diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b36d91a..0d18322 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,33 +26,7 @@ npm install
 cd gitblog.md
 cp config.example.json config.json
 ```
-then edit the config.json file with your values :
-> default values for config.json
-````json
-{
-  "nodePort": 3000,
-  "dataDir": "data",
-  "modules" : {
-    "plantuml" : false,
-    "rss": true,
-    "webhook": true
-  },
-  "home" : {
-    "index" : "index.ejs"
-  },
-  "article" : {
-    "index" : "index.md"
-  },
-  "rss" : {
-    "endpoint" : "/rss",
-    "length" : 10
-  },
-  "webhook" : {
-    "endpoint": "/webhook",
-    "secretFile": "git_secret"
-  }
-}
-````
+then edit the config.json file with your custom values.
 
 **3. Start your server**
 
diff --git a/src/config.default.json b/src/config.default.json
index f62a4ed..2ee6f02 100644
--- a/src/config.default.json
+++ b/src/config.default.json
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@
     "index" : "index.ejs"
   },
   "article" : {
-    "index" : "index.md"
+    "index" : "index.md",
+    "thumbnail_tag" : "thumbnail",
+    "default_title": "Untitled",
+    "default_thumbnail" : null
   },
   "rss" : {
     "endpoint" : "/rss",
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index f698325..ac75ed5 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ const merge = (ref, src) => {
 
 module.exports = () => {
     try {
-        let configData = fs.readFileSync('./config.json');
+        let configData = fs.readFileSync('./config.json', {encoding:'UTF-8'});
         let config = JSON.parse(configData);
         return merge(refConfig, config);
     } catch (error) {
diff --git a/src/file_walker.js b/src/file_walker.js
index 2d2c9ad..1b1766b 100644
--- a/src/file_walker.js
+++ b/src/file_walker.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 
-const fileTree = (path, cb) => {
+const getFileTree = (path, cb) => {
     let list = [];
     let remaining = 0;
     fs.readdir(path, {withFileTypes: true}, (err, items) => {
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const fileTree = (path, cb) => {
         items.forEach((item) => {
             if (item.isDirectory()) {
                 remaining++;
-                fileTree(`${path}/${item.name}`, (err, out) => {
+                getFileTree(`${path}/${item.name}`, (err, out) => {
                     if (err)
                         return cb(err);
                     list.push(...out);
@@ -26,16 +26,30 @@ const fileTree = (path, cb) => {
     });
 };
 
-const readIndexFile = (path,cb) => {
-    //TODO reading page title and possibly ![thumbnail](url)
+const readIndexFile = (path, thumbnailTag, cb) => {
+    fs.readFile(path, {encoding: 'UTF-8'}, (err, data) => {
+        if (err)
+            return cb(err);
+
+        let info = {};
+
+        const regRes1 = data.match(/(^|[^#])#([^#\r\n]*)\r?\n?$/m);
+        info.title = regRes1 ? regRes1[2].trim() : undefined;
+
+        const thumbnailRegEx = new RegExp(`!\\[${thumbnailTag}]\\(([^)]*)\\)`, 'i');
+        const regRes2 = data.match(thumbnailRegEx);
+        info.thumbnail = regRes2 ? regRes2[1].trim() : undefined;
+
+        cb(null, info);
+    });
 };
 
 module.exports = (config) => {
     return {
-        fileTree: config['test'] ? fileTree : undefined,
+        fileTree: config['test'] ? getFileTree : undefined,
         readIndexFile: config['test'] ? readIndexFile : undefined,
         fetchArticles: (cb) => {
-            fileTree(config['data_dir'], (err, fileList) => {
+            getFileTree(config['data_dir'], (err, fileList) => {
                 if (err)
                     return cb(err);
                 const paths = fileList
@@ -44,16 +58,30 @@ module.exports = (config) => {
                     .map(path => path.substr(0, path.length - config['article']['index'].length))
                     .map(path => path.match(/^\/(\d{4})\/(\d{2})\/(\d{2})\/$/))
                     .filter(path => path && path.length > 1);
+                if (paths.length === 0)
+                    cb(null, []);
                 const list = [];
+                let remaining = 0;
                 paths.forEach(path => {
-                    list.push({
+                    const article = {
                         path: config['data_dir'] + path[0] + config['article']['index'],
                         year: parseInt(path[1]),
                         month: parseInt(path[2]),
                         day: parseInt(path[3])
+                    };
+                    remaining++;
+                    readIndexFile(article.path, config['article']['thumbnail_tag'], (err, info) => {
+                        if (err)
+                            return cb(err);
+                        article.title = info.title || config['article']['default_title'];
+                        article.thumbnail = info.thumbnail ? (config['data_dir'] + path[0] + info.thumbnail) : config['article']['default_thumbnail'];
+                        list.push(article);
+                        remaining--;
+                        if (remaining === 0)
+                            cb(null, list);
                     });
                 });
-                cb(null, list);
+
             });
         }
     };
diff --git a/test/file_walker.test.js b/test/file_walker.test.js
index 10da942..e1a1c1a 100644
--- a/test/file_walker.test.js
+++ b/test/file_walker.test.js
@@ -8,14 +8,17 @@ const config = {
     'test': true,
     'data_dir': dataDir,
     'article': {
-        'index': testIndex
+        'index': testIndex,
+        'default_title': 'Untitled',
+        'default_thumbnail': 'default.png',
+        'thumbnail_tag': 'thumbnail'
     }
 };
 
 const fw = require('../src/file_walker')(config);
 
 const deleteFolderSync = (path) => {
-    if(!fs.existsSync(path))
+    if (!fs.existsSync(path))
         return;
     fs.readdirSync(path, {withFileTypes: true}).forEach((item) => {
         if (item.isDirectory())
@@ -105,10 +108,95 @@ describe('Test function fileTree', () => {
     });
 });
 
+describe('Test index article reading', () => {
+    const file = `${dataDir}/${testIndex}`;
+
+    test('invalid file', (done) => {
+        fw.readIndexFile('invalid file', 'thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).not.toBeNull();
+            expect(info).not.toBeDefined();
+            done();
+        });
+
+    });
+
+    test('correct file', (done) => {
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, `
+           # This is an awesome title !?¤
+           ![custom_thumbnail](./thumbnail.jpg)
+           this is some text
+           `);
+        fw.readIndexFile(file, 'custom_thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(info).toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.title).toBe('This is an awesome title !?¤');
+            expect(info.thumbnail).toBe('./thumbnail.jpg');
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    test('no title', (done) => {
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, `
+           ## This is an awesome title !?¤
+           ![custom_thumbnail](./thumbnail.jpg)
+           ### this is some text
+           `);
+        fw.readIndexFile(file, 'custom_thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(info).toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.title).not.toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.thumbnail).toBe('./thumbnail.jpg');
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    test('title at beginning', (done) => {
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, '#title');
+        fw.readIndexFile(file, 'custom_thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(info).toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.title).toBe('title');
+            expect(info.thumbnail).not.toBeDefined();
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    test('no thumbnail', (done) => {
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, `
+           # This is an awesome title !?¤
+           ![custom_thumbnail](./thumbnail.jpg)
+           this is some text
+           `);
+        fw.readIndexFile(file, 'thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(info).toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.title).toBe('This is an awesome title !?¤');
+            expect(info.thumbnail).not.toBeDefined();
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    test('multiple thumbnails', (done) => {
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, `
+           # This is an awesome title !?¤
+           ![custom_thumbnail](./thumbnail.jpg)
+           this is some text
+           ![custom_thumbnail](./thumbnail2.jpg)
+           `);
+        fw.readIndexFile(file, 'custom_thumbnail', (err, info) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(info).toBeDefined();
+            expect(info.title).toBe('This is an awesome title !?¤');
+            expect(info.thumbnail).toBe('./thumbnail.jpg');
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+});
+
 describe('Test article fetching', () => {
     test('invalid data dir', (done) => {
         config['data_dir'] = 'invalid root';
-        fw.fetchArticles((err,list) => {
+        fw.fetchArticles((err, list) => {
             expect(err).not.toBeNull();
             expect(list).not.toBeDefined();
             config['data_dir'] = dataDir;
@@ -116,7 +204,7 @@ describe('Test article fetching', () => {
         });
     });
     test('empty data dir', (done) => {
-        fw.fetchArticles((err,list) => {
+        fw.fetchArticles((err, list) => {
             expect(err).toBeNull();
             expect(list).toBeDefined();
             expect(list.length).toBe(0);
@@ -133,30 +221,55 @@ describe('Test article fetching', () => {
             `${dataDir}/test/test/${testIndex}`,
             `${dataDir}/2019/05/${testIndex}`,
         ]);
-        fw.fetchArticles((err,list) => {
+        fw.fetchArticles((err, list) => {
             expect(err).toBeNull();
             expect(list).toBeDefined();
             expect(list.length).toBe(0);
             done();
         });
     });
+    test('empty index file', (done) => {
+        createEmptyDirs([
+            `${dataDir}/2019/05/05`,
+        ]);
+        const file = `${dataDir}/2019/05/05/${testIndex}`;
+        createEmptyFiles([file]);
+        fw.fetchArticles((err, list) => {
+            expect(err).toBeNull();
+            expect(list).toBeDefined();
+            expect(list.length).toBe(1);
+            expect(list[0]).toEqual({
+                path: file,
+                year: 2019,
+                month: 5,
+                day: 5,
+                title:'Untitled',
+                thumbnail:'default.png'
+            });
+            done();
+        });
+    });
     test('correct index file', (done) => {
         createEmptyDirs([
             `${dataDir}/2019/05/05`,
         ]);
-        const fileList = [
-            `${dataDir}/2019/05/05/${testIndex}`,
-        ];
-        createEmptyFiles(fileList);
-        fw.fetchArticles((err,list) => {
+        const file = `${dataDir}/2019/05/05/${testIndex}`;
+        fs.writeFileSync(file, `
+           # Title
+           ![thumbnail](./thumbnail.jpg)
+           this is some text
+           `);
+        fw.fetchArticles((err, list) => {
             expect(err).toBeNull();
             expect(list).toBeDefined();
             expect(list.length).toBe(1);
             expect(list[0]).toEqual({
-               path: fileList[0],
-                year:2019,
-                month:5,
-                day:5
+                path: file,
+                year: 2019,
+                month: 5,
+                day: 5,
+                title:'Title',
+                thumbnail:`${dataDir}/2019/05/05/./thumbnail.jpg`
             });
             done();
         });