Oliver is a simple, responsive Hexo theme for personal blogs that adds dark mode support and keeps the focus on content.
What is Oliver?
Oliver is a Hexo theme that accepts a Hexo site's Markdown posts and configuration and renders them into a static blog with a clean, minimal layout. It runs on Hexo, a Node.js-based static site generator, and outputs plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that can be hosted on any static web server. The theme is open-sourced on GitHub, has earned 35 stars, and its repository description reads "A Simple Hexo Template." A live demo is available at https://el42.cc, showing the theme in production with posts, navigation, and dark mode styling.
Key Features
- Responsive design — The theme adapts its layout to different screen widths, making the blog readable on phones, tablets, and desktops without separate mobile styles.
- Dark mode support — A built-in dark color scheme lets readers switch to a low-light-friendly interface, matching current reading preferences.
- Simple aesthetic — The design uses minimal visual decoration and a straightforward typography approach, so written content stands out without sidebar clutter or heavy styling.
- Open-source codebase — The GitHub repository is public, so you can read, fork, and modify every part of the theme's HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Hexo-native — The theme plugs directly into Hexo's theme system, using Hexo's configuration and template variables to generate pages for posts, tags, and archives.
Who is it for?
Oliver suits personal bloggers who want a modest, fast blog without learning a complex framework. It is also a good fit for developers who already run Hexo and want a ready-made theme they can customize. Writers who prefer a dark interface for reading will appreciate the built-in dark mode. Since the demo site is live, anyone can preview the theme before installing.
What can you do with Oliver?
- Launch a personal blog — Create a Hexo project, install Oliver as the theme, and write posts in Markdown; the theme turns them into a navigable site with a home page and individual post pages.
- Customize the look — Edit the theme's CSS and template files to adjust colors, fonts, and layout details to match your own preferences, then regenerate the site.
- Deploy anywhere — The static output can be pushed to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or any other static file host, with no server-side dependencies.
