Mala Theme

Mala Theme is a dark-mode Hexo blog theme forked from iissnan/hexo-theme-next, distributed via the magiclamp branch of the idhyt/hexo-theme-next repository. It adapts the classic NexT design into a black scheme and centralizes every theme option into the site-level _config.yml, so theme updates won't overwrite your settings. The repository metadata reports 70 stars, indicating a small but used open-source project.

What is Mala Theme?

Mala Theme is a Hexo blog theme that runs on Node.js through Hexo's theming system. You configure it by setting theme: magiclamp in the site root _config.yml and scheme: Mala in the theme's own _config.yml. The theme outputs a static HTML blog with a dark interface, sidebar, and post pages. It is authored by idhyt and based on the older iissnan/hexo-theme-next codebase.

Key Features

• Dark-mode design — The theme's distinctive look is a black/dark version of NexT; the repository screenshot shows a dark blog interface.
• Centralized configuration — Options like donate, suprise, busuanzi, jiathis, baidu_share, disqus_shortname, social, links, creative_commons, google_site_verification, google_analytics, baidu_analytics, swiftype_key, and since all live in the site's root _config.yml, not inside the theme folder.
• Donation widget — A built-in "reward" block that accepts WeChat and Alipay QR code image URLs, toggled by donate.enable.
• Comment via Disqus only — The update from 2017-05-01 removed all Duoshuo (多说) functionality, leaving Disqus as the sole comment back-end.
• Analytics and counting — Supports Google Analytics, Baidu Analytics, and Busuanzi (a non-necessary visitor counter) via simple boolean/string fields.
• Social sidebar — Configure icon links for GitHub, Twitter, Weibo, Zhihu, and more under the social key.
• Friend links — A customizable "Links" block with links_title and a list of name–URL pairs.
• Creative Commons license — Choose a CC license from by, by-nc, by-nc-nd, by-nc-sa, by-nd, by-sa, or zero via creative_commons.
• Search integration — Swiftype search key (swiftype_key) enables on-site search.

Who is it for?

• Hexo bloggers who want a dark theme — Ideal for developers and writers who prefer a darker reading interface instead of NexT's default light theme.
• Existing NexT users — Because it's a fork of iissnan/hexo-theme-next, migration is nearly seamless: clone the magiclamp branch, rename the folder, and change two config lines.
• Chinese-speaking bloggers — The configuration comments are written in Chinese, and it natively supports Baidu Analytics, Baidu Share, and WeChat/Alipay donation.
• Self-hosted static site owners — Works with GitHub Pages and Coding Pages deployments, as the sample config includes a deploy section for both.

What can you do with Mala Theme?

• Add one-click reward buttons — Enable donate.enable and paste your WeChat/Alipay QR code image URLs to display a donation section under posts.
• Track visitors — Insert your Google Analytics ID or Baidu Analytics ID in the root config and start collecting page-view stats immediately.
• Show social profiles — Fill the social dictionary with your GitHub, Twitter, Weibo, Zhihu URLs and the sidebar will render them.
• Display a site counter — Set busuanzi: true to activate the Busuanzi page-view counter.
• Pick a sharing service — Toggle jiathis or baidu_share to enable the corresponding post-share buttons.

How does Mala Theme work?

1. Inside your Hexo project, go to the themes directory.
2. Run git clone -b magiclamp git@github.com:idhyt/hexo-theme-next.git.
3. Rename the resulting folder to magiclamp with mv hexo-theme-next magiclamp.
4. Edit the site's _config.yml and set theme: magiclamp.
5. Edit themes/magiclamp/_config.yml and set scheme: Mala.
6. Configure all Mala-specific options at the bottom of the site root _config.yml under the "Begin Mala Theme configuration" section.