Making This Site

Recently, I’ve been more focused on data science and programming, but I chose to make this site “from scratch” to refresh my web development skills. I last used these skills when working as a React developer for ProMazo during my freshman year. But an web application framework like react isn’t the right tool for this type of job. This site does not require user interaction, prompting me to use a static site generator (SSG).

I used Gatsby (a SSG built on top of React) for the last iteration of my website, but I wanted to try something new this time. I chose an SSG called Hugo to learn something new.

The excellent documentation on the Hugo site helped me go from a blank page to the site in front of you in a relatively short period of time. However, I chose a slightly more difficult path since I did not use a template. While templates are great for getting up and running, I wanted to learn more of the detail of how Hugo works.

Hugo’s documentation does not have a direct path betwen an empty repository and a fully-fledged site since it focuses more on the majority of users who will use a template. For this reason, I sought out other resources from Hugo users about how to use Hugo without a template. I recommend the following resources for anyone seeking to create a Hugo site from scratch without a template:

• Zachary Wade Betz’s “Make a Hugo Blog From Scratch I primarily used this article for the first steps of the process.
• Justin James’ Hugo Blog Posts: These posts contain miscellaneous information ranging from deployment to post series’ to outside integrations.

I eventually plan to expand this post to contain more of the specific information I learned while creating this site.