Template definition

A template definition gives a template a name and makes it available to the system. At a minimum a template definition must specify a script and a renderer. You can configure a template in a YAML file or a JCR node.

Template definition types

Magnolia has three types of template definitions:

Page definition defines a page template. Pages are divided into areas.
Area definition defines an area template. An area is configured in a page definition. Areas typically contain components.
Component definition defines a component template.

Common template properties

Simple template definition:

/my-module/templates/pages/home.yaml

renderType: freemarker 
templateScript: /my-module/templates/pages/home.ftl
dialog: my-module:pages/homePageProperties
class: com.example.templates.CustomTemplateDefinition
modelClass: com.example.templates.HomePageModel

Node name	Value
home
class	com.example.templates.CustomTemplateDefinition
dialog	my-module:pages/homePageProperties
modelClass	com.example.templates.HomePageModel
renderType	freemarker
templateScript	/my-module/templates/pages/home.ftl

You can use common template properties in page, area and component definitions. Each template type has its own specific properties too.

`renderType`	required Renderer to use. Magnolia supports `freemarker` and `jsp` renderers by default. If you have the Site module you can set `renderType=site`, then define a common `templateScript` in the template prototype to use on all pages of the site. You can also create a custom renderer.
`templateScript`	required Path to the template script as `/<module>/templates/<type>/<file>.<ext>` format. See Resources for more about script storage locations.
`dialog`	optional Dialog definition ID in `<module-name>:<path to dialog definition>` format. The ID has two parts, separated by a colon: `<module-name>` : The name of the module which contains the dialog definition. `<path>`: Relative path to the dialog definition inside `dialogs` root item. For example the dialog ID `my-module:pages/homePageProperties` either points to the YAML file `$magnolia.home/my-module/dialogs/homePageProperties.yaml` or to the JCR node `/modules/my-module/dialogs/homePageProperties` in the configuration workspace.
`i18nBasename`	optional Message bundle such as `com.example.templates.messages`. You don't need to set this property if your message bundle is in the `i18n` directory (the `mgnl-i18n` directory in Magnolia 5.4.5 and earlier) inside the module. Magnolia will find the bundle automatically. Only set the property if you put the bundle somewhere else.
`title`	optional Title of the template displayed to editors. The value can be literal or retrieved from a message bundle (which is defined in i18nBasename) with a key. Use alphanumeric characters in literal values. Displayed in: Pages: Template dropdown in the Pages app. Areas: Area toolbar in the page editor. Components: Component toolbar in the page editor.
`description`	optional Template description displayed to editors. The value can be literal or retrieved from the message bundle (specified by `i18nBasename`) with a key.
`class`	optional The fully-qualified class name for the Java bean representing the definition data of this item. The default class is TemplateDefinition . Only set the value when using custom definition class. Example: `com.example.templates.CustomTemplateDefinition`.
`modelClass`	optional A model class that contains business logic for the template. The model class needs to implement the interface. The renderer creates a bean based on the `modelClass`. Current content, definition and the parent model are passed to the constructor. This object is instantiated for each rendering of a page or component. Magnolia 5.4.5+ A Groovy model class can be referenced from a YAML template definition. Current limitations: A Groovy model cannot be supplied as a file, you can only reference a Groovy model stored in JCR. (See the Groovy module.) The reference path cannot include the hyphen character. Value: Java models: Fully-qualified class name. Example: `com.example.templates.HomePageModel`. Groovy models: Path to the model using dot notation such as `myModule.templates.components.LinkModel.`
`parameters`	optional Custom template properties that you can access from a script without having to write a class.
`extends`	optional, in JCR node configuration only Inherits the configuration from another template definition. The value is a valid Magnolia path. See Reusing configuration.
`variations`	optional Merges template definition with the variation having the same name of the channel - if available.

Custom template properties

Use a parameters item in any template definition to add custom properties without having to write a custom class. Access the properties from your script using the def.parameters.<parameter-name> notation. See def.

parameters:
  example: my-value

Node name	Value
<template name>
parameters
example	my-value

To access the example parameter in a Freemarker script, use:

${def.parameters.example!}

Reusing configuration

Magnolia provides mechanisms to reuse configuration items such as template definitions or dialogs. Read Reusing configuration and Extend JCR node based template definition for further information.

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Template definition