Overriding Partials

Ananke is built from many small template files called partials. You can change any of them without editing the theme, by placing a file with the same path in your own project.

How Hugo lookup order works #

When Hugo needs a partial, it looks in your project first and the theme second. If a file exists at the same path in both places, your copy wins. This is what makes safe customisation possible: you never touch the theme, you just shadow the file you want to change.

The safe override pattern #

The theme ships its footer partial here:

themes/ananke/layouts/_partials/site-footer.html

To change it, create a file at the matching path in your own project:

layouts/_partials/site-footer.html

Hugo uses your version instead of the theme’s.

[!IMPORTANT] This works for Hugo Module installs too — you don’t have a themes/ananke folder, but the same project path (layouts/_partials/site-footer.html) overrides the module’s partial.

A full example #

  1. Find the partial you want to change in the theme, for example layouts/_partials/site-footer.html.

  2. Copy it to the same path in your project:

    layouts/_partials/site-footer.html

  3. Edit your copy. For instance, add a copyright line.

  4. Run hugo server and confirm your version renders.

You only need to copy the one partial you are changing. Everything else keeps coming from the theme.

Keep overrides small #

  • Copy only the partial you need, not the whole layouts/ tree.
  • Change as little as possible inside it.
  • If you only need to add markup at a specific point, check whether a layout hook already exists for that spot — hooks are safer than full overrides because they survive theme changes untouched.

Update risks #

When the theme updates, its version of a partial may change. Your override does not update automatically — it keeps shadowing the theme with your old copy, which can miss bug fixes or break against new markup.

After updating the theme:

  • review your overridden partials against the theme’s new versions;
  • re-apply any upstream improvements you want;
  • delete overrides you no longer need so you get the theme’s version back.

For the authoritative reference, see Hugo’s template lookup order.