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Hugo Step by Step

804 words·4 mins·
Hugo
Table of Contents
Hugo Installation - This article is part of a series.
Part 2: Hugo Overview
Part 3: Hugo Prerequisites
Part 4: This Article
Part 5: Hugo on Chromebook
Part 5: Hugo Content Creation
Part 6: Hugo Server

Explain workflow reference
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New site from scratch (Hugo new site + new GitHub repo)
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1) Create new Hugo site locally
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Example: d: cd d:\sites
hugo new site site.demodocs.jamesfraze cd site.demodocs.jamesfraze

2) Initialize git and push to a new empty GitHub repo
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Create a new repo on GitHub with NO files:

  • site.demodocs.jamesfraze

Commands: git init git config –global –add safe.directory D:/sites/site.demodocs.jamesfraze git add -A git commit -m “first commit” git branch -M main git remote add origin https://github.com/rubysash/site.demodocs.jamesfraze.git git push -u origin main

Notes:

  • safe.directory is only needed if git complains about “dubious ownership”
  • git add -A is safest when you have deletions and lots of file moves

Pick/install theme
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Example themes (content/blog)
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Example themes (content/CTA)
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Installation example
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Uses Blowfish as the example theme

1) Get the theme source into themes/
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From site root: git clone https://github.com/nunocoracao/blowfish.git ./themes/blowfish

2) Remove the theme repo metadata (so it becomes part of your repo)
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Delete:

  • themes/blowfish/.git
  • themes/blowfish/.github
  • themes/blowfish/.vscode

3) Default config
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Preferred approach:

  • Keep site config in your repo at config/_default/
  • Do not rely on theme config files as the canonical source for your site

Steps:

  1. Delete root hugo.toml if present (optional, depends on how you want config organized)
  2. Copy: themes/blowfish/config/_default/ to: config/_default/

Then edit:

  • config/_default/hugo.toml
  • config/_default/params.toml

4) Cleanup
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Delete these from themes/blowfish:

  • update-github-data.sh
  • CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
  • CONTRIBUTING.md
  • .gitignore
  • .prettierignore
  • README*.md
  • LICENSE*
  • CHANGELOG*
  • SECURITY.md
  • NOTICE*
  • AUTHORS*

5) Copy exampleSite (optional)
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If you want demo content and demo config:

  • themes/blowfish/exampleSite

Be aware:

  • It is large
  • It includes multilingual content and demo keys
  • It can trigger ref errors if you delete language files without disabling languages

If you copy exampleSite, disable languages you are not shipping: disableLanguages = [“de”, “es”, “fr”, “it”, “ja”, “pt-br”, “pt-pt”, “zh-cn”]

Important:

  • If Netlify secret scanning flags AIza keys inside exampleSite, remove/replace them or delete exampleSite.

6) Test the site
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From site root: hugo server

Git hygiene
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Ignore build output
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Edit .gitignore and ensure these lines exist:

  • public/
  • resources/
  • .hugo_build.lock

If public/ was ever committed: git rm -r –cached public git add -A git commit -m “Stop tracking Hugo build output” git push

Netlify setup
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New project
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  • New Project -> Import -> GitHub
  • Select repo

Settings:

  • Base directory: /
  • Build command: hugo –gc –minify -b $URL
  • Publish directory: public

Environment variables:

  • HUGO_VERSION = 0.147.8

Deploy.

DNS setup
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Add domain in Netlify
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Netlify project -> Domain management -> Add domain:

  • demodocs.jamesfraze.com

Cloudflare DNS records
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  1. TXT record (verification)
  • Name: subdomain-owner-verification
  • Value: (Netlify-provided token)
  1. CNAME record (subdomain to Netlify site)
  • Name: demodocs
  • Target: demodocsjamesfraze.netlify.app

Wait for DNS propagation (often 5-30 minutes), then verify in Netlify.

Hidden Example
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GitHub repo privacy
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GitHub repo settings:

  • Danger Zone -> Change visibility -> Private

Netlify site password protection
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Netlify project -> General -> Password protection -> Configure password

Search/replace
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Use only if needed (exampleSite content often includes demo keys).

$old = 'SomeSecretorBad'
$new = 'PlaceholderAPIText'
Get-ChildItem -Path "D:\sites\site.demodocs.jamesfraze\themes\blowfish\exampleSite" -Recurse -File |
  ForEach-Object {
    $c = Get-Content $_.FullName -Raw
    if ($c -like "*$old*") {
      $c = $c.Replace($old, $new)
      Set-Content -Path $_.FullName -Value $c -NoNewline
      Write-Host "Replaced in:" $_.FullName
    }
  }

Verify it is gone: Get-ChildItem -Path “D:\sites\site.demodocs.jamesfraze\themes\blowfish\exampleSite” -Recurse -File | Select-String -Pattern “AIza”

Reclone
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Goal
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  • Duplicate an existing site repo as a starting point
  • Push it into a different GitHub repo
  • Create a new Netlify site and bind a new domain/subdomain

DNS prep (example: digitalcrunch.com)
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Add CNAME in Cloudflare:

  • Name: workers
  • Target: workersdigitalcrunch.netlify.app

Create GitHub repo (empty)
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Clone from source repo into a new folder name
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cd d:\sites
git clone https://github.com/rubysash/site.demodocs.jamesfraze.git site.workers.digitalcrunch
cd site.workers.digitalcrunch

If git complains about ownership: git config –global –add safe.directory D:/sites/site.workers.digitalcrunch

Point origin to the new repo
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git remote set-url origin https://github.com/rubysash/site.workers.digitalcrunch.git
git remote -v

Customize
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  • edit config/
  • edit content/

Commit and push
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git status
git add -A
git commit -m "Initial workers site"
git push

Netlify project for the new repo
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  • New Project -> Import -> GitHub
  • Select site.workers.digitalcrunch repo

Settings:

  • Base directory: /
  • Build command: hugo –gc –minify -b $URL
  • Publish directory: public
  • Env var: HUGO_VERSION = 0.147.8

Add domain in Netlify and verify
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Quick troubleshooting checklist
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If Hugo shows REF_NOT_FOUND in languages (fr/de/etc.)
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  • You deleted language-specific files but still have those languages enabled Fix:
  • Disable languages in config, or restore language files

If Netlify secret scanning fails on AIza strings
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  • Remove demo keys from config/content/themes/exampleSite
  • Ensure public/ is not committed
  • Re-run a repo search before pushing

If buymeacoffee widget appears unexpectedly
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  • Ensure you changed your site config (config/_default/params.toml), not only theme defaults
  • Explicitly set the related params to false in site config
Hugo Installation - This article is part of a series.
Part 2: Hugo Overview
Part 3: Hugo Prerequisites
Part 4: This Article
Part 5: Hugo on Chromebook
Part 5: Hugo Content Creation
Part 6: Hugo Server