The Nehalem Gatsby Starter is a starting point for building a blog or content site with the @nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehalem theme, delivering a fully typed, SEO-ready Gatsby site out of the box.
What is the Nehalem Gatsby Starter?
The Nehalem Gatsby Starter is a GitHub template that installs the @nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehalem theme into a new Gatsby project. You run gatsby new your-site-name https://github.com/nehalist/gatsby-starter-nehalem to scaffold a site, then gatsby develop to view it at localhost:8000. The starter is developed by nehalist.io and the theme source lives in the repository nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehalem.
Key Features
- Fully responsive — The layout adapts to screen sizes across devices.
- Highly optimized — The theme reports a near-perfect Lighthouse score of about 400, covering performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO.
- SEO built-in — Open Graph tags, Twitter Card metadata, JSON-LD structured data, an RSS feed, and a sitemap are generated automatically.
- Syntax highlighting — Code blocks render with highlighted syntax for technical posts.
- Search functionality — Visitors can search the site's content directly from the interface.
- Multiple navigations — The theme supports more than one navigation menu, letting you organize pages into sections.
- Static pages — Add standalone pages like About or Contact in addition to blog posts.
- Fully typed — The entire codebase is written in TypeScript, giving you type safety in your own customization.
- Tagging — Posts can be tagged, and tag archives are available.
- Theming — The appearance is driven by a theme system, so you can restyle the site by adjusting theme variables.
- Customizable — You can override the theme's components and options from your Gatsby site.
Who should use the Nehalem Gatsby Starter?
- Developers building a personal blog or company site with Gatsby who want TypeScript types and a component-based layout already configured.
- Technical writers who need syntax highlighting, search, RSS, and SEO metadata without wiring up plugins manually.
- Design-conscious bloggers who want a responsive, themeable site and are comfortable editing Gatsby/React components to change the look.
What can you do with the Nehalem Gatsby Starter?
- Launch a blog: Use the starter to create a production-ready blog, then deploy it to Netlify (the demo lives at nehalem.netlify.com) or any static host.
- Customize the theme: Import
@nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehaleminto your own Gatsby site and override its options to change navigation, theme colors, and more. - Add static pages: Create extra pages beyond the blog feed for content like a portfolio, resume, or project showcase.
- Showcase your writing: Use built-in tagging and search to organize and surface posts for readers.
How does the Nehalem Gatsby Starter work?
Installation is two commands. First, run gatsby new your-site-name https://github.com/nehalist/gatsby-starter-nehalem to clone the starter into a new directory. Second, cd into that directory and run gatsby develop to start the development server at localhost:8000. The starter already wires up the Nehalem theme, so the site works immediately.
FAQ
Is the Nehalem Gatsby Starter free?
Yes. The starter and the underlying theme are open source and available on GitHub at nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehalem. You can fork them, use them for commercial projects, and contribute changes.
What do I need to install the starter?
You need Node.js and the Gatsby CLI (or npx). The gatsby new command copies the starter and installs dependencies. From there, gatsby develop runs a local server.
Does the starter include SEO features?
It does. SEO optimizations are built in: Open Graph tags, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD structured data, an RSS feed, and a sitemap are generated automatically.
Can I customize the theme further?
Yes. The theme is built to be customizable. You can alter theme options, override components, and write custom styling using the theme's theming system. Because the code is TypeScript, you get type guidance during customization.
Where is the documentation?
The full documentation is available on the demo site at nehalem.netlify.com and in the GitHub repository at nehalist/gatsby-theme-nehalem.
