404 error when setting up the Starter Template on Github

[pled]

Hi,
I follow the instructions (and the video) carefully as I am not familiar with github usage, not being a developer.
Everything goes well and I can start hugo server in the console, and display the site with a URL redirection from http://localhost:1313/my-hugo/ (bind address 127.0.0.1) message.

Then I update the baseurl from config.toml file to match my github addresse : "pled.github.io/my-hugo". And exactly like in the video, I loose CSS in the web page being displayed.

Like in the video, I restart the hugo server, and this is where I get "404 page not found" . I deleted everything and follow the steps again : still the same. No way to display the server again from the temporary address, unless I set baseurl back to default.

NOTE after a commit, the "official" "pled.github.io/my-hugo" site is displayed as expected.

What am I doing wrong ? From my understanding, it is a bit annoying because if I make a change to the theme, I cannot see it in action unless I push a new commit.

Thank you for your help, and sorry for the (probably) noob question.

[CaiJimmy]

Hi! I have tried to reproduce the issue in GitHub Codespace, but unfortunately I haven't been able to:

I have changed baseurl to point to a subfolder:

And once the server has started, the URL without subpath will give 404 (this is correct behavior), and the URL with subpath should still work:

Have you managed to solve the problem at the end?

[pled]

Hi,
Ok, my bad, I did not add the subpath to the URL. No it works... I missed that on the video... 😢
Thank you for your answer !

I have an additional question about this setup if you have time to answer the basic question and help me to understand things.

So now I have a github template with hugo and your theme running. I can make changes to adapt the theme to my needs and see immediately the changes applied. Excellent !

Previously, I was running a local instance of Hugo on my desktop, with your theme installed, and looking at changes on my "localhost:1313". Once I am satisfied, I can manually copy the "public" directory onto my web site URL from my web provider.

So what is new now using the github template ? You wrote :

Once you're done editing the site, just commit it and push it. GitHub action will deploy the site automatically to GitHub page asociated with the repository.

More than this :

Also, there's a cron job to update the theme automatically everyday

If my understanding is correct, the push and cron update will be only be available to a baseurl like "username.github.io/my-hugo" (the public github page).

If I still want to use my own URL from my web provider, I will still have to copy the Hugo public directory manually to it, correct ?

Last, for the theme itself, if a new version is provided, it will need a manual action (git or not). Thus it is important changes done to the theme are done out of the theme directory.

Well, writing my question makes things already clearer in my mind, I think I have got it...

Thank you for confirming ! 😉

[CaiJimmy]

If I still want to use my own URL from my web provider, I will still have to copy the Hugo public directory manually to it, correct ?

Yes, automatic deployment is only configured for GitHub Pages. If you want to use a different provider, you will have to do it yourself.

Technically, though, you can skip using your own web provider and use GitHub Pages unless there's a special reason not to. It does support custom domains, if that's a concern of yours. You can also try other static page hosting services, such as Cloudflare Pages. They all provide useful command-line tools that integrate with the CI workflow, so you won't have to upload the public folder manually.

Last, for the theme itself, if a new version is provided, it will need a manual action (git or not). Thus it is important changes done to the theme are done out of the theme directory.

If a new version is released, the starter template has a CI pipeline that will automatically create a new commit and bump the theme version. You won't need to update the theme manually. This does not affect any overrides you've made to the theme files unless there's a breaking change to the theme's file structure.