site.yaml

Only name and url are required. Everything else has a sensible default. A setting HotDog doesn't know stops the build, with the line it's on, so a typo can't go unnoticed.

The site

Setting	What it is
`name`	The site's name. Required.
`url`	Its address, such as `https://example.org`. Required.
`language`	The language it's written in, such as `en`.
`description`	One sentence about the site, for pages without a summary.
`author`	Who writes it.
`timezone`	Where its events and scheduled pages happen, such as `America/Chicago` (UTC if unset).
`copyright`, `copyright_url`	The name in the footer's © line (default: the site's name), and a link for it.
`credit`	`true` shows "Built with HotDog CMS" in the footer.
`fediverse`	Your fediverse handle, `"@you@your.instance"`, which Mastodon credits in link previews.
`params`	Anything your own templates read, as `.Site.Config.Params`.

Pages and lists

Setting	What it is
`collections`	Settings per collection (folder in `content/`); see below.
`taxonomies`	Front matter keys that get browsable pages, such as `[tags]`.
`paginate`	Split long lists into pages of this many (0: one page).
`term_index_min`	Tag pages with fewer pages than this are hidden from search engines.
`menus`	`main`, `footer` and any others: lists of `{ name, url }`, with optional `external: true` and `note`.
`redirects`	Old addresses and where they go now: `{ from: /old/, to: /new/ }`.

Each collection

collections:
  articles:
    layout: article
    feed: true

Key	What it is
`layout`	The layout for its pages.
`list_layout`	The layout for its own list page.
`sort`	`date` (newest first, the default), `title`, `weight` or `start` (events).
`feed`	`true` writes a news feed. `feed_path`, `feed_size` (default 20), `feed_format`, `feed_title`, `feed_image`, `feed_description` adjust it.
`paginate`	Its own page size.
`calendar`, `calendar_name`	Write a calendar feed of its events (see Events).
`search`	Write a search index for it.

Markdown

markdown:
  email_off: true

Key	What it is
`email_off`	Keep email addresses readable behind Cloudflare's proxy.
`autolink`	Turn bare web addresses into links (on unless `false`).
`external_links`	`new_tab` opens links to other sites in a new tab.
`unsafe_html`	Let HTML written in pages through, after cleaning out scripts. Off by default.
`trust_html`	Let HTML through without cleaning. Only for a site whose every author you trust with scripts.
`image_sizes`	The sizes hint for pictures from `media/`, if your text column isn't the usual width.

Look and pictures

Setting	What it is
`look`	Your choices from `look.yaml`: colors, font, corners, logo (see Look).
`cards`	`true` draws a link-preview picture for every page without one. Or set `font`, `font_small`, `background`, `text`, `accent`, `logo`.

Privacy and statistics

Setting	What it is
`analytics`	`{ provider: plausible, domain: … }`, `{ provider: matomo, url: …, site_id: … }` or `{ provider: ga4, id: … }`; `gated: false` to count without asking. See Visit statistics.
`privacy`	`controller`, `contact`, `updated`, and `extra` entries (`what`, `who`, `why`, `basis`). See The privacy page.

Search engines

Setting	What it is
`verify`	`google`, `bing`, `yandex`: verification codes for their webmaster tools.
`indexnow`	`{ key: … }`: tell search engines what changed. See Search engines.
`outputs`	`sitemap` and `robots` (on by default), `llms` (off unless `true`).

Checks

check:
  ignore: [img-alt]
  forbid: ["intranet\\.example\\.org"]

Key	What it is
`ignore`	Rules to switch off, by name.
`forbid`	Patterns that must never be published.
`allow_third_party`	Other websites your pages may load things from.
`cloudflare`	`true` if the site is served through Cloudflare's proxy.
`csp`	`strict` makes inline scripts and styles errors.
`privacy_page`	Where your privacy page is, if not `/privacy/`.

Written by HotDog

Setting	What it is
`packs`	The packs you've added, written by `hotdog-cms pack`. Don't edit by hand.