Twenty Nineteen Hugo is a Hugo theme that ports WordPress's Twenty Nineteen theme to the Hugo static site generator. It converts Markdown content with frontmatter into a static blog with featured images, multiple menus, and built-in search and analytics support.
What is Twenty Nineteen Hugo?
Twenty Nineteen Hugo is a Hugo theme based on WordPress's Twenty Nineteen template, maintained in the jeremybise/twentynineteen-hugo repository. As input it takes Hugo content files (posts and pages written in Markdown with frontmatter) and produces a static HTML site styled after the classic WordPress Twenty Nineteen design. The theme is open-sourced under the GPL license, the same license inherited from the original WordPress theme. Unlike the WordPress original, the Hugo port omits comment and author functionality.
Key Features
- Configurable accent color — Set the
accent_colorparameter inconfig.tomlto change the color used for links and image filters; it defaults to blue. - Featured images — Add
image: /path/to/image.jpgto a post or page's frontmatter to display a featured image at the top of that content. - Featured image filter effect — The theme applies a color filter to featured images, and you can turn it off by setting
disable_image_filters = truein site params. - Three menu locations —
main,social, andfootermenus are supported using Hugo's built-in menu system, and submenus work one level deep. - Social menu icons — Social menu entries display icons selected by the entry's
identifier; a library of icons lives in the theme'slayouts/partials/icons/socialfolder. - Syntax highlighting — The theme includes the Monokai Light syntax highlighting scheme, so code blocks render highlighted out of the box.
- Image alignment and captions — Image alignment and caption styles from the original theme are adapted to work with Hugo's built-in
figureshortcode. - Search support — Add
JSONto the home output formats inconfig.tomland create asearch.mdpage withtype: staticandlayout: searchto enable a search index. - Google Analytics — Set the
googleAnalyticsvalue inconfig.tomlto include the asynchronous tracking script on live pages; it is not injected on the development server.
Who is it for?
Hugo users who want the look and feel of the classic WordPress Twenty Nineteen theme without running WordPress. Bloggers who need a content-focused theme with featured images, a tagline, and social links. Developers who want a Hugo starting point with search, Google Analytics, and configurable menus already wired up.
What can you do with Twenty Nineteen Hugo?
- Bloggers: Publish Markdown posts with featured images and enjoy the filter effect, or disable filters per site if preferred.
- Site owners: Add a footer privacy policy link using the
privacy_linkparameter, with the link only appearing when that parameter is set. - Developers: Set up site search by enabling JSON output and adding a search page, then configure Google Analytics with one line in
config.toml.
How does Twenty Nineteen Hugo work?
Install the theme as a git submodule from https://github.com/jeremybise/twentynineteen-hugo.git into themes/twentynineteen-hugo, then set theme = "twentynineteen-hugo" in your site's config.toml. To update, run git submodule update --remote --merge. After installation, configure site parameters, menus, and optional search or analytics via config.toml.
FAQ
Does Twenty Nineteen Hugo support comments and authors?
No. The Hugo port deliberately omits the comment and author features that exist in the original WordPress Twenty Nineteen theme.
How do I set a featured image?
Add image: /path/to/image.jpg to the frontmatter of any post or page. The theme will display that image as the featured image for the content.
Can I disable the image filter effect?
Yes. Set disable_image_filters = true in the [params] section of your config.toml to turn off the color filter applied to featured images.
How do I enable site search?
Add JSON to the home outputs in config.toml, then create a search.md file at the root of your content folder with frontmatter type: static and layout: search.
Is Twenty Nineteen Hugo free?
Yes. The theme is open-sourced under the GPL license, inherited from the original WordPress Twenty Nineteen theme.




