers move between pages.
- Theme maintainers: Learn from a compact Hexo theme example, or pick up an open project with a clearly listed development backlog (dark theme, GSAP interactions) to work on.
- Chinese-language content creators: Since the README and feature descriptions are in Chinese, the theme is a natural fit for Chinese-language blogs.
FAQ
What pages does Hexo Theme Cola include?
The theme currently includes a homepage, a log page, a friend links page, a categories page, a tags page, and a tools page. All of these are listed as completed items in the README's feature checklist.
Does Hexo Theme Cola support dark mode?
No. A dark theme is still under consideration and is noted as an unfinished task in the README. The current version only offers the light, fresh visual style.
Why did the author replace the jQuery CDN?
The README explains that the jQuery CDN was too slow, so the theme now loads jQuery from local files. This change reduces external dependency and improves loading reliability for visitors.
How do I set up Hexo Theme Cola?
The README points to a usage tutorial at aizener.github.io that explains installation step by step. As a Hexo theme, it follows the standard setup: copy the theme folder into your Hexo site's themes directory and select it in the site's configuration file.
