From Zero to Website: How Easy It Is to Get Started with Zola

Dreaming of a fast, secure, and easy-to-manage website or blog? Look no further than Zola, a blazing-fast static site generator built with Rust. In this tutorial, I'll show you just how simple it is to go from zero to a fully functional website in minutes.

Let's dive in!

Step 1: Install Zola

First things first, you need Zola itself. It's a single binary, making installation a breeze.

For Arch Linux users:

sudo pacman -S zola

For macOS users (using Homebrew):

brew install zola

If you're on another operating system, check the official Zola documentation for detailed installation instructions.

Step 2: Create a New Website

Once Zola is installed, you can create a new site project with a single command:

zola init my-new-website
cd my-new-website

Zola will ask you a few questions, like your site's URL and whether you want a config.toml file (just hit Enter for the defaults for now). This command sets up the basic directory structure for your new site.

Step 3: Add a Zola Theme (Self-Plug: ZolaNight!)

A theme gives your Zola site its look and feel. There are many great themes available, but since you're here, why not try my very own minimalist and fast theme, ZolaNight?

First, add the theme to your project:

git init # If you haven't already
git submodule add https://github.com/mxaddict/zolanight.git themes/zolanight

Next, open your config.toml file (created in Step 2) and tell Zola to use the new theme. Add or modify the theme line:

# config.toml
base_url = "http://localhost:1111" # Or your actual site URL
title = "My Awesome Zola Site"
theme = "zolanight"

Step 4: Add Your Content

A website isn't much without content! Zola uses Markdown files in the content directory. Let's create a homepage and a second page.

The Homepage

To create the content for your main landing page, you need to create a special file named _index.md inside the content directory.

Create content/_index.md with the following:

+++
title = "Welcome to My Awesome Zola Site!"
date = 2026-01-31
description = "This is the homepage of my new Zola site. So easy!"
+++

Hello, world! This is my homepage. It was incredibly easy to set up!

You can write your content using **Markdown**.

A Second Page

Now, let's add another page. Any other .md file in the content directory will become a separate page on your site.

Create content/second-page.md with the following:

+++
title = "This is My Second Page"
date = 2026-01-31
description = "Another page to show how Zola works."
+++

This is another page on the website. Zola will generate a URL for it
automatically, something like `/second-page/`.

Step 5: Run "zola serve" and See Your Website

Now for the magic moment! To see your website locally, simply run:

zola serve

This command will start a local development server, usually accessible at http://127.0.0.1:1111. Open your web browser to this address, and you'll see your brand new Zola site, complete with the ZolaNight theme and your first content page!

Zola also includes live-reloading, so any changes you make to your content or configuration files will automatically update in your browser.

Conclusion

In just a few simple steps, you've installed Zola, set up a new project, integrated a theme, added content, and viewed it all locally. Zola's speed, simplicity, and powerful features make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to build a modern static website.

Happy Zola-ing!