VoteIT

  • News
  • Documentation
  • Themes
  • Showcase
  • Community
  • GitHub
Star

What's on this Page

  • Base Template Lookup Order
    • Example Base Template Lookup Order
  • Define the Base Template
  • Override the Base Template
TEMPLATES FUNDAMENTALS

Base Templates and Blocks

The base and block constructs allow you to define the outer shell of your master templates (i.e., the chrome of the page).

The block keyword allows you to define the outer shell of your pages’ one or more master template(s) and then fill in or override portions as necessary.

Base Template Lookup Order

The lookup order for base templates is as follows:

  1. /layouts/section/<TYPE>-baseof.html
  2. /themes/<THEME>/layouts/section/<TYPE>-baseof.html
  3. /layouts/<TYPE>/baseof.html
  4. /themes/<THEME>/layouts/<TYPE>/baseof.html
  5. /layouts/section/baseof.html
  6. /themes/<THEME>/layouts/section/baseof.html
  7. /layouts/_default/<TYPE>-baseof.html
  8. /themes/<THEME>/layouts/_default/<TYPE>-baseof.html
  9. /layouts/_default/baseof.html
  10. /themes/<THEME>/layouts/_default/baseof.html

Variables are denoted by capitalized text set within <>. Note that Hugo's default behavior is for type to inherit from section unless otherwise specified.

Example Base Template Lookup Order

As an example, let's assume your site is using a theme called “mytheme” when rendering the section list for a posts section. Hugo picks layout/section/posts.html as the template for rendering the section. The {{define}} block in this template tells Hugo that the template is an extension of a base template.

Here is the lookup order for the posts base template:

  1. /layouts/section/posts-baseof.html
  2. /themes/mytheme/layouts/section/posts-baseof.html
  3. /layouts/posts/baseof.html
  4. /themes/mytheme/layouts/posts/baseof.html
  5. /layouts/section/baseof.html
  6. /themes/mytheme/layouts/section/baseof.html
  7. /layouts/_default/posts-baseof.html
  8. /themes/mytheme/layouts/_default/posts-baseof.html
  9. /layouts/_default/baseof.html
  10. /themes/mytheme/layouts/_default/baseof.html

Define the Base Template

The following defines a simple base template at _default/baseof.html. As a default template, it is the shell from which all your pages will be rendered unless you specify another *baseof.html closer to the beginning of the lookup order.

layouts/_default/baseof.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>{{ block "title" . }}
      <!-- Blocks may include default content. -->
      {{ .Site.Title }}
    {{ end }}</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Code that all your templates share, like a header -->
    {{ block "main" . }}
      <!-- The part of the page that begins to differ between templates -->
    {{ end }}
    {{ block "footer" . }}
    <!-- More shared code, perhaps a footer but that can be overridden if need be in  -->
    {{ end }}
  </body>
</html>

Override the Base Template

From the above base template, you can define a default list template. The default list template will inherit all of the code defined above and can then implement its own "main" block from:

layouts/_default/list.html

{{ define "main" }}
  <h1>Posts</h1>
  {{ range .Pages }}
    <article>
      <h2>{{ .Title }}</h2>
      {{ .Content }}
    </article>
  {{ end }}
{{ end }}

This replaces the contents of our (basically empty) “main” block with something useful for the list template. In this case, we didn't define a "title" block, so the contents from our base template remain unchanged in lists.

Code that you put outside the block definitions can break your layout. This even includes HTML comments. For example:

<!-- Seemingly harmless HTML comment..that will break your layout at build -->
{{ define "main" }}
...your code here
{{ end }}

See this thread from the Hugo discussion forums.

The following shows how you can override both the "main" and "title" block areas from the base template with code unique to your default single page template:

layouts/_default/single.html

{{ define "title" }}
  <!-- This will override the default value set in baseof.html; i.e., "{{.Site.Title}}" in the original example-->
  {{ .Title }} &ndash; {{ .Site.Title }}
{{ end }}
{{ define "main" }}
  <h1>{{ .Title }}</h1>
  {{ .Content }}
{{ end }}
  • About VoteIT
    • Overview
    • Hugo and GDPR
    • What is Hugo
    • Hugo Features
    • The Benefits of Static
    • License
  • Getting Started
    • Get Started Overview
    • Quick Start
    • Install Hugo
    • Basic Usage
    • Directory Structure
    • Configuration
  • VoteIT Modules
  • Content Management
  • Templates
    • Templates Overview
    • Introduction
    • Template Lookup Order
    • Custom Output Formats
    • Base Templates and Blocks
    • List Page Templates
    • Homepage Template
    • Section Templates
    • Taxonomy Templates
    • Single Page Templates
    • Content View Templates
    • Data Templates
    • Partial Templates
    • Shortcode Templates
    • Local File Templates
    • 404 Page
    • Menu Templates
    • Pagination
    • RSS Templates
    • Sitemap Template
    • Robots.txt
    • Internal Templates
    • Alternative Templating
    • Template Debugging
  • Functions
  • Variables
  • Hugo Pipes
  • CLI
  • Troubleshooting
  • Tools
  • Hosting & Deployment
  • Contribute
“Base Templates and Blocks” was last updated: October 24, 2019: remake. (28623dd)
Improve this page
By the VoteIT Authors
VoteIT Logo
  • File an Issue
  • @VoteIT
  • @robin_betahaus
  • @andershultman
 
 

VoteIT Sponsors

Logo for VoteIT
Logo for Betahaus
Logo for Datatrion AB
 

The VoteIT logos are copyright © VoteIT 2011–2019.

  • News
  • Documentation
  • Themes
  • Showcase
  • Community
  • GitHub
  • About VoteIT
  • Getting Started
  • VoteIT Modules
  • Content Management
  • Templates
  • Functions
  • Variables
  • Hugo Pipes
  • CLI
  • Troubleshooting
  • Tools
  • Hosting & Deployment
  • Contribute