I changed the theme of my website! Here's a breakdown of what I did:

Steps I Took

1. Created a new directory

2. Set it up via terminal

   • cd into the new directory
   • zola init → this creates folders like content, sass, static, templates, themes, and a root config.toml

3. Downloaded the zola-inky theme from GitHub and moved it to themes/

4. Copied the theme's config.toml into the root directory
   → This ensures Netlify uses it first when building the site.

5. Edited the config.toml

   • Updated base_url to my domain
   • Added theme = "zola-inky"
     → This tells Zola to use theme templates when the root templates/ folder is empty.

   Bonus: I only need to override templates if necessary. No more sample content showing up on my site.

6. Created my own content

   • Followed the theme structure:

     • gallery/ and posts/ folders
     • about.md and search.md files

   • Gallery folder:

     • Created _index.md to define layout
     • Each subfolder has a picture + index.md with metadata

   • Posts folder:

     • Created _index.md
     • Moved old blog posts here

   • About/Search pages:

     • Simple markdown pages for their respective landing pages

7. Added a photo under static/ folder
   → Used in about.md, search.md, and referenced in config.toml under avatar

   (Still don't know the difference between static/ and content/ for images lol)

8. Built the website locally

   • zola serve → to preview
   • zola build → to generate the public/ folder (a snapshot ready for deployment)

9. Pushed the site to GitHub

   • Created a new repo

10. Re-linked the repo on Netlify

    • Netlify Deploy > Settings > Relink GitHub Repo
    • Authorized Netlify to access the new repo

11. Set up Git in the terminal

    git init
    git branch -M main
    git remote add origin https://github.com/your-repo-link
    git add .
    git commit -m "New blog with new theme"
    git push -f origin main
    

12. Waited for Netlify to deploy!

    • Fingers crossed 🤞

Why I Changed the Theme💡

I used to use Abridge, which is a solid theme, but a bit too complex to customize. I didn’t fully understand the template logic, and it made simple edits feel heavy.

Also, I wasn’t a fan of the landing page—it jumped straight into blog posts, which could be overwhelming for new visitors. I wanted more visual hierarchy and breathing space.

So I switched to zola-inky:

• It offers four clean landing page sections with bold headers
• Easier navigation for visitors to explore by interest
• Comes with a built-in gallery, which is helpful since I’m thinking of merging my art into this site

Time Spent: 4 Hours

What’s Next?

1. Upload more content
2. Add a new “Projects” section (inspired by the theme author’s site)
3. Fix the search function (it doesn't work on blog posts yet)
4. Figure out why the Abridge favicon still shows up 😅
5. Translate all blog posts to English