Kidlat Hugo Theme is a low-bandwidth, text-only Hugo theme designed to deliver news and blog content with zero JavaScript and a perfect PageSpeed score.
What is Kidlat Hugo Theme?
Kidlat Hugo Theme is a theme for the Hugo static site generator. It takes Hugo content as input and produces a responsive, text-first website. The theme is verified to work with Hugo versions v0.110.0 through v0.121.2. It is developed by the Kidlat News project, which uses the theme in production at kidl.at, and is open source under the Apache License 2.0.
Key Features
- Low-bandwidth design — The theme is text-only, meaning it does not load images unless you specify them in the front matter, minimizing data transfer.
- No JavaScript — The theme functions entirely without client-side scripting, improving load times and accessibility.
- Responsive layout — The layout adapts to screen sizes using media queries, with automatic light/dark mode based on the user's system preference.
- No framework — Built with plain HTML and CSS, with no dependency on CSS frameworks or build tools.
- Full-text RSS feed — Generates an RSS feed containing full article content, not just excerpts.
- Perfect PageSpeed score — The demo site scores 100% on performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO on PageSpeed Insights.
- Schema.org metadata — Optional front matter for article types like Article, NewsArticle, and BlogPosting.
- Attribution and license display — Supports image attribution and per-article license display via front matter.
Who is it for?
- News publishers — Run a text-focused news site like Kidlat News without heavy assets.
- Bloggers — Create a fast, accessible blog with simple configuration.
- Privacy-conscious site owners — Deliver content with no tracking scripts or external dependencies.
- Performance extremists — Achieve a perfect PageSpeed score with minimal effort.
What can you do with Kidlat Hugo Theme?
- Publish news articles — Use front matter for content_type, images, and attribution to create structured articles.
- Customize branding — Set a short title, display name, logo, and footer via the config file.
- Share on social media — Specify image metadata for social sharing, and optionally add a Comment on X link after the post date using xurl.
How does Kidlat Hugo Theme work?
Installation is straightforward: copy the kidlat folder into your Hugo themes directory, set theme: kidlat in config.yaml, and move the provided css folder into your static folder. Then configure baseURL, title, and params like short_title, display_name, license, and footer in the site configuration. Optional front matter controls metadata for articles.
FAQ
Is Kidlat Hugo Theme free?
Yes, it is open source and licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
Does Kidlat Hugo Theme use JavaScript?
No, the theme is completely free of JavaScript, which contributes to its speed and accessibility.
What Hugo versions are supported?
It is verified to work with Hugo versions v0.110.0 through v0.121.2.
Does it include images?
By default the theme is text-only, but you can specify image metadata in the front matter for social sharing, and attribute images with a license.
