diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index 474e5bbf..82be8f73 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import os
 import re
 from datetime import timezone
 from html import unescape
-from urllib.parse import unquote, urljoin, urlparse, urlunparse
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Set, Tuple
+from urllib.parse import ParseResult, unquote, urljoin, urlparse, urlunparse
 
 try:
     from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ except ModuleNotFoundError:
 
 
 from pelican.plugins import signals
-from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG
+from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG, Settings
 from pelican.utils import (
     deprecated_attribute,
     memoized,
@@ -44,12 +45,20 @@ class Content:
 
     """
 
+    default_template: Optional[str] = None
+    mandatory_properties: Tuple[str, ...] = ()
+
     @deprecated_attribute(old="filename", new="source_path", since=(3, 2, 0))
     def filename():
         return None
 
     def __init__(
-        self, content, metadata=None, settings=None, source_path=None, context=None
+        self,
+        content: str,
+        metadata: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
+        settings: Optional[Settings] = None,
+        source_path: Optional[str] = None,
+        context: Optional[Dict[Any, Any]] = None,
     ):
         if metadata is None:
             metadata = {}
@@ -156,10 +165,10 @@ class Content:
 
         signals.content_object_init.send(self)
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
         return self.source_path or repr(self)
 
-    def _has_valid_mandatory_properties(self):
+    def _has_valid_mandatory_properties(self) -> bool:
         """Test mandatory properties are set."""
         for prop in self.mandatory_properties:
             if not hasattr(self, prop):
@@ -169,7 +178,7 @@ class Content:
                 return False
         return True
 
-    def _has_valid_save_as(self):
+    def _has_valid_save_as(self) -> bool:
         """Return true if save_as doesn't write outside output path, false
         otherwise."""
         try:
@@ -190,7 +199,7 @@ class Content:
 
         return True
 
-    def _has_valid_status(self):
+    def _has_valid_status(self) -> bool:
         if hasattr(self, "allowed_statuses"):
             if self.status not in self.allowed_statuses:
                 logger.error(
@@ -204,7 +213,7 @@ class Content:
         # if undefined we allow all
         return True
 
-    def is_valid(self):
+    def is_valid(self) -> bool:
         """Validate Content"""
         # Use all() to not short circuit and get results of all validations
         return all(
@@ -216,7 +225,7 @@ class Content:
         )
 
     @property
-    def url_format(self):
+    def url_format(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """Returns the URL, formatted with the proper values"""
         metadata = copy.copy(self.metadata)
         path = self.metadata.get("path", self.get_relative_source_path())
@@ -232,19 +241,19 @@ class Content:
         )
         return metadata
 
-    def _expand_settings(self, key, klass=None):
+    def _expand_settings(self, key: str, klass: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
         if not klass:
             klass = self.__class__.__name__
         fq_key = (f"{klass}_{key}").upper()
         return str(self.settings[fq_key]).format(**self.url_format)
 
-    def get_url_setting(self, key):
+    def get_url_setting(self, key: str) -> str:
         if hasattr(self, "override_" + key):
             return getattr(self, "override_" + key)
         key = key if self.in_default_lang else "lang_%s" % key
         return self._expand_settings(key)
 
-    def _link_replacer(self, siteurl, m):
+    def _link_replacer(self, siteurl: str, m: re.Match) -> str:
         what = m.group("what")
         value = urlparse(m.group("value"))
         path = value.path
@@ -272,15 +281,15 @@ class Content:
         # XXX Put this in a different location.
         if what in {"filename", "static", "attach"}:
 
-            def _get_linked_content(key, url):
+            def _get_linked_content(key: str, url: ParseResult) -> Optional[Content]:
                 nonlocal value
 
-                def _find_path(path):
+                def _find_path(path: str) -> Optional[Content]:
                     if path.startswith("/"):
                         path = path[1:]
                     else:
                         # relative to the source path of this content
-                        path = self.get_relative_source_path(
+                        path = self.get_relative_source_path(  # type: ignore
                             os.path.join(self.relative_dir, path)
                         )
                     return self._context[key].get(path, None)
@@ -324,7 +333,7 @@ class Content:
             linked_content = _get_linked_content(key, value)
             if linked_content:
                 if what == "attach":
-                    linked_content.attach_to(self)
+                    linked_content.attach_to(self)  # type: ignore
                 origin = joiner(siteurl, linked_content.url)
                 origin = origin.replace("\\", "/")  # for Windows paths.
             else:
@@ -359,7 +368,7 @@ class Content:
 
         return "".join((m.group("markup"), m.group("quote"), origin, m.group("quote")))
 
-    def _get_intrasite_link_regex(self):
+    def _get_intrasite_link_regex(self) -> re.Pattern:
         intrasite_link_regex = self.settings["INTRASITE_LINK_REGEX"]
         regex = r"""
             (?P<markup><[^\>]+  # match tag with all url-value attributes
@@ -370,7 +379,7 @@ class Content:
             (?P=quote)""".format(intrasite_link_regex)
         return re.compile(regex, re.X)
 
-    def _update_content(self, content, siteurl):
+    def _update_content(self, content: str, siteurl: str) -> str:
         """Update the content attribute.
 
         Change all the relative paths of the content to relative paths
@@ -386,7 +395,7 @@ class Content:
         hrefs = self._get_intrasite_link_regex()
         return hrefs.sub(lambda m: self._link_replacer(siteurl, m), content)
 
-    def get_static_links(self):
+    def get_static_links(self) -> Set[str]:
         static_links = set()
         hrefs = self._get_intrasite_link_regex()
         for m in hrefs.finditer(self._content):
@@ -402,15 +411,15 @@ class Content:
                 path = self.get_relative_source_path(
                     os.path.join(self.relative_dir, path)
                 )
-            path = path.replace("%20", " ")
+            path = path.replace("%20", " ")  # type: ignore
             static_links.add(path)
         return static_links
 
-    def get_siteurl(self):
+    def get_siteurl(self) -> str:
         return self._context.get("localsiteurl", "")
 
     @memoized
-    def get_content(self, siteurl):
+    def get_content(self, siteurl: str) -> str:
         if hasattr(self, "_get_content"):
             content = self._get_content()
         else:
@@ -418,11 +427,11 @@ class Content:
         return self._update_content(content, siteurl)
 
     @property
-    def content(self):
+    def content(self) -> str:
         return self.get_content(self.get_siteurl())
 
     @memoized
-    def get_summary(self, siteurl):
+    def get_summary(self, siteurl: str) -> str:
         """Returns the summary of an article.
 
         This is based on the summary metadata if set, otherwise truncate the
@@ -441,10 +450,10 @@ class Content:
         )
 
     @property
-    def summary(self):
+    def summary(self) -> str:
         return self.get_summary(self.get_siteurl())
 
-    def _get_summary(self):
+    def _get_summary(self) -> str:
         """deprecated function to access summary"""
 
         logger.warning(
@@ -454,34 +463,36 @@ class Content:
         return self.summary
 
     @summary.setter
-    def summary(self, value):
+    def summary(self, value: str):
         """Dummy function"""
         pass
 
     @property
-    def status(self):
+    def status(self) -> str:
         return self._status
 
     @status.setter
-    def status(self, value):
+    def status(self, value: str) -> None:
         # TODO maybe typecheck
         self._status = value.lower()
 
     @property
-    def url(self):
+    def url(self) -> str:
         return self.get_url_setting("url")
 
     @property
-    def save_as(self):
+    def save_as(self) -> str:
         return self.get_url_setting("save_as")
 
-    def _get_template(self):
+    def _get_template(self) -> str:
         if hasattr(self, "template") and self.template is not None:
             return self.template
         else:
             return self.default_template
 
-    def get_relative_source_path(self, source_path=None):
+    def get_relative_source_path(
+        self, source_path: Optional[str] = None
+    ) -> Optional[str]:
         """Return the relative path (from the content path) to the given
         source_path.
 
@@ -501,7 +512,7 @@ class Content:
         )
 
     @property
-    def relative_dir(self):
+    def relative_dir(self) -> str:
         return posixize_path(
             os.path.dirname(
                 os.path.relpath(
@@ -511,7 +522,7 @@ class Content:
             )
         )
 
-    def refresh_metadata_intersite_links(self):
+    def refresh_metadata_intersite_links(self) -> None:
         for key in self.settings["FORMATTED_FIELDS"]:
             if key in self.metadata and key != "summary":
                 value = self._update_content(self.metadata[key], self.get_siteurl())
@@ -534,7 +545,7 @@ class Page(Content):
     default_status = "published"
     default_template = "page"
 
-    def _expand_settings(self, key):
+    def _expand_settings(self, key: str) -> str:
         klass = "draft_page" if self.status == "draft" else None
         return super()._expand_settings(key, klass)
 
@@ -561,7 +572,7 @@ class Article(Content):
         if not hasattr(self, "date") and self.status == "draft":
             self.date = datetime.datetime.max.replace(tzinfo=self.timezone)
 
-    def _expand_settings(self, key):
+    def _expand_settings(self, key: str) -> str:
         klass = "draft" if self.status == "draft" else "article"
         return super()._expand_settings(key, klass)
 
@@ -571,7 +582,7 @@ class Static(Content):
     default_status = "published"
     default_template = None
 
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs) -> None:
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self._output_location_referenced = False
 
@@ -588,18 +599,18 @@ class Static(Content):
         return None
 
     @property
-    def url(self):
+    def url(self) -> str:
         # Note when url has been referenced, so we can avoid overriding it.
         self._output_location_referenced = True
         return super().url
 
     @property
-    def save_as(self):
+    def save_as(self) -> str:
         # Note when save_as has been referenced, so we can avoid overriding it.
         self._output_location_referenced = True
         return super().save_as
 
-    def attach_to(self, content):
+    def attach_to(self, content: Content) -> None:
         """Override our output directory with that of the given content object."""
 
         # Determine our file's new output path relative to the linking
@@ -624,7 +635,7 @@ class Static(Content):
 
         new_url = path_to_url(new_save_as)
 
-        def _log_reason(reason):
+        def _log_reason(reason: str) -> None:
             logger.warning(
                 "The {attach} link in %s cannot relocate "
                 "%s because %s. Falling back to "
diff --git a/pelican/utils.py b/pelican/utils.py
index eda53d3f..5f161667 100644
--- a/pelican/utils.py
+++ b/pelican/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 import datetime
 import fnmatch
 import locale
@@ -16,6 +18,21 @@ from html import entities
 from html.parser import HTMLParser
 from itertools import groupby
 from operator import attrgetter
+from typing import (
+    TYPE_CHECKING,
+    Any,
+    Callable,
+    Collection,
+    Dict,
+    Generator,
+    Iterable,
+    List,
+    Optional,
+    Sequence,
+    Tuple,
+    Type,
+    Union,
+)
 
 import dateutil.parser
 
@@ -27,11 +44,15 @@ from markupsafe import Markup
 
 import watchfiles
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from pelican.contents import Content
+    from pelican.readers import Readers
+    from pelican.settings import Settings
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def sanitised_join(base_directory, *parts):
+def sanitised_join(base_directory: str, *parts: str) -> str:
     joined = posixize_path(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(base_directory, *parts)))
     base = posixize_path(os.path.abspath(base_directory))
     if not joined.startswith(base):
@@ -40,7 +61,7 @@ def sanitised_join(base_directory, *parts):
     return joined
 
 
-def strftime(date, date_format):
+def strftime(date: datetime.datetime, date_format: str) -> str:
     """
     Enhanced replacement for built-in strftime with zero stripping
 
@@ -109,10 +130,10 @@ class DateFormatter:
     defined in LOCALE setting
     """
 
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
         self.locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME)
 
-    def __call__(self, date, date_format):
+    def __call__(self, date: datetime.datetime, date_format: str) -> str:
         # on OSX, encoding from LC_CTYPE determines the unicode output in PY3
         # make sure it's same as LC_TIME
         with temporary_locale(self.locale, locale.LC_TIME), temporary_locale(
@@ -131,11 +152,11 @@ class memoized:
 
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, func):
+    def __init__(self, func: Callable) -> None:
         self.func = func
-        self.cache = {}
+        self.cache: Dict[Any, Any] = {}
 
-    def __call__(self, *args):
+    def __call__(self, *args) -> Any:
         if not isinstance(args, Hashable):
             # uncacheable. a list, for instance.
             # better to not cache than blow up.
@@ -147,17 +168,23 @@ class memoized:
             self.cache[args] = value
             return value
 
-    def __repr__(self):
+    def __repr__(self) -> Optional[str]:
         return self.func.__doc__
 
-    def __get__(self, obj, objtype):
+    def __get__(self, obj: Any, objtype):
         """Support instance methods."""
         fn = partial(self.__call__, obj)
         fn.cache = self.cache
         return fn
 
 
-def deprecated_attribute(old, new, since=None, remove=None, doc=None):
+def deprecated_attribute(
+    old: str,
+    new: str,
+    since: Tuple[int, ...],
+    remove: Optional[Tuple[int, ...]] = None,
+    doc: Optional[str] = None,
+):
     """Attribute deprecation decorator for gentle upgrades
 
     For example:
@@ -198,7 +225,7 @@ def deprecated_attribute(old, new, since=None, remove=None, doc=None):
     return decorator
 
 
-def get_date(string):
+def get_date(string: str) -> datetime.datetime:
     """Return a datetime object from a string.
 
     If no format matches the given date, raise a ValueError.
@@ -212,7 +239,9 @@ def get_date(string):
 
 
 @contextmanager
-def pelican_open(filename, mode="r", strip_crs=(sys.platform == "win32")):
+def pelican_open(
+    filename: str, mode: str = "r", strip_crs: bool = (sys.platform == "win32")
+) -> Generator[str, None, None]:
     """Open a file and return its content"""
 
     # utf-8-sig will clear any BOM if present
@@ -221,7 +250,12 @@ def pelican_open(filename, mode="r", strip_crs=(sys.platform == "win32")):
     yield content
 
 
-def slugify(value, regex_subs=(), preserve_case=False, use_unicode=False):
+def slugify(
+    value: str,
+    regex_subs: Iterable[Tuple[str, str]] = (),
+    preserve_case: bool = False,
+    use_unicode: bool = False,
+) -> str:
     """
     Normalizes string, converts to lowercase, removes non-alpha characters,
     and converts spaces to hyphens.
@@ -233,9 +267,10 @@ def slugify(value, regex_subs=(), preserve_case=False, use_unicode=False):
     """
 
     import unicodedata
+
     import unidecode
 
-    def normalize_unicode(text):
+    def normalize_unicode(text: str) -> str:
         # normalize text by compatibility composition
         # see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_equivalence
         return unicodedata.normalize("NFKC", text)
@@ -262,7 +297,9 @@ def slugify(value, regex_subs=(), preserve_case=False, use_unicode=False):
     return value.strip()
 
 
-def copy(source, destination, ignores=None):
+def copy(
+    source: str, destination: str, ignores: Optional[Iterable[str]] = None
+) -> None:
     """Recursively copy source into destination.
 
     If source is a file, destination has to be a file as well.
@@ -334,7 +371,7 @@ def copy(source, destination, ignores=None):
                     )
 
 
-def copy_file(source, destination):
+def copy_file(source: str, destination: str) -> None:
     """Copy a file"""
     try:
         shutil.copyfile(source, destination)
@@ -344,7 +381,7 @@ def copy_file(source, destination):
         )
 
 
-def clean_output_dir(path, retention):
+def clean_output_dir(path: str, retention: Iterable[str]) -> None:
     """Remove all files from output directory except those in retention list"""
 
     if not os.path.exists(path):
@@ -381,24 +418,24 @@ def clean_output_dir(path, retention):
             logger.error("Unable to delete %s, file type unknown", file)
 
 
-def get_relative_path(path):
+def get_relative_path(path: str) -> str:
     """Return the relative path from the given path to the root path."""
     components = split_all(path)
-    if len(components) <= 1:
+    if components is None or len(components) <= 1:
         return os.curdir
     else:
         parents = [os.pardir] * (len(components) - 1)
         return os.path.join(*parents)
 
 
-def path_to_url(path):
+def path_to_url(path: str) -> str:
     """Return the URL corresponding to a given path."""
     if path is not None:
         path = posixize_path(path)
     return path
 
 
-def posixize_path(rel_path):
+def posixize_path(rel_path: str) -> str:
     """Use '/' as path separator, so that source references,
     like '{static}/foo/bar.jpg' or 'extras/favicon.ico',
     will work on Windows as well as on Mac and Linux."""
@@ -427,20 +464,20 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
     _singlets = ("br", "col", "link", "base", "img", "param", "area", "hr", "input")
 
     class TruncationCompleted(Exception):
-        def __init__(self, truncate_at):
+        def __init__(self, truncate_at: int) -> None:
             super().__init__(truncate_at)
             self.truncate_at = truncate_at
 
-    def __init__(self, max_words):
+    def __init__(self, max_words: int) -> None:
         super().__init__(convert_charrefs=False)
 
         self.max_words = max_words
         self.words_found = 0
         self.open_tags = []
         self.last_word_end = None
-        self.truncate_at = None
+        self.truncate_at: Optional[int] = None
 
-    def feed(self, *args, **kwargs):
+    def feed(self, *args, **kwargs) -> None:
         try:
             super().feed(*args, **kwargs)
         except self.TruncationCompleted as exc:
@@ -448,29 +485,29 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
         else:
             self.truncate_at = None
 
-    def getoffset(self):
+    def getoffset(self) -> int:
         line_start = 0
         lineno, line_offset = self.getpos()
         for i in range(lineno - 1):
             line_start = self.rawdata.index("\n", line_start) + 1
         return line_start + line_offset
 
-    def add_word(self, word_end):
+    def add_word(self, word_end: int) -> None:
         self.words_found += 1
         self.last_word_end = None
         if self.words_found == self.max_words:
             raise self.TruncationCompleted(word_end)
 
-    def add_last_word(self):
+    def add_last_word(self) -> None:
         if self.last_word_end is not None:
             self.add_word(self.last_word_end)
 
-    def handle_starttag(self, tag, attrs):
+    def handle_starttag(self, tag: str, attrs: Any) -> None:
         self.add_last_word()
         if tag not in self._singlets:
             self.open_tags.insert(0, tag)
 
-    def handle_endtag(self, tag):
+    def handle_endtag(self, tag: str) -> None:
         self.add_last_word()
         try:
             i = self.open_tags.index(tag)
@@ -481,7 +518,7 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
             # all unclosed intervening start tags with omitted end tags
             del self.open_tags[: i + 1]
 
-    def handle_data(self, data):
+    def handle_data(self, data: str) -> None:
         word_end = 0
         offset = self.getoffset()
 
@@ -499,7 +536,7 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
         if word_end < len(data):
             self.add_last_word()
 
-    def _handle_ref(self, name, char):
+    def _handle_ref(self, name: str, char: str) -> None:
         """
         Called by handle_entityref() or handle_charref() when a ref like
         `&mdash;`, `&#8212;`, or `&#x2014` is found.
@@ -543,7 +580,7 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
             else:
                 self.add_last_word()
 
-    def handle_entityref(self, name):
+    def handle_entityref(self, name: str) -> None:
         """
         Called when an entity ref like '&mdash;' is found
 
@@ -556,7 +593,7 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
             char = ""
         self._handle_ref(name, char)
 
-    def handle_charref(self, name):
+    def handle_charref(self, name: str) -> None:
         """
         Called when a char ref like '&#8212;' or '&#x2014' is found
 
@@ -574,7 +611,7 @@ class _HTMLWordTruncator(HTMLParser):
         self._handle_ref("#" + name, char)
 
 
-def truncate_html_words(s, num, end_text="…"):
+def truncate_html_words(s: str, num: int, end_text: str = "…") -> str:
     """Truncates HTML to a certain number of words.
 
     (not counting tags and comments). Closes opened tags if they were correctly
@@ -600,7 +637,10 @@ def truncate_html_words(s, num, end_text="…"):
     return out
 
 
-def process_translations(content_list, translation_id=None):
+def process_translations(
+    content_list: List[Content],
+    translation_id: Optional[Union[str, Collection[str]]] = None,
+) -> Tuple[List[Content], List[Content]]:
     """Finds translations and returns them.
 
     For each content_list item, populates the 'translations' attribute, and
@@ -658,7 +698,7 @@ def process_translations(content_list, translation_id=None):
     return index, translations
 
 
-def get_original_items(items, with_str):
+def get_original_items(items: List[Content], with_str: str) -> List[Content]:
     def _warn_source_paths(msg, items, *extra):
         args = [len(items)]
         args.extend(extra)
@@ -698,7 +738,10 @@ def get_original_items(items, with_str):
     return original_items
 
 
-def order_content(content_list, order_by="slug"):
+def order_content(
+    content_list: List[Content],
+    order_by: Union[str, Callable[[Content], Any], None] = "slug",
+) -> List[Content]:
     """Sorts content.
 
     order_by can be a string of an attribute or sorting function. If order_by
@@ -758,7 +801,11 @@ def order_content(content_list, order_by="slug"):
     return content_list
 
 
-def wait_for_changes(settings_file, reader_class, settings):
+def wait_for_changes(
+    settings_file: str,
+    reader_class: Type["Readers"],
+    settings: "Settings",
+):
     content_path = settings.get("PATH", "")
     theme_path = settings.get("THEME", "")
     ignore_files = {
@@ -788,13 +835,15 @@ def wait_for_changes(settings_file, reader_class, settings):
     return next(
         watchfiles.watch(
             *watching_paths,
-            watch_filter=watchfiles.DefaultFilter(ignore_entity_patterns=ignore_files),
+            watch_filter=watchfiles.DefaultFilter(ignore_entity_patterns=ignore_files),  # type: ignore
             rust_timeout=0,
         )
     )
 
 
-def set_date_tzinfo(d, tz_name=None):
+def set_date_tzinfo(
+    d: datetime.datetime, tz_name: Optional[str] = None
+) -> datetime.datetime:
     """Set the timezone for dates that don't have tzinfo"""
     if tz_name and not d.tzinfo:
         timezone = ZoneInfo(tz_name)
@@ -805,11 +854,11 @@ def set_date_tzinfo(d, tz_name=None):
     return d
 
 
-def mkdir_p(path):
+def mkdir_p(path: str) -> None:
     os.makedirs(path, exist_ok=True)
 
 
-def split_all(path):
+def split_all(path: Union[str, pathlib.Path, None]) -> Optional[Sequence[str]]:
     """Split a path into a list of components
 
     While os.path.split() splits a single component off the back of
@@ -840,12 +889,12 @@ def split_all(path):
         )
 
 
-def path_to_file_url(path):
+def path_to_file_url(path: str) -> str:
     """Convert file-system path to file:// URL"""
     return urllib.parse.urljoin("file://", urllib.request.pathname2url(path))
 
 
-def maybe_pluralize(count, singular, plural):
+def maybe_pluralize(count: int, singular: str, plural: str) -> str:
     """
     Returns a formatted string containing count and plural if count is not 1
     Returns count and singular if count is 1
@@ -862,7 +911,9 @@ def maybe_pluralize(count, singular, plural):
 
 
 @contextmanager
-def temporary_locale(temp_locale=None, lc_category=locale.LC_ALL):
+def temporary_locale(
+    temp_locale: Optional[str] = None, lc_category: int = locale.LC_ALL
+) -> Generator[None, None, None]:
     """
     Enable code to run in a context with a temporary locale
     Resets the locale back when exiting context.