Documentation

Introduction

We welcome corrections and improvements to the documentation. Please note that the documentation resides in its own repository, separate from the project repository.

For corrections and improvements to the current documentation, please submit issues and pull requests to the documentation repository.

For documentation related to a new feature, please include the documentation changes when you submit a pull request to the project repository.

Guidelines

Markdown

Please follow these markdown guidelines:

• Use ATX headings, not setext headings, levels 2 through 4
• Use fenced code blocks, not indented code blocks
• Use hyphens, not asterisks, with unordered list items
• Use the note shortcode instead of blockquotes
• Do not mix raw HTML within markdown
• Do not use bold text instead of a heading or description term (dt)
• Remove consecutive blank lines (maximum of two)
• Remove trailing spaces

Style

Although we do not strictly adhere to the Microsoft Writing Style Guide, it is an excellent resource for questions related to style, grammar, and voice.

Terminology

Please link to the glossary of terms when necessary, and use the terms consistently throughout the documentation. Of special note:

• The term “front matter” is two words unless you are referring to the configuration key
• Use the word “map” instead of “dictionary”
• Use the word “flag” instead of “option” when referring to a command line flag

Page titles and headings

Please follow these guidelines for page titles and headings:

• Use sentence-style capitalization
• Avoid markdown in headings and page titles
• Shorter is better

Use active voice with present tense

In software documentation, passive voice is unavoidable in some cases. Please use active voice when possible.

No → With Hugo you can build a static site.
Yes → Build a static site with Hugo.

No → This will cause Hugo to generate HTML files in the public directory.
Yes → Hugo generates HTML files in the public directory.

Use second person instead of third person

No → Users should exercise caution when deleting files.
Better → You must be cautious when deleting files.
Best → Be cautious when deleting files.

Avoid adverbs when possible

No → Hugo is extremely fast.
Yes → Hugo is fast.

Miscellaneous

Other guidelines to consider:

• Do not place list items directly under a heading; include an introductory sentence or phrase before the list.
• Avoid use of bold text. Use the note shortcode to draw attention to important content.
• Do not place description terms (dt) within backticks unless required for syntactic clarity.
• Do not use Hugo’s ref or relref shortcodes. We use a link render hook to resolve and validate link destinations, including fragments.
• Shorter is better. If there is more than one way to do something, describe the current best practice. For example, avoid phrases such as “you can also do…” and “in older versions you had to…”
• When including code samples, use short snippets that demonstrate the concept.
• The Hugo user community is global; use basic english when possible.

Level 6 markdown headings

Level 6 markdown headings are styled as dt elements. This was implemented to support a glossary with linkable terms.

Code examples

Indent code by two spaces. With examples of template code, include a space after opening action delimiters, and include a space before closing action delimeters.

Fenced code blocks

Always include the language code when using a fenced code block:

```go-html-template
{{ if eq $foo "bar" }}
  {{ print "foo is bar" }}
{{ end }}
```

Rendered:

{{ if eq $foo "bar" }}
  {{ print "foo is bar" }}
{{ end }}

Shortcode calls

Use this syntax to include shortcodes calls within your code examples:

{{</* foo */>}}
{{%/* foo */%}}

Rendered:

{{< foo >}}
{{% foo %}}

Site configuration

Use the code-toggle shortcode to include site configuration examples:

{{< code-toggle file=hugo >}}
baseURL = 'https://example.org/'
languageCode = 'en-US'
title = 'My Site'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Rendered:

baseURL: https://example.org/
languageCode: en-US
title: My Site

baseURL = 'https://example.org/'
languageCode = 'en-US'
title = 'My Site'

{
   "baseURL": "https://example.org/",
   "languageCode": "en-US",
   "title": "My Site"
}

Front matter

Use the code-toggle shortcode to include front matter examples:

{{< code-toggle file=content/posts/my-first-post.md fm=true >}}
title = 'My first post'
date = 2023-11-09T12:56:07-08:00
draft = false
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Rendered:

---
date: 2023-11-09T12:56:07-08:00
draft: false
title: My first post
---

+++
date = 2023-11-09T12:56:07-08:00
draft = false
title = 'My first post'
+++

{
   "date": "2023-11-09T12:56:07-08:00",
   "draft": false,
   "title": "My first post"
}

Other code examples

Use the code shortcode for other code examples that require a file name:

{{< code file=layouts/_default/single.html >}}
{{ range .Site.RegularPages }}
  <h2><a href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">{{ .LinkTitle }}</a></h2>
{{ end }}
{{< /code >}}

Rendered:

{{ range .Site.RegularPages }}
  <h2><a href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">{{ .LinkTitle }}</a></h2>
{{ end }}

Shortcodes

These shortcodes are commonly used throughout the documentation. Other shortcodes are available for specialized use.

deprecated-in

Use the “deprecated-in” shortcode to indicate that a feature is deprecated:

{{% deprecated-in 0.120.0 %}}
Use [`hugo.IsServer`] instead.

[`hugo.IsServer`]: /functions/hugo/isserver
{{% /deprecated-in %}}

Rendered:

code

Use the “code” shortcode for other code examples that require a file name. See the code examples above. This shortcode takes these arguments:

copy

(bool) Whether to display a copy-to-clipboard button. Default is false.

file

(string) The file name to display.

lang

(string) The code language. If you do not provide a lang argument, the code language is determined by the file extension. If the file extension is “html”, sets the code language to go-html-template. Default is text.

code-toggle

Use the “code-toggle” shortcode to display examples of site configuration, front matter, or data files. See the code examples above. This shortcode takes these arguments:

copy

(bool) Whether to display a copy-to-clipboard button. Default is false.

file

(string) The file name to display. Omit the file extension for site configuration examples.

fm

(bool) Whether the example is front matter. Default is false.

new-in

Use the “new-in” shortcode to indicate a new feature:

{{< new-in 0.120.0 >}}

Rendered:

note

Use the “note” shortcode with {{% %}} delimiters to call attention to important content:

{{% note %}}
Use the [`math.Mod`] function to control...

[`math.Mod`]: /functions/math/mod/
{{% /code %}}

Rendered:

New features

Use the “new-in” shortcode to indicate a new feature:

{{< new-in 0.120.0 >}}

The “new in” label will be hidden if the specified version is older than a predefined threshold, based on differences in major and minor versions. See details.

Deprecated features

Use the “deprecated-in” shortcode to indicate that a feature is deprecated:

{{% deprecated-in 0.120.0 %}}
Use [`hugo.IsServer`] instead.

[`hugo.IsServer`]: /functions/hugo/isserver
{{% /deprecated-in %}}

When deprecating a function or method, add this to front matter:

---
_build:
  list: never
expiryDate: "2024-10-30"
---

+++
expiryDate = '2024-10-30'
[_build]
  list = 'never'
+++

{
   "_build": {
      "list": "never"
   },
   "expiryDate": "2024-10-30"
}

Set the expiryDate to one year from the date of deprecation, and add a brief front matter comment to explain the settings.

Users will be able to search for the page, but the page will not appear in any list views, including section menus.

GitHub workflow

Use this workflow to create and submit pull requests.

Step 1

Fork the documentation repository.

Step 2

Clone your fork.

Step 3

Create a new branch with a descriptive name.

git checkout -b fix/typos-shortcode-templates

Step 4

Make changes.

Step 5

Commit your changes with a descriptive commit message, typically 50 characters or less. Add the “Closes” keyword if your change addresses one or more open issues.

git commit -m "Fix typos on the shortcode templates page

Closes #1234
Closes #5678"

Step 5

Push the new branch to your fork of the documentation repository.

Step 6

Visit the documentation repository and create a pull request (PR).

Step 7

A project maintainer will review your PR and may request changes. You may delete your branch after the maintainer merges your PR.