[kengrimes.com/content.git] / content / ox-hugo-tutorial.md

---
title: "Using ox-hugo To Build Websites with Emacs"
author: ["Ken Grimes"]
date: 2018-04-19T18:06:00-07:00
tags: ["org", "emacs", "hugo"]
categories: ["tutorial"]
draft: false
header: "/img/org.png"
---

This article explains in detail the process of setting up a bare-bones website
using Hugo and Org mode. My goal in writing this is to provide readers with a
superior understanding of the fundamentals of this workflow. It is by no means
an exhaustive explanation of Org mode or Emacs, but should give readers of any
skill level a strong foundation to apply their own knowledge and techniques to
the Emacs-Hugo toolchain.

I assume only beginner-level knowledge of Emacs.


# Intro & Setup {#intro-and-setup}

[Kaushal Modi](https://github.com/kaushalmodi) created ox-hugo on top of his ox-blackfriday package, providing an
impressive amount of features for organizing blog text and linked data with
Hugo. He maintains [great documentation](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/) and ample [examples](https://github.com/kaushalmodi/ox-hugo/tree/master/test/site/content-org) for using the
package. I will explain my own workflow here, but for an exhaustive (though
terse) reference, I highly recommend Modi's [test site](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/test/) and [post source](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kaushalmodi/ox-hugo/master/test/site/content-org/all-posts.org) Org file,
which contain demonstrations and tests for all of ox-hugo's features.

After issuing the Emacs command `M-x package-install RET ox-hugo RET`, you'll
need to `require` it. You can do this by running `M-: (require 'ox-hugo)`, but
you'll want to add it to your configuration as explained [here](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/usage/). Once this is
done, using ox-hugo is just a matter of making an Org file and writing
content. Org's format is very straightforward, and is designed to make sense to
the reader even if they're unfamiliar with the formal syntax. For instance,

```org
* My food
| Where's My Food? | Fridge | Counter | Mouth | Total          |
| Oranges          |      1 |       3 |     0 | :=vsum($2..$4) |
| Marshmallows     |      0 |     100 |    20 | :=vsum($2..$4) |
| Brussel Sprouts  |     32 |       4 |     0 | :=vsum($2..$4) |
```

Produces a dynamic spreadsheet table in Org mode that exports to HTML like this:


## My food {#my-food}

| Where's My Food? | Fridge | Counter | Mouth | Total |
|------------------|--------|---------|-------|-------|
| Oranges          | 1      | 3       | 0     | 4     |
| Marshmallows     | 0      | 100     | 20    | 120   |
| Brussel Sprouts  | 32     | 4       | 0     | 36    |

If you're already familiar with Org mode, the benefits are obvious and creating
content is fairly trivial. Org mode is, however, a complex and expansive program
with many features, and its learning curve can appear daunting at first glance.
Using ox-hugo is a great way to learn the format, since it gives the author a
command-center view of their entire content hierarchy, much like a traditional
database, but in a flat format that's much easier to read and understand. Org
features present themselves naturally, and the author can easily visualize the
correspondence between the Org format and the output on their webpage.

Just take a look at the [Org file](https://www.kengrimes.com/gitweb/?p=kengrimes.com/content.git;a=blob_plain;f=content.org;hb=HEAD) for this webpage. Search for "ox-hugo is super
cool!" and you should find this very paragraph.

Eventually you'll want to [read the manual](https://orgmode.org/manual/), though. You may access it in Emacs
with `M-x org-info`.


# Making a New Blog {#making-a-new-blog}

Compared to a generic Org file, the only necessary data that ox-hugo needs to
properly export to Hugo is an `:EXPORT_FILE_NAME:` property in the
`:PROPERTIES:` block of an Org heading. `:PROPERTIES:` blocks are common in Org
for defining arbitrary metadata about sections, and ox-hugo uses them to
generate Hugo's [front matter](https://gohugo.io/content-management/front-matter/) (used for associating a title, header, or other
custom data with the page it generates). Providing an `:EXPORT_FILE_NAME:`
definition signals to ox-hugo that a particular heading is available for export
to Hugo.  For example, the `:PROPERTIES:` block of the page you're currently
reading looks like this:

```org
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: ox-hugo-tutorial
:EXPORT_DESCRIPTION: Exporting to Hugo's Blackfriday Markdown from Orgmode
:EXPORT_HUGO_IMAGES: /img/org.png
:END:
```

The `:EXPORT_HUGO_IMAGES:` and `:EXPORT_DESCRIPTION:` variables are optional
definitions allowed by the Speedy theme of this website, but the filename is the
only required property for ox-hugo. Our goal here is to organize the structure
of our website as a tree using Org headers. So, as a minimal example, here's
what a new site might look like in its entirety:

{{< highlight org "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
#+hugo_base_dir: .
* My Blog
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION:
:END:
** Home
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
This is the home of my blog!
** One Bad Night
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: bad-night
:END:
Someone gave me herpes! Oh no!
{{< /highlight >}}

The Org file can be placed in any directory so long as `HUGO_BASE_DIR` correctly
identifies the Hugo project's root directory. This path definition is required
for any valid ox-hugo file, and in the example above uses `#+hugo_base_dir: .`
to specify that the base directory will be the same path as this Org file. If
you saved this file as hugotest.org, exported it with Org's exporter `C-c C-e`
and selected the Hugo output `H` and the All Subtrees To Files option `A`, you'd
wind up with the following files in your directory:

```nil
.
├── content
│   ├── bad-night.md
│   └── _index.md
└── hugotest.org
```

Most sites will be more than a blog, though, and will want multiple sections. In
fact, many sites are made up of nothing but a slew of sections that users
navigate between with some built-in menu. So a more functional minimal example
would be the following:

{{< highlight org "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
#+hugo_base_dir: .
* Homepage
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:END:
This is the home of my blog!
* Blog Posts
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: posts
:END:
** My Blog Homepage
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
Man, look at all my blog posts.
** One Bad Night
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: bad-night
:END:
Someone gave me herpes! Oh no!
{{< /highlight >}}

Which yields the following files on export:

```nil
.
├── content
│   ├── _index.md
│   └── posts
│       ├── bad-night.md
│       └── _index.md
└── hugotest.org
```

As you might expect if you're already familiar with Hugo, this structure adheres
to the Hugo [content management](https://gohugo.io/content-management/organization/) scheme. Additionally, the index files have been
marked with menu metadata, which allows Hugo themes to automatically generate
navigation menus from the markdown files. Hereafter, making new blog posts is as
simple as adding new sub-headings under the "Blog Posts" heading, and
exporting. As you can see, this is suitable for defining the hierarchical
structure of any general website, not just blogs. Org mode and Hugo just make
creating new pages so simple and well-structured that providing content is all
that's required for a new page, blog entry, or entirely new site section. If you
can blog with ox-hugo, you can deftly deploy any manner of web content, or even
develop entire websites as naturally as you make blog posts. Any tool that can
turn blogging and web development into the same task is quite an achievement!

Of course, themes to style this content are another can of worms entirely, but
we'll get to that soon. It is sufficient for now to mention that Hugo makes
[using themes](https://gohugo.io/themes/installing-and-using-themes/) as easy as downloading one and specifying it in Hugo's config file.


## Heading Management {#heading-management}

One question you may ask is why the blog's homepage is not defined in the **Blog
Posts** heading. This is a fair question! Any heading with an
`:EXPORT_FILE_NAME:` property will export _all_ of that heading's content,
_including subheadings_ beneath it. This allows Org headings to be used as part
of the content of a post, where they will be exported as markdown heading
levels, which translate to HTML heading elements `<h1>`, `<h2>`, `<h3>`,
etcetera.

Furthermore, properties other than `:EXPORT_FILE_NAME:` are _inherited_ by
sub-headings, including the `:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU:` properties. A
`:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU:` property at the section root would cause all exported files
within that section to be added to the menu specified. This might be intended by
the content creator, but most likely you don't want every single post you make
to be in the main menu. So it makes sense to define all your pages, including
the index, as a sub-heading of the section definition (which merely specifies
which sub-directory the content will output to).

To illustrate, let's assume you want to extend the previous site definition with
a section about fishsticks.

{{< highlight org "linenos=table, linenostart=24" >}}
* Fishsticks
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: fishsticks
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
This section devoted to Orson Wells, R.I.P.
** Van De Camps
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: van-de-camps
:END:
If this is fish, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
** Gortons
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: gortons
:END:
I think these gave me the herpes.
{{< /highlight >}}

In this example, we've defined the main homepage of the section inside the
tier-1 heading for Fishsticks. This is technically valid, and produces the
expected file output:

```nil
.
├── content
│   ├── fishsticks
│   │   ├── gortons.md
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   └── van-de-camps.md
│   ├── _index.md
│   └── posts
│       ├── bad-night.md
│       └── _index.md
└── hugotest.org
```

But on inspection of the gortons.md file, we find the anomoly mentioned above:

{{< highlight markdown "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
---
title: "Gortons"
author: ["Ken Grimes"]
draft: false
menu:
  main:
    weight: 2002
    identifier: "gortons"
---

I think these gave me the herpes.
{{< /highlight >}}

Uh oh! Not only did these fishsticks give us herpes, they are now part of the
main menu. Worse, when the index page was exported, each of the subsequent posts
became part of its content:

{{< highlight markdown "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
---
title: "Fishsticks"
author: ["Ken Grimes"]
draft: false
menu:
  main:
    weight: 1001
    identifier: "fishsticks"
---

This section devoted to Orson Wells, R.I.P.


## Van De Camps {#van-de-camps}

If this is fish, I'll be a monkey's uncle.


## Gortons {#gortons}

I think these gave me the herpes.
{{< /highlight >}}

Tisk tisk. So be sure to put your index pages in subheadings (just as you do
with normal pages) so that the tier-1 heading can be used for "global"
definitions that affect all of the pages. A corrected section for fishsticks
would look like this:

{{< highlight org "linenos=table, linenostart=25" >}}
** Fishsticks
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: fishsticks
:END:
*** Fishsticks Home
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
This section devoted to Orson Wells, R.I.P.
*** Van De Camps
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: van-de-camps
:END:
If this is fish, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
*** Gortons
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: gortons
:END:
I think these gave me the herpes.
{{< /highlight >}}


# Hugo Setup {#hugo-setup}

At this point, setting up Hugo and publishing is simple. [Installing](https://gohugo.io/getting-started/installing/) Hugo is
pretty straightforward on any Unix-like system with a package manager; it is
available on most distributions at this point. Windows installation is a bigger
pain in the ass, but you should be used to that if you're still in the
stone-age.

Using `hugo new site .` on the command-line will create a new hugo site in the
current directory, but `hugo` expects to be creating a new directory with this
command and will complain if it already exists. It also provides the `--force`
option to allow creating a new site in an extant directory, but this too will
fail if the **content** subdirectory already exists (which ox-hugo will create
when you export).

So you have three choices:

1.  run `hugo new site /path/to/some-new-dir` and move your Org file to this new
    directory
2.  simply `rm -Rf content/` to remove the content directory ox-hugo created,
    then run `hugo new site --force .`
3.  don't even bother with the `hugo new site` command, and make a **config.toml**
    file manually (the only file really required for Hugo to run).

It's convenient to do this through the `hugo` command because it will create
Hugo-specific subdirectories like archetypes, layouts, themes, etcetera, in
addition to populating a basic **config.toml** file. The subdirectories it creates
aren't necessary, but help illustrate Hugo's structure. In any case, you'll want
to wind up with a directory structure something like this (created with option 2
above, extending from previous examples):

```nil
.
├── archetypes
│   └── default.md
├── config.toml
├── content
├── data
├── hugotest.org
├── layouts
├── static
└── themes
```

Exporting with ox-hugo using `C-c C-e H A` again will, as expected, fill the
content directory with our content.

```nil
.
├── archetypes
│   └── default.md
├── config.toml
├── content
│   ├── fishsticks
│   │   ├── gortons.md
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   └── van-de-camps.md
│   ├── _index.md
│   └── posts
│       ├── bad-night.md
│       └── _index.md
├── data
├── hugotest.org
├── layouts
├── static
└── themes
```


## Theming {#theming}

The last thing to do here is to download or create a theme for Hugo. As
mentioned before, installing a theme is very simple. This blog uses a custom
theme named Speedy that I have been developing to help myself learn Hugo's
internals, but for this example I'll be using Kaushal Modi's [bare-min theme](https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hugo-bare-min-theme). The
bare-min theme is the best starting place out there for making new themes, and
outputs basic HTML pages without any need to mess with CSS or JS. It also
provides easy debugging facilities and search features.

So let's install it! You can download the theme from its github page and extract
it to the themes folder, or much more easily use git to clone it to your themes
directory.  `git clone https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hugo-bare-min-theme.git
themes/bare-min` Then open up your **config.toml** file, and add the theme.

{{< highlight toml "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
baseURL = "http://example.org/"
languageCode = "en-us"
title = "My New Hugo Site"
# Adding a theme:
theme = "bare-min"
{{< /highlight >}}

Be sure that the theme's name matches the theme directory's name in the **themes/**
directory of your project base directory. (e.g. **themes/bare-min** here). That's it
for installing the theme.

Now, running the command `hugo` with no subcommands will invoke the Hugo
generator on the current directory, and output finalized content in the
**public/** directory.

```nil
.
├── archetypes
│   └── default.md
├── config.toml
├── content
│   ├── fishsticks
│   │   ├── gortons.md
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   └── van-de-camps.md
│   ├── _index.md
│   └── posts
│       ├── bad-night.md
│       └── _index.md
├── data
├── hugotest.org
├── layouts
├── public
│   ├── categories
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   └── index.xml
│   ├── css
│   │   └── github_chroma.css
│   ├── fishsticks
│   │   ├── gortons
│   │   │   └── index.html
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   ├── index.xml
│   │   └── van-de-camps
│   │       └── index.html
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── index.xml
│   ├── js
│   │   └── search.js
│   ├── page
│   │   └── 1
│   │       └── index.html
│   ├── posts
│   │   ├── bad-night
│   │   │   └── index.html
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   └── index.xml
│   ├── sitemap.xml
│   └── tags
│       ├── index.html
│       └── index.xml
├── static
└── themes ...
```

Hugo, by default, generates xml files that are suitable for RSS feeds. With a
theme installed, Hugo will produce more suitable web content (usually HTML) to
be served over HTTP. The bare-min theme outputs HTML, provides CSS for doing
chroma-based syntax highlighting (in case you include code blocks), and inline
styles for basic page formatting. Generated pages also have a lot of useful
debugging information. You'll also notice that Hugo has generated folders for
"categories" and "tags". These are default organization labels for your content
called [taxonomies](https://gohugo.io/content-management/taxonomies/).


## Taxonomies {#taxonomies}

The taxonomy index pages allow users to browse content by category or tag. These
taxonomies correspond to Org mode tags, and ox-hugo will automatically
associated tagged headings with the tags taxonomy, or the categories taxonomy if
prefixed with an @ symbol. You are free to define your own taxonomies, and even
disable the default "tags" and "categories" taxonomies, but since Org mode tags
directly translate to the default Hugo taxonomies, it makes sense to just use
the default taxonomies for now.

As an example of taxonomies, I'll add some tags and categories to our
**hugotest.org** file to create a complete blog structure with tags and categories:

{{< highlight org "linenos=table, linenostart=1" >}}
#+hugo_base_dir: .
* Homepage
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:END:
This is the home of my blog!
* Blog Posts
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: posts
:END:
** My Blog Homepage
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
Man, look at all my blog posts.
** One Bad Night  :@updates:herpes:fear:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: bad-night
:END:
Someone gave me herpes! Oh no!
* Fishsticks
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: fishsticks
:END:
** Fishsticks Home
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "main"
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:END:
This section devoted to Orson Wells, R.I.P.
** Van De Camps   :@reviews:fear:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: van-de-camps
:END:
If this is fish, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
** Gortons        :@reviews:herpes:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: gortons
:END:
I think these gave me the herpes.
{{< /highlight >}}

Exporting **hugotest.org** with `C-c C-e H A` and generating with `hugo` will yield
the same file structure as before, but this time we'll see that the categories
and tags directories have sections for our newly added taxonomies.

```nil
.
└── public
    ├── categories
    │   ├── index.html
    │   ├── index.xml
    │   ├── reviews
    │   │   ├── index.html
    │   │   └── index.xml
    │   └── updates
    │       ├── index.html
    │       └── index.xml
    └── tags
        ├── fear
        │   ├── index.html
        │   └── index.xml
        ├── herpes
        │   ├── index.html
        │   └── index.xml
        ├── index.html
        └── index.xml
```

The index pages of taxonomies provide a list of all available taxonomies of that
type, each with list pages that show all content associated with them. This
allows themes to easily build navigation pages for browsing or querying
taxonomies. Files like these are often useful to output as JSON (done by the
theme) to allow Javascript-driven dynamic search features, but a simpler scheme
can output HTML pages to browse taxonomies just as you would posts in a section
(i.e. Org mode heading).


## Serving Content {#serving-content}

You can now serve the **public/** directory over an HTTP server. Hugo is packaged
with an internal [HTTP server](https://gohugo.io/commands/hugo_server/) to help with testing, which is quite convenient
because it can automatically refresh whenever content in its **content/** directory
is updated (so when you export from ox-hugo, you don't have to run `hugo`
again). To use it, simply run `hugo server` and point your browser at
<http://localhost:1313> (1313 is the default `--port` argument for `hugo server`).


# Additional Information {#additional-information}

Eventually you'll want to move on to [other themes](https://themes.gohugo.io/), or [develop your own](https://gohugo.io/themes/creating/), but at
this point you've got a fully functional blog publishing workflow from start to
finish that you can view in-browser as you develop.


## Attaching Files, Capturing Information & Automation {#attaching-files-capturing-information-and-automation}

Once you have a basic site structured in your Org file, you're ready to start
throwing information in it. It is of course sufficient to open the Org file and
edit it, but most Org mode users prefer to automate _everything_, and being able
to use Org's capture feature to instantly populate new blog posts is extremely
convenient.

The [ox-hugo documentation](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/) provides succinct explanations on how to do this,
including elisp snippets for [capture setup](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/org-capture-setup/), [image linking](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/images-in-content/), and [automating
exports](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/auto-export-on-saving/) when you save your Org file (so no more need to `C-c C-e H A` every
time, just save the file as usual with `C-x C-s`).


## Indexes and Page Resources {#indexes-and-page-resources}

You may be wondering why our index pages are exported as **\_index** rather than
**index**. Hugo uses a concept called [Page Bundles](https://gohugo.io/content-management/page-bundles/) to organize exported
content. The gist of this is that a file named **index** is known as a "Leaf Node"
and cannot have any children. A file named **\_index** is considered a "Branch
Node" and allows nesting other bundles beneath it. In other words, an Org
heading with an exported file name of **index** will be treated as a single page
with no subfolders. This is useful for single pages, but a section index
(e.g. for a blog) with many subpages and other resources will more than likely
want to allow nested bundles beneath it.

You may export an Org heading as a Page Bundle by providing the Org property
`:EXPORT_HUGO_BUNDLE:` with an argument (string) that will become the name of
the folder created. If you do this, you will need to set the
`:EXPORT_FILE_NAME:` property to either **index** for Leaf Nodes, or **\_index** for
Branch Nodes.

The [capture setup](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/org-capture-setup/) provided by Kaushal Modi above provides methods to
automatically create either a normal page, or a leaf node bundle when invoking
Org Capture.


## Drafts and Automatic Timestamps {#drafts-and-automatic-timestamps}

By default, Hugo will not build any markdown files whose front-matter properties
include `draft: true`. This is very convenient for in-progress posts that you
leave in your Org file, or in the **content/** directory. If you are using
archetypes (which define default front-matter for various resource types, and
may include Hugo templating directives), you can see that the primary archetype
in **archetypes/default.md** set the draft property to true on all content unless
the markdown file overrides this behavior:

```markdown
---
title: "{{ replace .Name "-" " " | title }}"
date: {{ .Date }}
draft: true
---
```

Ox-hugo will always fill out the draft property, overriding this archetype's
default value. By default, every exported header will have its draft property
set to **false**. However, ox-hugo conveniently links this behavior to the TODO
feature of Org. When you cycle a heading's TODO value with `S-<RIGHT>` (that's
Shift + Right Arrow Key), you will signal to ox-hugo to export this heading as
a draft (i.e. `draft: true`), which will prevent Hugo from building it into an
HTML page.

Better still, when a heading is cycled to the DONE state in Org, it will
automatically generate a timestamp for when the heading was closed. Ox-hugo will
export DONE headings with `draft: false` and, better still, will use Org's
timestamp to fill out the Date property in the markdown file. This makes it
trivial to manage writing multiple posts at once, and automatically timestamp
completion dates.

You may also explicitly set this date parameter with the `:EXPORT_DATE:`
property, but the convenience of using DONE-state switching is pretty hard to
pass up.


## Renaming Tags and Other Properties {#renaming-tags-and-other-properties}

If a theme you are using has any idiosyncrasies about your naming conventions
(e.g. if you export your content to more than one site using more than one
theme), ox-hugo provides a [convenient way](https://ox-hugo.scripter.co/doc/replace-front-matter-keys/) to automatically replace any key
values on export. This can be done on a per-heading, or a per-file basis.

To replace keys for the entire file, simply add a property to the top of your
Org file. For example:

```org
#+hugo_front_matter_key_replace: description>summary
```

This will make any `:EXPORT_DESCRIPTION:` properties export, instead, to a
"summary" key in the front-matter of your output markdown file. It will also be
able to replace exported values in the Org body:

```org
#+begin_description
This is the description, but will export as the Summary value in front-matter
#+end_description
```

To do this on a per-heading basis, simply add the
`:EXPORT_HUGO_FRONT_MATTER_KEY_REPLACE:` property to a heading's property block,
and the replacements will only occur within that heading.