Portfolio_Site/CUSTOMIZATION.md

# Hugo + PaperMod Customization Guide

This guide covers how to customize your Hugo portfolio site using the PaperMod theme.

---

## Table of Contents

1. [Project Structure](#project-structure)
2. [Development Workflow](#development-workflow)
3. [Configuration (hugo.yaml)](#configuration-hugoyaml)
4. [Adding Content](#adding-content)
5. [Creating New Sections](#creating-new-sections)
6. [Customizing Styles (CSS)](#customizing-styles-css)
7. [Overriding Layouts](#overriding-layouts)
8. [Common Customizations](#common-customizations)
9. [Deployment](#deployment)

---

## Project Structure

```
MyPortfolio/
├── archetypes/          # Templates for new content
├── assets/
│   └── css/
│       └── extended/
│           └── custom.css   # YOUR custom CSS (this gets merged)
├── content/
│   ├── posts/           # Long-form articles
│   │   └── _index.md    # Section config
│   ├── notes/           # Short notes/TILs
│   │   └── _index.md    # Section config
│   └── search.md        # Search page
├── layouts/
│   ├── partials/        # Override theme partials
│   │   └── footer.html  # Custom footer
│   └── notes/           # Section-specific layouts
│       └── list.html    # Custom notes list
├── static/
│   └── files/           # Static files (CV.pdf, images, etc.)
├── themes/
│   └── PaperMod/        # Theme (git submodule - DON'T edit)
├── hugo.yaml            # Main configuration
└── .gitignore           # Ignores public/, etc.
```

### Key Principle: Never Edit the Theme Directly

The `themes/PaperMod/` folder is a git submodule. To customize:
- **CSS**: Add to `assets/css/extended/custom.css`
- **Layouts**: Copy the file from `themes/PaperMod/layouts/` to `layouts/` and modify
- **Config**: Everything in `hugo.yaml`

---

## Development Workflow

### Local Development

```bash
# Start dev server (watches for changes)
hugo serve

# With drafts visible
hugo serve -D

# Build for production (outputs to public/)
hugo build --minify
```

### Why `public/` is Gitignored

- `public/` is generated output - it's rebuilt fresh every time
- Your CI/CD (GitHub Actions) builds it during deployment
- Never commit build artifacts to git

### Git Workflow

```bash
# After making changes
git add .
git commit -m "Add new post about X"
git push origin master   # Triggers deployment
```

---

## Configuration (hugo.yaml)

### Key Sections

#### Site Basics
```yaml
baseURL: "/"              # Use "/" for relative URLs (works on localhost + prod)
relativeURLs: true        # Makes all URLs relative
title: Saurav Dhakal
languageCode: en-us
theme: ["PaperMod"]
```

#### Menu (Header Navigation)
```yaml
menu:
  main:
    - identifier: posts   # Internal ID
      name: Posts         # Display name
      url: /posts/        # URL path
      weight: 10          # Order (lower = first)
    - identifier: notes
      name: Notes
      url: /notes/
      weight: 20
    - identifier: tags
      name: Tags
      url: /tags/
      weight: 30
    - identifier: search
      name: Search
      url: /search/
      weight: 40
```

#### Home Page Info
```yaml
params:
  homeInfoParams:
    Title: "Hi there 👋, I'm Saurav!"
    Content: >
      I'm a software engineer...
```

#### Social Icons
```yaml
params:
  socialIcons:
    - name: github
      url: "https://github.com/yourusername"
    - name: linkedin
      url: "https://linkedin.com/in/yourusername"
    - name: x
      url: "https://x.com/yourusername"
```

Available icons: github, linkedin, x, twitter, email, rss, youtube, instagram, facebook, stackoverflow, etc.

---

## Adding Content

### New Post

```bash
hugo new posts/my-new-post.md
```

Or manually create `content/posts/my-new-post.md`:

```markdown
---
title: "My New Post"
date: 2025-08-20
summary: "A brief description for the list view"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
categories: ["Category"]
draft: false
ShowToc: true
TocOpen: false
---

Your content here...
```

### New Note

Create `content/notes/my-note.md`:

```markdown
---
title: "Quick TIL"
date: 2025-08-20
summary: "Today I learned about X"
tags: ["til"]
---

Short content here...
```

### Front Matter Options

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `title` | Post title |
| `date` | Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| `summary` | Short description for list views |
| `tags` | Array of tags |
| `categories` | Array of categories |
| `draft` | If `true`, won't be published |
| `ShowToc` | Show table of contents |
| `TocOpen` | TOC expanded by default |
| `ShowReadingTime` | Override global setting |
| `ShowWordCount` | Override global setting |
| `cover.image` | Cover image path |

---

## Creating New Sections

### Example: Adding a "Projects" Section

1. **Add to menu** in `hugo.yaml`:
```yaml
menu:
  main:
    # ... existing items
    - identifier: projects
      name: Projects
      url: /projects/
      weight: 25
```

2. **Create content directory**:
```bash
mkdir -p content/projects
```

3. **Create section index** `content/projects/_index.md`:
```markdown
---
title: "Projects"
description: "Things I've built"
---
```

4. **Add project pages** `content/projects/my-project.md`:
```markdown
---
title: "My Cool Project"
date: 2025-01-15
summary: "A brief description"
tags: ["golang", "cli"]
---

Project description...
```

5. **(Optional) Custom layout** - If you want projects to look different, create `layouts/projects/list.html`

---

## Customizing Styles (CSS)

### Where to Add CSS

**Only edit**: `assets/css/extended/custom.css`

PaperMod automatically includes this file. You don't need to import it anywhere.

### CSS Variables (Theme Colors)

PaperMod uses CSS variables. Override them in your custom.css:

```css
:root {
  /* Light mode */
  --primary: #282828;       /* Main text */
  --secondary: #3c3836;     /* Secondary text */
  --tertiary: rgb(214, 214, 214);  /* Borders, etc */
  --theme: rgb(255, 255, 255);     /* Background */
  --entry: rgb(255, 255, 255);     /* Card background */
}

:root[data-theme="dark"] {
  /* Dark mode */
  --primary: #fbf1c7;
  --secondary: #ebdbb2;
  --theme: #181818;
  --entry: rgb(46, 46, 51);
}
```

### Common CSS Customizations

#### Change fonts
```css
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Your+Font&display=swap");

body {
  font-family: "Your Font", sans-serif;
}
```

#### Style links
```css
main a {
  text-decoration: underline;
  text-decoration-color: var(--green);
}

main a:hover {
  background-color: var(--green);
  color: white;
}
```

#### Customize post cards
```css
main .post-entry {
  border: 2px solid #383838;
  background-color: var(--entry);
  border-radius: 8px;
}
```

---

## Overriding Layouts

### How Layout Override Works

Hugo looks for templates in this order:
1. `layouts/` (your overrides)
2. `themes/PaperMod/layouts/` (theme defaults)

### To Override a Template

1. Find the file in `themes/PaperMod/layouts/`
2. Copy it to the same path in `layouts/`
3. Modify your copy

### Common Files to Override

| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `layouts/partials/header.html` | Site header/nav |
| `layouts/partials/footer.html` | Site footer |
| `layouts/partials/post_meta.html` | Post metadata (date, read time) |
| `layouts/_default/list.html` | List pages (posts, tags) |
| `layouts/_default/single.html` | Individual post/page |

### Example: Simpler Footer

Your `layouts/partials/footer.html` already overrides the theme's footer.

### Section-Specific Layouts

Create `layouts/SECTION_NAME/list.html` for a custom list layout for that section.

Example: `layouts/notes/list.html` - custom compact layout for notes.

---

## Common Customizations

### Disable Reading Time for a Section

In the section's `_index.md`:
```markdown
---
title: "Notes"
ShowReadingTime: false
---
```

Or per-post in front matter.

### Add a Static Page (About, Contact)

Create `content/about.md`:
```markdown
---
title: "About"
layout: "single"
url: "/about/"
---

About me content...
```

Add to menu:
```yaml
menu:
  main:
    - identifier: about
      name: About
      url: /about/
      weight: 50
```

### Add Favicon

1. Place favicon files in `static/`:
   - `static/favicon.ico`
   - `static/favicon-16x16.png`
   - `static/favicon-32x32.png`
   - `static/apple-touch-icon.png`

2. Update `hugo.yaml`:
```yaml
params:
  assets:
    favicon: "/favicon.ico"
    favicon16x16: "/favicon-16x16.png"
    favicon32x32: "/favicon-32x32.png"
    apple_touch_icon: "/apple-touch-icon.png"
```

### Enable Comments (Disqus)

```yaml
params:
  comments: true

disqusShortname: "your-disqus-shortname"
```

### Add Google Analytics

Already configured in your `hugo.yaml`:
```yaml
googleAnalytics: "G-XXXXXXXXXX"
```

---

## Deployment

### Current Setup (GitHub Actions → SSH/SCP)

Your `.github/workflows/deploy.yml`:
1. Triggers on push to `master`
2. Builds site with `hugo build --minify`
3. Deploys `public/` via SCP to your server

### Required GitHub Secrets

Set these in your repo's Settings → Secrets:
- `SSH_HOST` - Your server hostname/IP
- `SSH_USER` - SSH username
- `SSH_KEY` - Private SSH key
- `SSH_PORT` - SSH port (usually 22)

### Alternative: GitHub Pages

If you want to use GitHub Pages instead:

1. Change workflow to use `peaceiris/actions-gh-pages`
2. Set `baseURL` to `https://yourusername.github.io/repo-name/`

### Alternative: Netlify/Vercel

These platforms auto-detect Hugo and build for you:
1. Connect your GitHub repo
2. Set build command: `hugo --minify`
3. Set publish directory: `public`

---

## Quick Reference

### Useful Commands

```bash
# Local dev
hugo serve -D              # Serve with drafts

# Create content
hugo new posts/title.md    # New post
hugo new notes/title.md    # New note

# Build
hugo build --minify        # Production build

# Debug
hugo config                # Show full config
hugo list all              # List all content
```

### File Locations

| What | Where |
|------|-------|
| Config | `hugo.yaml` |
| Custom CSS | `assets/css/extended/custom.css` |
| Posts | `content/posts/` |
| Notes | `content/notes/` |
| Static files | `static/` |
| Layout overrides | `layouts/` |

---

## Troubleshooting

### Links Go to Production URL in Dev

Fixed by setting:
```yaml
baseURL: "/"
relativeURLs: true
```

### Changes Not Showing

1. Hard refresh browser (Ctrl+Shift+R)
2. Clear `public/` folder: `rm -rf public/`
3. Restart hugo serve

### Theme Not Loading

```bash
git submodule update --init --recursive
```

### Search Not Working

Ensure `hugo.yaml` has:
```yaml
outputs:
  home:
    - HTML
    - RSS
    - JSON  # Required for search
```

---

## Resources

- [Hugo Documentation](https://gohugo.io/documentation/)
- [PaperMod Wiki](https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod/wiki)
- [PaperMod Demo](https://adityatelange.github.io/hugo-PaperMod/)