Switching to Smigle for a Leaner Hugo Site

Posted on 23/11/24 in Site

Tags: hugo, theme, smigle, performance, maintenance

The site has a new look. The previous setup added weight and distractions, so it was replaced with something simpler and faster, still built with Hugo.

Theme choice

The switch moved the site to Smigle, a minimalist Hugo theme by Ian S. McBride. You can find it on GitLab and in the Hugo Themes showcase. Smigle takes cues from smol, another privacy-respecting theme that keeps things lean, which is available here: sumnerevans/smol.

Migration notes

Added the theme as a git submodule under themes/, then pointed the Hugo config at it.
Cleaned up old CSS overrides and unused assets.
Updated shortcodes and list templates to match the new theme’s structure.
Verified there were no external fonts, analytics, or third-party calls.

Result

Pages load quicker, the reading experience is cleaner, and maintenance is simpler. With the theme complexity out of the way, focus can go back to writing.

Thanks for reading. If you are testing Hugo themes or maintaining your own fork, feel free to share what worked for you.