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Template prototype is like a master page template. Anything you configure in the prototype is applied to all page templates. The prototype makes configuration efficient as you only need to do it once. For example, add an area to the prototype to make it available on all pages. You can override the prototype at the page definition level if needed.
No, it is not necessary to use a prototype. You can configure a separate page definition for each page template instead. This works fine if you have a small number of templates that are very different from each other.
Prototype is an optional templating mechanism that offers a number of benefits:
The prototype definition is a page template definition that must use a special class: PrototypeTemplateDefinition . You can use all the page template properties.
You can configure a prototype in:
If you have the Multisite module (EE Pro) you can configure a different prototype for each site or use the same prototype for all sites.
In the site definition configure the prototype in the /templates/prototype node.
Example: Prototype in the site definition in the Site app.
| Node name | Description |
|---|---|
| info.magnolia.my-module.definition.PageTemplateDefinition | |
| /my-module/templates/pages/main.ftl | |
| site |
While it is not possible to configure a site definition completely in YAML, you can configure the prototype in YAML and reference it in the site definition. The prototype definition can reside in any module.
To configure the prototype in YAML:
/<site name>/templates :class property to info.magnolia.module.site.templates.ReferencingPrototypeTemplateSettings . This class allows you to use a prototype defined in YAML.prototypeId to the location of the YAML prototype definition in the <module name>:<relative path to definition> format, for example, travel-demo:pages/prototype ./prototype node, if it exists.Example: travel site definition in the Site app.
| Node name | Value |
|---|---|
| info.magnolia.module.site.templates.ReferencingPrototypeTemplateSettings | |
| travel-demo:pages/prototype | |
Create the prototype YAML file in the location defined in the prototypeId property and set the class property to info.magnolia.module.site.templates.PrototypeTemplateDefinition (or a subclass).
Prototype is a TemplateDefinition which means it supports the same properties as page definition, including common template properties. However, typically you don't use them all. Here are the typical use cases:
| optional Common areas such as footer or navigation that are used on most pages. Each child node is an area definition. Define the areas in the prototype so you don't have to repeat them in each page definition. |
| optional The A page template script typically starts with an opening Example: The travel demo demo defines a template script in the prototype. This common script is used for all pages. It is also the reason why no YAML page definition in the demo has an explicit |
| optional A custom definition class which extends ConfiguredTemplateDefinition, an implementation of TemplateDefinition. You only need a custom class if you want to add your own nodes and properties in the prototype. Implement corresponding methods to operate on those properties in the definition class. Example: PageTemplateDefinition (Git) is a custom definition class used in the Travel Demo. It adds support for a |
When a user requests a page Magnolia merges the prototype with a page definition. The result is a merged template definition which is then used to render the page.
The merged definition is virtual. You won't find its configuration anywhere. It is created dynamically at the time of rendering. However, you can access the merged definition in a template script using the def rendering context object .
Example: Merging a prototype (configured in JCR) with a home page definition (configured in YAML)
main area type as list . Page definition adds availableComponents for the area. The result contains both.templateScript . Page definition says nothing about script. The result is that the home page uses the script defined in the prototype.footer area as not editable. Page definition overrides this decision by allowing footer editing on the home page. The result is that the footer can be edited on the home page only.Prototype: Page template definition: Merged template definition:Before merge After merge Node name Description mtk:components/textImage mtk:components/linkList false list list /example/templates/pages/main.ftl renderType: site
areas:
footer:
editable: true
main:
availableComponents:
textImage:
id: mtk:components/textImage
teaserInternal:
id: mtk:components/teaser
Node name Description mtk:components/textImage mtk:components/linkList true list mtk:components/textImage mtk:components/teaser list /example/templates/pages/main.ftl