Advanced Template Techniques

Template systems are the backbone of modern static site generators. Understanding how to leverage template inheritance and component reuse can dramatically improve your development workflow.

Template Inheritance

Template inheritance allows you to define a base layout and extend it with specific content blocks:

{{extends "base.html"}}

{{block "content"}}
<article class="blog-post">
  <h1>{{title}}</h1>
  <div class="content">
    {{content}}
  </div>
</article>
{{/block}}

Component Patterns

Breaking your templates into reusable components:

• Header/Footer: Common across all pages
• Navigation: Site-wide navigation component
• Cards: Reusable content cards
• Forms: Contact forms, newsletter signups

Data Flow

Understanding how data flows through your templates:

1. Frontmatter: Page-specific metadata
2. Site Config: Global site configuration
3. Collections: Generated data like blog posts
4. Computed Values: Derived data and helpers

Performance Considerations

• Minimize template complexity
• Cache compiled templates
• Optimize asset loading
• Use progressive enhancement

Template mastery is key to building scalable, maintainable static sites.