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I just started using Hugo, but boy, are the docs bad... and I mean REAL BAD. It took me an HOUR to setup a theme. Then another 30 mins to realize I've set up th

I just started using Hugo, but boy, are the docs bad... and I mean REAL BAD. It took me an HOUR to setup a theme. Then another 30 mins to realize I've set up the theme the wrong way, using a git submodule, instead of a go module. Then installation of the go module itself took another 30 mins of debugging, because nothing was working out of the box. And nowhere in the documentations are things explained for novices. The docs are written in a way that assumes you already know Hugo's ins and outs. uh... At this point, I would've been better off with a WordPress install that takes 5 minutes to do manually.

crecker 4y ago
Bep is rewriting the docs because are really incomprehensible. I do agree with you.
- yawpitch 4y ago
  Four years ago Bep was rewriting the docs because they were incomprehensible (https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/)… https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/... last week I started looking again, and I wouldn’t say anything has improved, nor do I expect it to in 4 more.
  - pooper 4y ago
    Note to reader: the link is mangled up a little I think because of the closing parentheses? Here is a link without parentheses https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/ https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/
mhb 4y ago
Is there a good alternative? Would be nice if it is in Python. Maybe Pelican, Nikola, Hyde?
- antihero 4y ago
  Astro is pretty awesome if you’re ok with TS/JS.
- thunky 4y ago
  Cobalt is nice if you want simple: https://cobalt-org.github.io/ https://cobalt-org.github.io/ It's not python, but it is a single binary to be off and running.
  - linsomniac 4y ago
    Thanks for the pointer, I hadn't heard of that one. I'd put it in the same department as "gostatic" as being too minimal, unless you want to build the templates yourself. gostatic allowed me to have tags where from a quick look cobalt does not. edit: Forgot to mention: The install option seems to be broken, you have to go into "Reference" to the install guide to find an alternative.
- huimang 4y ago
  Hugo is really nice once you spend some time learning the templating system and how the variables get set up. It does have a learning curve at first, but I don't find any of the alternatives to be as compelling as hugo once you're up and running.
- richardw 4y ago
  Hugo is great but the learning curve is madness. I've used it twice with a couple years in-between, and succeeded, but it's very annoying to have 1-3 hours of failure before you see anything useful. Add theme, follow tutorial, somehow blows up, need to figure out exactly where to put what, round and round then find a tiny wedge that works and just expand that until I have something that does what I need. But once it's set up it's really fast and you can iterate on your pages very nicely. No "tons of imports" that I needed with Jekyll.
- simplyinfinity 4y ago
  WordPress. I hate its guts, but my god does it just work. Or I'm just going to give up and use squarespace or webflow, or something like that. I've got a full time job, managing this is not worth the mental energy it takes to learn all it's quirks.
stavros 4y ago
I've tried to use Hugo a few times, but quickly gave up after failing to figure out how to do the simplest things. Too bad, it seems very popular.
x1sec 4y ago
Had a similar experience, so I decided today to write a Github action[1] that automatically takes the contents of an Obsidian[2] vault, generates static content with Hugo and publishes it on Github pages. Hopefully I have documented the steps clearly [3]. After initial setup, the idea is you can edit a blog on any machine (not requiring Hugo locally). Just check out a repository, make changes and do a `git push`. All the hard work is done in a Github runner. I wanted a simple way to be able to cut and paste screenshots into Markdown and generate a static site. Obsidian is both an excellent note taking tool and editor, so it seemed appropriate. Of course the markdown files can be edited with any editor. [1] https://github.com/marketplace/actions/obsidian-to-hugo-pages https://github.com/marketplace/actions/obsidian-to-hugo-page... [2] https://obsidian.md/ https://obsidian.md/ [3] https://blog.x1sec.com/posts/obsidian-to-hugo-github-pages-action/ https://blog.x1sec.com/posts/obsidian-to-hugo-github-pages-a...
oliwarner 4y ago
With Astro orwwq 11ty, I'm not sur or e why 9ooo up to it I>oop9 of ot33 just up 3eoo8 E3 w
gedw99 4y ago
so its not just me --- amen i am not nuts

crecker 4y ago

Bep is rewriting the docs because are really incomprehensible. I do agree with you.

yawpitch 4y ago
Four years ago Bep was rewriting the docs because they were incomprehensible (https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/)… https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/... last week I started looking again, and I wouldn’t say anything has improved, nor do I expect it to in 4 more.
- pooper 4y ago
  Note to reader: the link is mangled up a little I think because of the closing parentheses? Here is a link without parentheses https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/ https://yawpitchroll.com/posts/hugo-probably-is-not-for-you/

mhb 4y ago

Is there a good alternative? Would be nice if it is in Python. Maybe Pelican, Nikola, Hyde?

antihero 4y ago
Astro is pretty awesome if you’re ok with TS/JS.
thunky 4y ago
Cobalt is nice if you want simple: https://cobalt-org.github.io/ https://cobalt-org.github.io/ It's not python, but it is a single binary to be off and running.
- linsomniac 4y ago
  Thanks for the pointer, I hadn't heard of that one. I'd put it in the same department as "gostatic" as being too minimal, unless you want to build the templates yourself. gostatic allowed me to have tags where from a quick look cobalt does not. edit: Forgot to mention: The install option seems to be broken, you have to go into "Reference" to the install guide to find an alternative.
huimang 4y ago
Hugo is really nice once you spend some time learning the templating system and how the variables get set up. It does have a learning curve at first, but I don't find any of the alternatives to be as compelling as hugo once you're up and running.
richardw 4y ago
Hugo is great but the learning curve is madness. I've used it twice with a couple years in-between, and succeeded, but it's very annoying to have 1-3 hours of failure before you see anything useful. Add theme, follow tutorial, somehow blows up, need to figure out exactly where to put what, round and round then find a tiny wedge that works and just expand that until I have something that does what I need. But once it's set up it's really fast and you can iterate on your pages very nicely. No "tons of imports" that I needed with Jekyll.
simplyinfinity 4y ago
WordPress. I hate its guts, but my god does it just work. Or I'm just going to give up and use squarespace or webflow, or something like that. I've got a full time job, managing this is not worth the mental energy it takes to learn all it's quirks.

stavros 4y ago

I've tried to use Hugo a few times, but quickly gave up after failing to figure out how to do the simplest things. Too bad, it seems very popular.

x1sec 4y ago

Had a similar experience, so I decided today to write a Github action[1] that automatically takes the contents of an Obsidian[2] vault, generates static content with Hugo and publishes it on Github pages. Hopefully I have documented the steps clearly [3]. After initial setup, the idea is you can edit a blog on any machine (not requiring Hugo locally). Just check out a repository, make changes and do a `git push`. All the hard work is done in a Github runner. I wanted a simple way to be able to cut and paste screenshots into Markdown and generate a static site. Obsidian is both an excellent note taking tool and editor, so it seemed appropriate. Of course the markdown files can be edited with any editor. [1] https://github.com/marketplace/actions/obsidian-to-hugo-pages https://github.com/marketplace/actions/obsidian-to-hugo-page... [2] https://obsidian.md/ https://obsidian.md/ [3] https://blog.x1sec.com/posts/obsidian-to-hugo-github-pages-action/ https://blog.x1sec.com/posts/obsidian-to-hugo-github-pages-a...

oliwarner 4y ago

With Astro orwwq 11ty, I'm not sur or e why 9ooo up to it I>oop9 of ot33 just up 3eoo8 E3 w

gedw99 4y ago

so its not just me --- amen i am not nuts