Web Templates

Web Template is a CRM entity (adx_webtemplate), included with Adxstudio Portals, that is used to store template source content. A web template will generally contain Liquid for dynamic content rendering, and is the central entity used to integrate Liquid templates with the rest of the Adxstudio Portals system.

Web Templates can be included in other content or combined with other templates using template tags, and are referenced in these tags by their Name attribute. They can also be used to create entire custom Page Templates, or create a custom header and/or footer for your Adxstudio Portals Website.

Web Template Attributes Web Templates as Page Templates Web Templates as Website Headers & Footers Built-in Web Templates

Web Template Attributes

Name

The name of the template. Used to reference this template when it is included in other content, or extended by other templates.
Source

The source content of the template.

In CRM, a source code editor with syntax highlighting and other code editing features is provided for this field.
MIME Type

Optionally provides a MIME type for the content of the template. If none is provided, a type of text/html is assumed.

This value will only be used in cases where the template is associated with a Page Template, and controls the rendering of all content for that template.
Web Template CRM Form

Web Templates as Page Templates

Web Templates can be used in conjunction with Page Templates, to create new templates for the Adxstudio Portals content management system. This can be done entirely within CRM, without the need to write .NET code or redeploy your portal application.

To create a new Page Template based on a Web Template, select a Type of Web Template when creating a new Page Template record. Then select a Web Template.

Page Template of Type Web Template
Simple Page Web Template

  Example: Page Template

Note the option Use Website Header and Footer (which is checked by default). If this is checked, your Web Template will control rendering of all page content between the global website header and footer. If this option is unchecked, your Web Template will be responsible for rendering the entire response – in the case that you're rendering HTML, this means everything from the doctype to the root <html> tags, and everything in between.

While the most common use cases for Web Templates will be to render HTML, rendering the entire response (by deselecting Use Website Header and Footer) gives you the option of rendering any text-based format you choose. This is where the MIME Type attribute of Web Template becomes relevant. When a Page Template that does not use the website header and footer is rendered, the HTTP response Content-Type header will be set to the MIME Type of the associated Web Template. (text/html will be used if no MIME Type is provided.) This gives you a wide variety of options for rendering non-HTML content using Liquid. A common use case would be to render an RSS feed, by setting a MIME Type of application/rss+xml.

  Example: RSS Feed Page Template

Web Templates as Website Headers & Footers

Web Templates can also be used to override the global header and footer used by an Adxstudio Portals application. To do this, set the Header Template or Footer Template field of your Website to the Web Template of your choice. Note that if you override Website Header, your selected template assumes responsibility for rendering the primary navigation, sign in/sign out links, search interface, etc. for your site – interface elements that are normally handled by the default header template.

Website with custom Web Template header
Website Header Web Template

  Example: Website Header

Built-in Web Templates

There is a set of pre-made liquid templates available within the Adxstudio Portals application. To use them, one needs to include them by name. Soon, one will be able to select them from a list in the front-side editing, but until then, one can use the list below as a reference.

Ad

This template renders an ad by name, or a random ad from an ad placement.

Code
{% include 'ad' ad_name:'Name' %}
{% include 'ad' ad_placement_name:'Placement Name' %}

Blogs

This template renders recent blog posts in a list group.

Code
{% include 'blogs' %}

Breadcrumbs

This template renders links of ancestor pages back to the Home page from the current page.

Code
{% include 'breadcrumbs' %}

Child Link List Group

This template renders links to any child pages of the current page in a list group.

Code
{% include 'child_link_list_group' %}
{% include 'child_link_list_group' title_only:true %}
{% include 'child_link_list_group' image_width:'64px', image_height:'64px' %}

Events: Upcoming

This template renders links to events that occur between now and 60 days from now.

Code
{% include 'events_upcoming' %}
{% include 'events_upcoming' number_of_days_in_advance:60 %}

Forums

This template renders a list of the website's forums with their respective number of threads and posts.

Code
{% include 'forums' %}

Layout 1 Column

This template renders a single column layout containing breadcrumbs, page title, and page copy content.

Code
{% extends 'layout_1_column' %}
{% block main %}
...
{% endblock %}

Layout 2 Column Wide Left

This template renders a two column layout. The left column is wider than the right. It contains breadcrumbs, page title at the top of the page and the page copy content is located in the left column.

Code
{% extends 'layout_2_column_wide_left' %}
{% block main %}
...
{% endblock %}
{% block aside %}
...
{% endblock %}

Layout 2 Column Wide Right

This template renders a two column layout. The right column is wider than the left. It contains breadcrumbs, page title at the top of the page and the page copy content is located in the right column.

Code
{% extends 'layout_2_column_wide_right' %}
{% block main %}
...
{% endblock %}
{% block aside %}
...
{% endblock %}

Layout 3 Column Wide Middle

This template renders a three column layout. The middle column is wider than the left and right. The layout contains breadcrumbs and the page title at the top of the page and the page copy content is located in the middle column.

Code
{% extends 'layout_3_column_wide_middle' %}
{% block left_aside %}
...
{% endblock %}
{% block main %}
...
{% endblock %}
{% block right_aside %}
...
{% endblock %}

Page Copy

This template renders the editable page copy content HTML with support for embedded Liquid.

Code
{% include 'page_copy' %}

Page Header

This template renders the page title.

Code
{% include 'page_header' %}

Poll

This template renders a poll by name, or a random poll from a poll placement.

Code
{% include 'poll' poll_name:'Name' %}
{% include 'poll' poll_placement_name:'Placement Name' %}

Search

This template renders a basic search form with a single text input and search button.

Code
{% include 'search' %}

Side Navigation

This template renders a vertical tree view style navigation. It has links to ancestor pages back to the first level (or specified depth offset), links to sibling pages of the current page, and links to children of the current page.

Code
{% include 'side_navigation' %}
{% include 'side_navigation' depth_offset:1 %}

Snippet

This template renders an editable HTML content snippet by name.

Code
{% include 'snippet' snippet_name:'Name' %}

Top Navigation

This template renders an editable nav bar with drop down menus for the Primary Navigation web link set.

Code
{% include 'top_navigation' %}

Weblink List Group

This template renders a list group of links for a web link set.

Code
{% include 'weblink_list_group' weblink_set_name:'Name' %}