How to create a hugo theme with contact form

#webdev #web #html #hugo

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a Hugo theme and integrating a fabform.io contact form:

1. Create a Hugo Site and Theme

Step 1: Install Hugo

Ensure Hugo is installed on your system. Follow Hugo's installation guide.

Step 2: Create a New Hugo Site

hugo new site my-hugo-site
cd my-hugo-site

Step 3: Create a New Theme

hugo new theme my-theme

This creates a basic theme in the themes/my-theme directory.

Step 4: Apply the Theme

Edit the config.toml file to use your new theme:

theme = "my-theme"

2. Design the Theme Layout

Step 1: Set up a basic structure

Inside the themes/my-theme/layouts directory, create the following files:

layouts/_default/baseof.html: Base template.
layouts/_default/single.html: Template for single pages.

Example for baseof.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>{{ .Title }}</title>
</head>
<body>
    {{ block "main" . }}{{ end }}
</body>
</html>

Example for single.html:

{{ define "main" }}
<main>
    <h1>{{ .Title }}</h1>
    {{ .Content }}
</main>
{{ end }}

3. Add the Fabform.io Contact Form

Step 1: Create a Contact Page

Generate a new contact page:

hugo new contact.md

Edit the content/contact.md file:

---
title: "Contact"
---
<form action="https://fabform.io/f/YOUR_FORM_ID" method="POST">
    <label for="name">Name:</label>
    <input type="text" id="name" name="name" required>

    <label for="email">Email:</label>
    <input type="email" id="email" name="email" required>

    <label for="message">Message:</label>
    <textarea id="message" name="message" required></textarea>

    <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Step 2: Style the Form

Add custom CSS in the themes/my-theme/static/css/style.css file and link it in baseof.html:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css">

Example CSS:

form {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: column;
    max-width: 400px;
    margin: 0 auto;
}
label, input, textarea, button {
    margin-bottom: 10px;
}
button {
    padding: 10px;
    background-color: #007BFF;
    color: white;
    border: none;
    cursor: pointer;
}
button:hover {
    background-color: #0056b3;
}

4. Test and Deploy

Step 1: Run Locally

hugo server

Visit http://localhost:1313/contact/ to test the contact form.

Step 2: Deploy

Build the site:

hugo

Deploy the public directory to your preferred hosting platform.

That's it! Your Hugo theme is ready with a functional Fabform.io contact form.

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