Simple Frame is a minimal Hugo theme for blogs and personal sites that compiles Markdown content into a static website, requiring Hugo 0.120 or higher and the extended build of Hugo.
What is Simple Frame?
Simple Frame is a Hugo theme distributed under the MIT license, built by GitHub user Dim0000. It takes Hugo's Markdown content and generates a static site with a clean, lightweight layout intended for blogs and personal sites. The theme runs on the Hugo static site generator and depends on Hugo's extended version to compile assets. The repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow for publishing the generated site to GitHub Pages.
Key Features
- Sidebar widgets — configurable widgets for search, categories, tag list, recent posts, and archives, toggled through the sidebar parameters.
- Taxonomies — native support for tags, categories, and an archives taxonomy, defined in the theme's configuration.
- Post metadata — display date, categories, and tag lists on individual posts via the post_meta setting, with configurable date formats.
- Table of contents — automatic TOC generation per page, enabled with the "toc" parameter.
- Pagination — paginated list pages for archives and section listings, controlled by the "pager" parameter.
- Related content — related post suggestions based on shared tags and categories, with configurable index weights (80 for tags, 60 for categories).
- GitHub Pages deployment — a pre-configured GitHub Actions workflow named gh-pages.yml builds and deploys the theme to GitHub Pages.
- Flexible main sections — the mainSections parameter can include both "post" and "docs", allowing documentation alongside blog posts.
Who is it for?
Simple Frame suits individuals who want a fast, no-frills static site without a heavy design. Bloggers can write posts in Markdown and publish through Hugo's build pipeline. Developers who prefer Hugo's templating system can customize the theme's partials and layouts. Technical writers can use the docs section alongside regular posts for project documentation.
What can you do with Simple Frame?
- Personal bloggers: publish Markdown posts organized by tags and categories, with recent post and archive widgets for readers.
- Developers: deploy the generated static site to GitHub Pages automatically from the provided workflow.
- Technical writers: create a docs section by adding docs to the mainSections parameter, then link related documentation via the related content feature.
- Site owners: add a client-side search widget via the sidebar configuration to help visitors find content.
FAQ
Does Simple Frame require a specific Hugo version?
Yes, Simple Frame requires Hugo 0.120 or higher, and it must be the extended version of Hugo. Without the extended build, the theme may not compile correctly. Hugo extended is available for free from the official Hugo releases.
Is Simple Frame free to use?
Yes, Simple Frame is released under the MIT license, so it is free to use, modify, and distribute. A copy of the license is include in the repository.
What taxonomies does Simple Frame support?
Simple Frame defines three taxonomies: tags, categories, and archives. These can be used in front matter to organize posts. The sidebar widgets for categories and tag lists show counters when the categories_counter and tags_counter parameters are enabled.
Can I deploy Simple Frame to GitHub Pages?
Yes, the repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow file for GitHub Pages deployment. The badge in the README indicates the build status. You can push your site repository to GitHub and run the workflow to publish automatically.
How do I configure the sidebar widgets?
In the theme's configuration file, set the sidebar widgets parameter to a list such as search, categories, taglist, recent, and archives. The sidebar position for home, list, and single pages can also be set to left or right.
