# Rendering Minimal Pages

**URL:** <https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/rendering-minimal-pages/26079>\
**Category:** support\
**Created:** [June 6, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/rendering-minimal-pages/26079 "2020-06-06T19:12:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bloudraak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/bloudraak/32/5845_2.png) [@bloudraak](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/bloudraak)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/rendering-minimal-pages/26079/1 "2020-06-06T19:12:20Z")

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Hello,

I created a new site and dropped a bunch of markdown documents in the content folder assuming that, without any layouts or themes, Hugo will make a best effort to generate a site. In fact, it just rendered warnings, not any errors. But none of the markdown documents were transformed.

So I did some experiments:

- I added a baseof.html and still nothing changed. See [repository](https://github.com/bloudraak/hugo-defect/tree/v1).
- I then added a single.html and only the `index.md` was transformed to html, not `page1.md` or `page2.md`. See [repository](https://github.com/bloudraak/hugo-defect/tree/v2).
- Only when I renamed `index.md` to `_index.md`, where `page1.md` and `page2.md` rendered to HTML. See [repository](https://github.com/bloudraak/hugo-defect/tree/v3).

My expectation was that if I did the following:

- run `hugo new site`
- drop markdown documents from elsewhere into the content directory
- run `hugo`

That:

- in the absence of any layouts/themes Hugo will render markdown files to HTML without any layout (similar to pandaoc); the layouts are additive. Browsers don’t really require the boilerplate.
- if there is a `single.html`, that I do not have to rename `index.md` to `_index.md` in order to render `page1.md` or `page2.md` when those files exist in the root.
- If a page can’t be rendered, due to missing layouts, or empty layout files, then we should have an error by default, not silently fail.

I understand that the intent is probably for the site owner to use some theme, or some layouts to have a fully functional website; and functional is in the eye of the beholder. Layouts and themes are not strictly necessary to have a working site.

Not really asking for a solution here (that is evident from the experiments); just wondering if the fact that page1.md and page2.md wasn’t transformed is a defect or not, and in the absence of a theme/layout, whether Hugo should transform the markdown to HTML similar to the manner in which pandoc does conversion.

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**Author:** ![maiki](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/maiki/32/16384_2.png) [@maiki](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/maiki)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/rendering-minimal-pages/26079/2 "2020-06-07T19:33:01Z")

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> [@bloudraak](#):
>
> just wondering if the fact that page1.md and page2.md wasn’t transformed is a defect or not

It is not. Please see “page bundles”.

> [@bloudraak](#):
>
> in the absence of a theme/layout, whether Hugo should transform the markdown to HTML similar to the manner in which pandoc does conversion

> [@bloudraak](#):
>
> I created a new site and dropped a bunch of markdown documents in the content folder assuming that, without any layouts or themes, Hugo will make a best effort to generate a site.

My only response is to let go of that assumption, and if the docs caused you to prescribe to that assumption please help us change it. 🙂