lists.md (19807B)
1 ---
2 title: Lists of Content in Hugo
3 linktitle: List Templates
4 description: Lists have a specific meaning and usage in Hugo when it comes to rendering your site homepage, section page, taxonomy list, or taxonomy terms list.
5 date: 2017-02-01
6 publishdate: 2017-02-01
7 lastmod: 2017-02-01
8 categories: [templates]
9 keywords: [lists,sections,rss,taxonomies,terms]
10 menu:
11 docs:
12 parent: "templates"
13 weight: 22
14 weight: 22
15 sections_weight: 22
16 draft: false
17 aliases: [/templates/list/,/layout/indexes/]
18 toc: true
19 ---
20
21 ## What is a List Page Template?
22
23 {{< youtube 8b2YTSMdMps >}}
24
25 A list page template is a template used to render multiple pieces of content in a single HTML page. The exception to this rule is the homepage, which is still a list but has its own [dedicated template][homepage].
26
27 Hugo uses the term *list* in its truest sense; i.e. a sequential arrangement of material, especially in alphabetical or numerical order. Hugo uses list templates on any output HTML page where content is traditionally listed:
28
29 * [Taxonomy terms pages][taxterms]
30 * [Taxonomy list pages][taxlists]
31 * [Section list pages][sectiontemps]
32 * [RSS][rss]
33
34 For template lookup order, see [Template Lookup](/templates/lookup-order/).
35
36 The idea of a list page comes from the [hierarchical mental model of the web][mentalmodel] and is best demonstrated visually:
37
38 [](/images/site-hierarchy.svg)
39
40 ## List Defaults
41
42 ### Default Templates
43
44 Since section lists and taxonomy lists (N.B., *not* [taxonomy terms lists][taxterms]) are both *lists* with regards to their templates, both have the same terminating default of `_default/list.html` or `themes/<THEME>/layouts/_default/list.html` in their lookup order. In addition, both [section lists][sectiontemps] and [taxonomy lists][taxlists] have their own default list templates in `_default`.
45
46 See [Template Lookup Order](/templates/lookup-order/) for the complete reference.
47
48 ## Add Content and Front Matter to List Pages
49
50 Since v0.18, [everything in Hugo is a `Page`][bepsays]. This means list pages and the homepage can have associated content files (i.e. `_index.md`) that contain page metadata (i.e., front matter) and content.
51
52 This new model allows you to include list-specific front matter via `.Params` and also means that list templates (e.g., `layouts/_default/list.html`) have access to all [page variables][pagevars].
53
54 {{% note %}}
55 It is important to note that all `_index.md` content files will render according to a *list* template and not according to a [single page template](/templates/single-page-templates/).
56 {{% /note %}}
57
58 ### Example Project Directory
59
60 The following is an example of a typical Hugo project directory's content:
61
62 ```
63 .
64 ...
65 ├── content
66 | ├── posts
67 | | ├── _index.md
68 | | ├── post-01.md
69 | | └── post-02.md
70 | └── quote
71 | | ├── quote-01.md
72 | | └── quote-02.md
73 ...
74 ```
75
76 Using the above example, let's assume you have the following in `content/posts/_index.md`:
77
78 {{< code file="content/posts/_index.md" >}}
79 ---
80 title: My Go Journey
81 date: 2017-03-23
82 publishdate: 2017-03-24
83 ---
84
85 I decided to start learning Go in March 2017.
86
87 Follow my journey through this new blog.
88 {{< /code >}}
89
90 You can now access this `_index.md`'s' content in your list template:
91
92 {{< code file="layouts/_default/list.html" download="list.html" >}}
93 {{ define "main" }}
94 <main>
95 <article>
96 <header>
97 <h1>{{.Title}}</h1>
98 </header>
99 <!-- "{{.Content}}" pulls from the markdown content of the corresponding _index.md -->
100 {{.Content}}
101 </article>
102 <ul>
103 <!-- Ranges through content/posts/*.md -->
104 {{ range .Pages }}
105 <li>
106 <a href="{{.Permalink}}">{{.Date.Format "2006-01-02"}} | {{.Title}}</a>
107 </li>
108 {{ end }}
109 </ul>
110 </main>
111 {{ end }}
112 {{< /code >}}
113
114 This above will output the following HTML:
115
116 {{< code file="example.com/posts/index.html" copy="false" >}}
117 <!--top of your baseof code-->
118 <main>
119 <article>
120 <header>
121 <h1>My Go Journey</h1>
122 </header>
123 <p>I decided to start learning Go in March 2017.</p>
124 <p>Follow my journey through this new blog.</p>
125 </article>
126 <ul>
127 <li><a href="/posts/post-01/">Post 1</a></li>
128 <li><a href="/posts/post-02/">Post 2</a></li>
129 </ul>
130 </main>
131 <!--bottom of your baseof-->
132 {{< /code >}}
133
134 ### List Pages Without `_index.md`
135
136 You do *not* have to create an `_index.md` file for every list page (i.e. section, taxonomy, taxonomy terms, etc) or the homepage. If Hugo does not find an `_index.md` within the respective content section when rendering a list template, the page will be created but with no `{{.Content}}` and only the default values for `.Title` etc.
137
138 Using this same `layouts/_default/list.html` template and applying it to the `quotes` section above will render the following output. Note that `quotes` does not have an `_index.md` file to pull from:
139
140 {{< code file="example.com/quote/index.html" copy="false" >}}
141 <!--baseof-->
142 <main>
143 <article>
144 <header>
145 <!-- Hugo assumes that .Title is the name of the section since there is no _index.md content file from which to pull a "title:" field -->
146 <h1>Quotes</h1>
147 </header>
148 </article>
149 <ul>
150 <li><a href="https://example.com/quote/quotes-01/">Quote 1</a></li>
151 <li><a href="https://example.com/quote/quotes-02/">Quote 2</a></li>
152 </ul>
153 </main>
154 <!--baseof-->
155 {{< /code >}}
156
157 {{% note %}}
158 The default behavior of Hugo is to pluralize list titles; hence the inflection of the `quote` section to "Quotes" when called with the `.Title` [page variable](/variables/page/). You can change this via the `pluralizeListTitles` directive in your [site configuration](/getting-started/configuration/).
159 {{% /note %}}
160
161 ## Example List Templates
162
163 ### Section Template
164
165 This list template has been modified slightly from a template originally used in [spf13.com](https://spf13.com/). It makes use of [partial templates][partials] for the chrome of the rendered page rather than using a [base template][base]. The examples that follow also use the [content view templates][views] `li.html` or `summary.html`.
166
167 {{< code file="layouts/section/posts.html" >}}
168 {{ partial "header.html" . }}
169 {{ partial "subheader.html" . }}
170 <main>
171 <div>
172 <h1>{{ .Title }}</h1>
173 <ul>
174 <!-- Renders the li.html content view for each content/posts/*.md -->
175 {{ range .Pages }}
176 {{ .Render "li"}}
177 {{ end }}
178 </ul>
179 </div>
180 </main>
181 {{ partial "footer.html" . }}
182 {{< /code >}}
183
184 ### Taxonomy Template
185
186 {{< code file="layouts/_default/taxonomy.html" download="taxonomy.html" >}}
187 {{ define "main" }}
188 <main>
189 <div>
190 <h1>{{ .Title }}</h1>
191 <!-- ranges through each of the content files associated with a particular taxonomy term and renders the summary.html content view -->
192 {{ range .Pages }}
193 {{ .Render "summary"}}
194 {{ end }}
195 </div>
196 </main>
197 {{ end }}
198 {{< /code >}}
199
200 ## Order Content
201
202 Hugo lists render the content based on metadata you provide in [front matter][]. In addition to sane defaults, Hugo also ships with multiple methods to make quick work of ordering content inside list templates:
203
204 ### Default: Weight > Date > LinkTitle > FilePath
205
206 {{< code file="layouts/partials/default-order.html" >}}
207 <ul>
208 {{ range .Pages }}
209 <li>
210 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
211 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
212 </li>
213 {{ end }}
214 </ul>
215 {{< /code >}}
216
217 ### By Weight
218
219 Lower weight gets higher precedence. So content with lower weight will come first.
220
221 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-weight.html" >}}
222 <ul>
223 {{ range .Pages.ByWeight }}
224 <li>
225 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
226 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
227 </li>
228 {{ end }}
229 </ul>
230 {{< /code >}}
231
232 ### By Date
233
234 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-date.html" >}}
235 <ul>
236 <!-- orders content according to the "date" field in front matter -->
237 {{ range .Pages.ByDate }}
238 <li>
239 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
240 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
241 </li>
242 {{ end }}
243 </ul>
244 {{< /code >}}
245
246 ### By Publish Date
247
248 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-publish-date.html" >}}
249 <ul>
250 <!-- orders content according to the "publishdate" field in front matter -->
251 {{ range .Pages.ByPublishDate }}
252 <li>
253 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
254 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
255 </li>
256 {{ end }}
257 </ul>
258 {{< /code >}}
259
260 ### By Expiration Date
261
262 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-expiry-date.html" >}}
263 <ul>
264 {{ range .Pages.ByExpiryDate }}
265 <li>
266 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
267 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
268 </li>
269 {{ end }}
270 </ul>
271 {{< /code >}}
272
273 ### By Last Modified Date
274
275 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-last-mod.html" >}}
276 <ul>
277 <!-- orders content according to the "lastmod" field in front matter -->
278 {{ range .Pages.ByLastmod }}
279 <li>
280 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
281 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
282 </li>
283 {{ end }}
284 </ul>
285 {{< /code >}}
286
287 ### By Length
288
289 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-length.html" >}}
290 <ul>
291 <!-- orders content according to content length in ascending order (i.e., the shortest content will be listed first) -->
292 {{ range .Pages.ByLength }}
293 <li>
294 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
295 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
296 </li>
297 {{ end }}
298 </ul>
299 {{< /code >}}
300
301 ### By Title
302
303 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-title.html" >}}
304 <ul>
305 <!-- ranges through content in ascending order according to the "title" field set in front matter -->
306 {{ range .Pages.ByTitle }}
307 <li>
308 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
309 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
310 </li>
311 {{ end }}
312 </ul>
313 {{< /code >}}
314
315 ### By Link Title
316
317 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-link-title.html" >}}
318 <ul>
319 <!-- ranges through content in ascending order according to the "linktitle" field in front matter. If a "linktitle" field is not set, the range will start with content that only has a "title" field and use that value for .LinkTitle -->
320 {{ range .Pages.ByLinkTitle }}
321 <li>
322 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .LinkTitle }}</a></h1>
323 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
324 </li>
325 {{ end }}
326 </ul>
327 {{< /code >}}
328
329 ### By Parameter
330
331 Order based on the specified front matter parameter. Content that does not have the specified front matter field will use the site's `.Site.Params` default. If the parameter is not found at all in some entries, those entries will appear together at the end of the ordering.
332
333 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-rating.html" >}}
334 <!-- Ranges through content according to the "rating" field set in front matter -->
335 {{ range (.Pages.ByParam "rating") }}
336 <!-- ... -->
337 {{ end }}
338 {{< /code >}}
339
340 If the targeted front matter field is nested beneath another field, you can access the field using dot notation.
341
342 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-nested-param.html" >}}
343 {{ range (.Pages.ByParam "author.last_name") }}
344 <!-- ... -->
345 {{ end }}
346 {{< /code >}}
347
348 ### Reverse Order
349
350 Reversing order can be applied to any of the above methods. The following uses `ByDate` as an example:
351
352 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-date-reverse.html" >}}
353 <ul>
354 {{ range .Pages.ByDate.Reverse }}
355 <li>
356 <h1><a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h1>
357 <time>{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</time>
358 </li>
359 {{ end }}
360 </ul>
361 {{< /code >}}
362
363 ## Group Content
364
365 Hugo provides some functions for grouping pages by Section, Type, Date, etc.
366
367 ### By Page Field
368
369 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-field.html" >}}
370 <!-- Groups content according to content section. The ".Key" in this instance will be the section's title. -->
371 {{ range .Pages.GroupBy "Section" }}
372 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
373 <ul>
374 {{ range .Pages }}
375 <li>
376 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
377 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
378 </li>
379 {{ end }}
380 </ul>
381 {{ end }}
382 {{< /code >}}
383
384 In the above example, you may want `{{.Title}}` to point the `title` field you have added to your `_index.md` file instead. You can access this value using the [`.GetPage` function][getpage]:
385
386 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-field.html" >}}
387 <!-- Groups content according to content section.-->
388 {{ range .Pages.GroupBy "Section" }}
389 <!-- Checks for existence of _index.md for a section; if available, pulls from "title" in front matter -->
390 {{ with $.Site.GetPage "section" .Key }}
391 <h3>{{.Title}}</h3>
392 {{ else }}
393 <!-- If no _index.md is available, ".Key" defaults to the section title and filters to title casing -->
394 <h3>{{ .Key | title }}</h3>
395 {{ end }}
396 <ul>
397 {{ range .Pages }}
398 <li>
399 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
400 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
401 </li>
402 {{ end }}
403 </ul>
404 {{ end }}
405 {{< /code >}}
406
407 ### By Date
408
409 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-date.html" >}}
410 <!-- Groups content by month according to the "date" field in front matter -->
411 {{ range .Pages.GroupByDate "2006-01" }}
412 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
413 <ul>
414 {{ range .Pages }}
415 <li>
416 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
417 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
418 </li>
419 {{ end }}
420 </ul>
421 {{ end }}
422 {{< /code >}}
423
424 {{< new-in "0.97.0" >}} `GroupByDate` accepts the same time layouts as in [time.Format](/functions/dateformat/) and The `.Key` in the result will be localized for the current language.
425
426 ### By Publish Date
427
428 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-publish-date.html" >}}
429 <!-- Groups content by month according to the "publishDate" field in front matter -->
430 {{ range .Pages.GroupByPublishDate "2006-01" }}
431 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
432 <ul>
433 {{ range .Pages }}
434 <li>
435 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
436 <div class="meta">{{ .PublishDate.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
437 </li>
438 {{ end }}
439 </ul>
440 {{ end }}
441 {{< /code >}}
442
443 {{< new-in "0.97.0" >}} `GroupByDate` accepts the same time layouts as in [time.Format](/functions/dateformat/) and The `.Key` in the result will be localized for the current language.
444
445 ### By Lastmod
446
447 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-lastmod.html" >}}
448 <!-- Groups content by month according to the "lastMod" field in front matter -->
449 {{ range .Pages.GroupByLastmod "2006-01" }}
450 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
451 <ul>
452 {{ range .Pages }}
453 <li>
454 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
455 <div class="meta">{{ .Lastmod.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
456 </li>
457 {{ end }}
458 </ul>
459 {{ end }}
460 {{< /code >}}
461
462 {{< new-in "0.97.0" >}} `GroupByDate` accepts the same time layouts as in [time.Format](/functions/dateformat/) and The `.Key` in the result will be localized for the current language.
463
464 ### By Expiry Date
465
466 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-expiry-date.html" >}}
467 <!-- Groups content by month according to the "expiryDate" field in front matter -->
468 {{ range .Pages.GroupByExpiryDate "2006-01" }}
469 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
470 <ul>
471 {{ range .Pages }}
472 <li>
473 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
474 <div class="meta">{{ .ExpiryDate.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
475 </li>
476 {{ end }}
477 </ul>
478 {{ end }}
479 {{< /code >}}
480
481 {{< new-in "0.97.0" >}} `GroupByDate` accepts the same time layouts as in [time.Format](/functions/dateformat/) and The `.Key` in the result will be localized for the current language.
482
483 ### By Page Parameter
484
485 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-param.html" >}}
486 <!-- Groups content according to the "param_key" field in front matter -->
487 {{ range .Pages.GroupByParam "param_key" }}
488 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
489 <ul>
490 {{ range .Pages }}
491 <li>
492 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
493 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
494 </li>
495 {{ end }}
496 </ul>
497 {{ end }}
498 {{< /code >}}
499
500 ### By Page Parameter in Date Format
501
502 The following template takes grouping by `date` a step further and uses Go's layout string. See the [`Format` function][] for more examples of how to use Go's layout string to format dates in Hugo.
503
504 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-page-param-as-date.html" >}}
505 <!-- Groups content by month according to the "param_key" field in front matter -->
506 {{ range .Pages.GroupByParamDate "param_key" "2006-01" }}
507 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
508 <ul>
509 {{ range .Pages }}
510 <li>
511 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
512 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
513 </li>
514 {{ end }}
515 </ul>
516 {{ end }}
517 {{< /code >}}
518
519 ### Reverse Key Order
520
521 Ordering of groups is performed by keys in alphanumeric order (A–Z, 1–100) and in reverse chronological order (i.e., with the newest first) for dates.
522
523 While these are logical defaults, they are not always the desired order. There are two different syntaxes to change Hugo's default ordering for groups, both of which work the same way.
524
525 #### 1. Adding the Reverse Method
526
527 ```
528 {{ range (.Pages.GroupBy "Section").Reverse }}
529 ```
530
531 ```
532 {{ range (.Pages.GroupByDate "2006-01").Reverse }}
533 ```
534
535 #### 2. Providing the Alternate Direction
536
537 ```
538 {{ range .Pages.GroupByDate "2006-01" "asc" }}
539 ```
540
541 ```
542 {{ range .Pages.GroupBy "Section" "desc" }}
543 ```
544
545 ### Order Within Groups
546
547 Because Grouping returns a `{{.Key}}` and a slice of pages, all of the ordering methods listed above are available.
548
549 Here is the ordering for the example that follows:
550
551 1. Content is grouped by month according to the `date` field in front matter.
552 2. Groups are listed in ascending order (i.e., the oldest groups first)
553 3. Pages within each respective group are ordered alphabetically according to the `title`.
554
555 {{< code file="layouts/partials/by-group-by-page.html" >}}
556 {{ range .Pages.GroupByDate "2006-01" "asc" }}
557 <h3>{{ .Key }}</h3>
558 <ul>
559 {{ range .Pages.ByTitle }}
560 <li>
561 <a href="{{ .Permalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
562 <div class="meta">{{ .Date.Format "Mon, Jan 2, 2006" }}</div>
563 </li>
564 {{ end }}
565 </ul>
566 {{ end }}
567 {{< /code >}}
568
569 ## Filtering and Limiting Lists {#filtering-and-limiting-lists}
570
571 Sometimes you only want to list a subset of the available content. A
572 common is to only display posts from [**main sections**][mainsections]
573 on the blog's homepage.
574
575 See the documentation on [`where` function][wherefunction] and
576 [`first` function][firstfunction] for further details.
577
578 [base]: /templates/base/
579 [bepsays]: https://bepsays.com/en/2016/12/19/hugo-018/
580 [directorystructure]: /getting-started/directory-structure/
581 [`Format` function]: /functions/format/
582 [front matter]: /content-management/front-matter/
583 [getpage]: /functions/getpage/
584 [homepage]: /templates/homepage/
585 [homepage]: /templates/homepage/
586 [mentalmodel]: https://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/3-information-architecture/3-site-structure.html
587 [pagevars]: /variables/page/
588 [partials]: /templates/partials/
589 [RSS 2.0]: https://cyber.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html "RSS 2.0 Specification"
590 [rss]: /templates/rss/
591 [sections]: /content-management/sections/
592 [sectiontemps]: /templates/section-templates/
593 [sitevars]: /variables/site/
594 [taxlists]: /templates/taxonomy-templates/#taxonomy-list-templates
595 [taxterms]: /templates/taxonomy-templates/#taxonomy-terms-templates
596 [taxvars]: /variables/taxonomy/
597 [views]: /templates/views/
598 [wherefunction]: /functions/where/
599 [firstfunction]: /functions/first/
600 [mainsections]: /functions/where/#mainsections