plague

plague is a minimal Hugo theme that adds IndieWeb microformats such as h-card and h-entry to a design inspired by Jekyll's Minima and the Indigo theme.

What is plague?

plague is a Hugo theme created by Brian Reumere, distributed via GitHub at github.com/brianreumere/plague. It takes a Hugo site's content — Markdown pages, blog posts, and configuration in hugo.toml — and renders it with built-in microformats and two color schemes. The theme runs on any Hugo site and can be installed either as a Hugo module or as a Git submodule, with a demo site available at brianreumere.github.io/plague-demo-site.

Key Features

• IndieWeb microformats — Automatically includes h-card in the site footer and h-entry on single post pages, with social links carrying the rel="me" attribute.
• Two built-in color schemes — default and gibson, each with automatic light/dark varieties based on prefers-color-scheme, plus forced variants like default-light, default-dark, gibson-light, and gibson-dark.
• Flexible installation — Supports Hugo modules via hugo mod init and a module import in hugo.toml, or a Git submodule under themes/plague with theme = "plague".
• Customizable h-card — Configure fullName, avatar, pronouns, location, and an array of social platforms; icons are SVG files you place in an icons directory at your site root.
• Accessibility-oriented — Aims to work with assistive technologies, using ARIA roles and aria-hidden attributes; the author cites WAVE and MDN accessibility docs as development resources.
• Useful Hugo shortcodes — An icon shortcode inlines decorative SVGs from your icons folder, and a callout shortcode renders a paragraph with the callout class and ARIA note role.
• Flexible footer — Supports siteFooterText with Markdown, rendered in a right-hand column next to the h-card.
• Multiple page layouts — Homepage renders content/_index.md, posts list via posts/_index.md, standalone pages via a standalone layout, and single posts using the single layout.

Who is it for?

• IndieWeb enthusiasts who want their blog posts and author identity automatically marked up with microformats such as h-card and h-entry, making content interoperable with IndieWeb tools.
• Hugo users who prefer a minimal, Minima-inspired theme with two built-in color schemes and no JavaScript framework overhead.
• Accessibility-minded developers who need a theme that intentionally targets assistive technologies and includes ARIA roles in its markup.
• Self-hosters who want a personal blog with a simple setup, social icons, and location information in the footer without a heavyweight CMS.

What can you do with plague?

• Personal bloggers: Set up a blog with a posts section, using filenames for post dates via the [frontmatter] configuration, and render the homepage from content/_index.md.
• IndieWeb publishers: Add your author h-card with full name, avatar, pronouns, and social links; the theme outputs rel="me" links for verification.
• Custom site builders: Use the icon shortcode to inline SVG icons and the callout shortcode to highlight notes in your Markdown content.
• Page variety: Start with a homepage, a list of posts, and standalone pages like contact, all controllable through menu weights in front matter.

How does plague work?

Install the theme via Hugo modules or as a Git submodule, then configure hugo.toml with the required baseURL, languageCode, title, module import, and [params] values. The theme reads the h-card data from [params.hcard], applies the chosen color scheme, and renders microformats in the footer and on single posts. Social icons are loaded from SVGs stored in the icons directory, with the %s placeholder in url_pattern replaced by your identity.

FAQ

What color schemes does plague offer?

plague includes two built-in color schemes: default and gibson. Each has light and dark varieties that are automatically selected based on the visitor's prefers-color-scheme setting. You can force a specific variety by setting colors to values like default-light, default-dark, gibson-light, or gibson-dark.

Does plague support microformats?

Yes. plague implements IndieWeb microformats, including h-card for the author in the site footer and h-entry on single post pages. The h-card supports full name, avatar, pronouns, location, and social links, and social links include the rel="me" attribute.

How do I add social icons to the h-card?

Place an SVG file in the icons directory at the root of your Hugo site. The filename should match the platform value you set in the social array inside [params.hcard]. The theme builds the link using the url_pattern, substituting %s with your identity value.

Can I use plague with Hugo modules?

Yes. Initialize your repo with hugo mod init, then add a module.imports entry in hugo.toml pointing to github.com/brianreumere/plague. Alternatively, add the theme as a Git submodule and set theme = "plague".