Site settings and navigation

On this page

Site settings

These fields belong in the site's zola.toml. Zola does not inherit them from the theme's configuration. Quick start shows a complete initial file.

Field	Purpose
`base_url`	Deployment address, including any path prefix; used for canonical and asset URLs.
`theme`	Set to `"devlab-theme"`.
`compile_sass`	Set to `true` to build the theme stylesheets.
`title`	Site name and default header/footer text.
`description`	Metadata fallback for content without its own description.
`default_language`	Language code for primary content; `"en"` in the minimal setup.

Search settings are in Search. Feeds and code highlighting are in Publishing.

Theme settings

Optional theme settings live under extra.devlab and inherit defaults from theme.toml. The navigation array replaces the default Home link.

After creating content/docs/_index.md, register its collection and add it to navigation:

[extra.devlab.collections.manual]
section = "docs/_index.md"

[extra.devlab.navigation]
links = [
  { name = "Home", path = "/" },
  { collection = "manual" },
]

An ordinary link requires string name and path. A collection link requires its registered ID. An optional name overrides the translated root title. Unknown collection IDs and missing primary roots stop the build.

An empty links array removes global navigation. On Docs and Reader pages with chapters, the mobile menu still opens the active collection's tree. Other pages then have no menu button.

Reading roots

collections.<name>.section is a source path relative to content/, not a public URL. Zola supplies the root's permalink. Collection membership follows source ancestry, even when a page has a custom URL.

Collections provide sidebar navigation and reading defaults. A page's selected template determines its layout. See Collections for option inheritance and Docs navigation for curated section order.

Multilingual routes

Local navigation, landing actions, announcements and footer links include the site's deployment prefix and active content language. Absolute HTTP(S) URLs, protocol-relative URLs, mailto:, tel:, fragments and query-only references are preserved. Download artifact URLs do not receive a language prefix.

Missing translated collection roots remove their navigation links. Ordinary path links assume that the destination exists in the active language.

For local links inside content components, pass the language explicitly:

{% <devlab.card title="Documentation" href="@/docs/_index.md" content_lang={lang}> %}
Open the documentation.
{% </devlab.card> %}

Language codes, direction and interface labels are described in Languages. Header and footer settings are in Appearance.