Q:

How to change the footer in DocFX?

Just hope to change the footer copyright info, generated by DocFX.

Here is what I have done:

Export template:

Run docfx template export default, get a folder _exported_templates\default

Change the footer partials:

The files I have changed are .\partials_footer.liquid and .\partials\footer.tmpl.partial

Use the updated template:

Run docfx -t _exported_templates\default.

Serve the site again

Run docfx docfx.json --serve.
But the update is not shown when I refresh the documentation page. Is there anything else I have missed?

A:

Try merge step 3, 4 into: docfx -t _exported_templates\default --serve. 
Explanation: If you open the build output in _site after step 3, you should find the footer is actually updated. In step 4, DocFX builds the site again before serving, so finally you find the original footer because this build doesn't use your customized template.
Another quick solution is to add _appFooter to global metadata in docfx.json like:
"globalMetadata": {
  "_appFooter": "<span>Customized Footer</span>"
},

Full reserved metadata list can be found here: http://dotnet.github.io/docfx/tutorial/docfx.exe_user_manual.html#322-reserved-metadata

