Hello there,
Some general points:
- For most (good) themes, you shouldn’t need to make major changes to your content to be able to use them. Some might require frontmatter variables to be in place in certain content, and some might need you to configure them in a theme-specific way.
Personally, I like managing my Hugo dependencies (including themes) using Hugo Modules. This is a good summary: How to add a theme using modules (for beginners)
I have also used git submodules, and I have also git clone-d themes. There are many ways to do this.
I would recommend reading this page thoroughly: Directory structure | Hugo
Generally speaking, most Hugo sites will follow this standard directory layout; content goes in /content/, themes go into /themes/, etc. When we talk about running hugo commands, this generally means running hugo, hugo server, etc in the root of your Hugo project. Usually this means the directory that contains your config.toml file.
Now, we don’t know where in your filesystem you put your Hugo projects in. So we won’t put in the docs to "cd into /Users/bob/2021/projects/funny/hugo/testing/project-one/final-final-2/.
Finally, it is much easier to get help here when you have a specific question, and when we can replicate your situation. Have a read about Requesting Help
Have a browse through some of our Recommended Reading Reference as well: Recommended Reading Reference