This is how to create multiple index pages in Hugo

I wanted to order Hackbook in reverse (i.e. oldest to newest) so that it’s easier for the reader to start at the correct page.

I ran into the following problem - the default list.html does them from newest to oldest.

So I found this forum post and I created a file in the _default directory as follows:

layouts
|----**_default**
|-------**hackbook**
|-----------**order-by-oldest.html**
|-------baseof.html
|-------index.html
|-------list.html
|-------single.html
Picture of the directory

I named my file order by oldest because I plan on reusing it in other places. This is what’s contained inside it:

{{ define "title" -}}
{{ .Title | title }}
{{- end }}
{{ define "main" -}}
{{ .Content }}
<ul>
{{- range.Pages.Reverse }}
	<li>
		{{- if .Param "datesinlist" }}<time datetime="{{ .Date.Format "2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00" }}">{{ .Date.Format "2006 Jan 02" }}</time> &ndash; {{ end -}}
		<a href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a>
		{{- if .Param "authorsinlist" }}
		{{- range .Param "authors" }} by {{ . }}{{ end -}}
		{{ end -}}
		</li>
{{- end }}
</ul>
{{- end }}

If you want to display the date on the left of the titles, you have to add datesinlist=true in your config.toml or datesinlist: true in your config.yaml

You probably don’t need enableGitInfo = true as that will crash your website, I have no idea what it does, you don’t need it.

Using your custom _index.html

After creating your custom _index.html you’d use it as follows:

  1. Create an _index.md file in your desired directory
  2. Add layout: "hackbook/order-by-oldest" to your preamble (if you named your folder and or file something else, you have to change it here)
Picture of the layout in the preamble

And now you should have a custom _index.html for your pages! :)

Here is a verbose copy paste of the original hugo forum answer in case it gets deleted:

Content structure:

content
├── better
│   └── _index.md
├── post
│   ├── post-1.md
│   ├── post-2.md
│   └── post-3.md
└── _index.md

content/better/_index.md

+++
title = "Better"
date = 2021-03-04T17:02:42-08:00
draft = false
type = "post"
layout = "posts-by-lastmod"
+++

Template structure:

layouts
├── _default
│   ├── baseof.html
│   ├── list.html
│   └── single.html
├── post
│   └── posts-by-lastmod.html
└── index.html

layouts/post/posts-by-lastmod.html

{{ define "main" }}
  {{ .Content }}
  {{ range (where .Site.RegularPages "Type" "post").ByLastmod.Reverse }}
    <h2><a href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h2>
  {{ end }}
{{ end }}

layouts/index.html

{{ define "main" }}
  {{ .Content }}
  {{ range (where .Site.RegularPages "Type" "post").ByDate.Reverse }}
    <h2><a href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">{{ .Title }}</a></h2>
  {{ end }}
{{ end }}

config.toml (see https://gohugo.io/variables/git/#lastmod)

enableGitInfo = true