Monopriv is a free, MIT-licensed Hugo theme for building personal blogs with a monospace typography style, developed by kskarthik and hosted on GitLab.
What is Monopriv?
Monopriv is a Hugo theme that turns Markdown content from a Hugo site into a responsive personal blog layout with a monospace font throughout. It takes Markdown content and a config.toml file as input, and produces a static HTML site using Bootstrap 4 for styling, with integrated DuckDuckGo search and optional Disqus comments and analytics. The theme was created by kskarthik and is maintained on GitLab, with the latest commit dated May 26, 2020. It includes an exampleSite folder with a complete working configuration, so you can copy it to start your own blog immediately.
Key Features
- Monospace font — The entire theme uses a monospace typeface, giving the blog a terminal-like, code-friendly aesthetic that suits technical writers.
- Bootstrap 4 framework — Layout and responsive utilities are built on Bootstrap 4 CSS, so the theme adapts to mobile, tablet, and desktop viewports out of the box.
- Works without JavaScript — The site's core structure and content render without JavaScript, making it fast and resilient when scripts are blocked; JavaScript is only used for optional features like Disqus.
- DuckDuckGo site search — A search bar is integrated that queries DuckDuckGo to find content within your site, without needing a separate search index.
- Optional Disqus and analytics — Disqus comments and analytics tracking can be enabled or disabled from the config file, and both are turned off by default for privacy reasons.
- Fully responsive — The theme adapts to all screen sizes with Bootstrap 4's responsive grid system, as demonstrated by the included mobile screenshot in the repository.
- Personal blog focus — The layout is structured specifically for single-author blogs, with an index page that lists posts, an archetype template for new posts, and a footer that credits the theme.
Who is it for?
Monopriv is built for developers and writers who want a minimalist, text-focused blog without visual clutter. If you are a programmer who writes about code, the monospace font pairs naturally with code snippets and terminal commands. If you care about privacy and page speed, the no-JavaScript default and disabled analytics help you ship a lean blog. If you are already familiar with Hugo, the exampleSite and archetypes folders let you scaffold a new blog in minutes by copying the configuration.
What can you do with Monopriv?
- Developers: Publish technical articles and code walkthroughs in a monospace layout that keeps code snippets readable and integrated with the text.
- Privacy-conscious bloggers: Run a blog that works with JavaScript disabled and ships without third-party analytics until you explicitly turn them on.
- Hugo learners: Use the bundled exampleSite and archetypes to study how a minimal Hugo theme is structured and then customize the layouts to your own design.
How does Monopriv work?
Monopriv works as a standard Hugo theme: you clone the repository into your Hugo site's themes directory, then reference it in your site's config.toml by naming the theme "monopriv". Content written as Markdown files in your content folder is rendered into HTML using the layouts in the theme, with the exampleSite showing a complete working setup you can copy to get started immediately.
FAQ
Is Monopriv free?
Yes, Monopriv is free to use and released under the MIT license, which allows commercial use, modification, and redistribution as long as the original copyright notice is retained.
What static site generator does Monopriv require?
Monopriv is built for Hugo, a static site generator. You need a Hugo site set up with the theme placed in the themes folder and added to your config.toml. It does not work with Jekyll or other generators.
Does Monopriv work without JavaScript?
Yes, the theme is designed to work without JavaScript. The main content and layout render fine with scripts disabled; JavaScript is only needed for optional features such as Disqus comments if you choose to enable them.
How do I enable Disqus or analytics in Monopriv?
Both Disqus and analytics are controlled from the config file. They are disabled by default for privacy; to enable them, add the relevant settings to your site's config.toml as documented in the theme's exampleSite configuration.
