JSimple is a responsive three-column blog theme for Hexo, inspired by the early visual style of Jianshu.com, that adds local search, day-night mode, and article view counting to a static blog.
What is JSimple?
JSimple is a Hexo theme created by tangkunyin, designed to give static blogs a clean three-column layout reminiscent of Jianshu.com's early design. It takes a standard Hexo site's content (posts, pages, categories) and renders a fully responsive front-end with built-in local search, a day-night mode toggle, per-article view counters, and optional Google AdSense slots. The theme is written for Hexo's Node.js-based generator and uses Stylus for styling and Font Awesome for icons, and it is released under the MIT license.
Key Features
- Local search — Uses the hexo-generator-search plugin to index all posts; users press the Shift key to open the search overlay, which highlights matching content without sending queries to a third-party service.
- Day-night mode — A built-in toggle switches the site between light and dark palettes, a feature noted as part of the theme's core set.
- Article view counter — Displays a view count on each post, powered by the theme's own counter mechanism (no external service required).
- Google AdSense support — Ad slots were added in version 0.0.7 and can be turned off in the theme configuration if not needed.
- Responsive three-column layout — The front page presents three columns on desktop and adapts to smaller screens; the previous local search implementation was replaced because of responsiveness problems on mobile.
- Comment and analytics integrations — Only Google Analytics and Disqus are supported for site statistics and comments; the author explicitly states there is no intention to add other providers.
- Sitemap generation — Works with hexo-generator-sitemap to produce sitemap.xml and sitemap.txt for search-engine discovery.
- Category mapping — The theme's
_config.ymllets you map Chinese menu labels (顶部菜单1–4) to internal category keys liketop1–top4, keeping article categories tidy.
Who is it for?
JSimple is for Hexo users who want a blog that looks like early Jianshu without building the layout themselves. It suits personal bloggers who prefer a clean three-column reading experience, developers who want local search and view counts without external dependencies, and Chinese-speaking users who benefit from the Chinese README and the author's Chinese-language optimization articles. Bloggers planning to monetize can also use it, since Google AdSense and Analytics are wired in.
What can you do with JSimple?
- Personal bloggers: Publish posts in a three-column layout with a night mode and local search, then share the site publicly with a sitemap for better discovery.
- Content writers: Organize posts into categories using the category_map feature, mapping visible menu names to concise internal slugs.
- Monetized blogs: Turn on Google AdSense (available since 0.0.7) and connect Google Analytics to track visitors, both configured from the theme's
_config.yml. - Self-hosted search users: Provide full-text search over all content using hexo-generator-search, which generates a search.json index at build time.
How does JSimple work?
To install, clone the repository into your Hexo site's themes folder, then add two runtime dependencies with yarn add hexo-generator-search hexo-generator-sitemap. After that, set theme: hexo-theme-jsimple in the site's _config.yml, add a search block pointing to search.json, and optionally configure sitemap and category_map. The theme is then rendered by Hexo's normal build process, generating static HTML with the search index included.
Pros and cons
- Pros: Free under the MIT license; lightweight and static; local search is self-hosted; includes day-night mode and view counters; no proprietary lock-in.
- Cons: Only Google Analytics and Disqus are supported for stats/comments, with the author explicitly declining to add others; the author warns this "may be the last update", so long-term maintenance is uncertain.
Pricing
JSimple is free and open-source software distributed under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers or premium features.
Alternatives
- NexT (hexo-theme-next) — A popular, feature-rich Hexo theme that the author credits for the improved local-search implementation.
- Hipaper (hexo-theme-hipaper) — The theme that JSimple is based on; both were designed by the same contributors and share a paper-like aesthetic.
FAQ
Is JSimple free?
Yes. JSimple is released under the MIT license, so you can use, modify, and redistribute it freely for personal or commercial blogs. There are no paid plans or hidden fees; you only need a Hexo site to run it.
How do I enable local search in JSimple?
Install hexo-generator-search and add a search block to your site's _config.yml with path: search.json, field: all, and content: true. After rebuilding, press the Shift key while on the site to open the search overlay.
Does JSimple support Google Analytics and Disqus?
Yes, those are the only two services supported for site statistics and comments. Configuration is done in the theme's _config.yml file. The author states there is no intention to add support for other providers, so alternatives like Gitalk or Valine are not built in.
Can I remove Google AdSense?
Yes. AdSense was added in version 0.0.7 and can be disabled in the theme configuration if you do not want ads. It is an optional feature, not a requirement.
