Skip to main content
Version: 0.4

Template tags

asset

The asset template tag allows to generate the URL of a given asset. It must take at least one argument (the filepath of the asset).

For example, the following line is a valid usage of the asset tag and will output the path or URL of the app/app.css asset:

{% asset "app/app.css" %}

Optionally, resolved asset URLs can be assigned to a specific variable using the as keyword:

{% asset "app/app.css" as my_var %}

assign

The assign template tag allows to define a new variable that will be stored in the template's context.

For example:

{% assign my_var = "Hello World!" %}

block

The block template tag allows to define that some specific portions of a template can be overridden by child templates. This tag is only useful when used in conjunction with the extend tag. See Template inheritance to learn more about this capability.

cache

The cache template tag allows to cache the content of a template fragment (enclosed within the {% cache %}...{% endcache %} tags) for a specific duration. This caching operation is done by leveraging the configured cache store.

At least a cache key and and a cache expiry (expressed in seconds) must be specified when using this tag:

{% cache "mykey" 3600 %}
Cached content!
{% endcache %}

It should be noted that the cache template tag also supports specifying additional "vary on" arguments that allow to invalidate the cache based on the value of other template variables:

{% cache "mykey" 3600 current_locale user.id %}
Cached content!
{% endcache %}

csrf_token

The csrf_token template tag allows to compute and insert the value of the CSRF token into a template. This tag can only be used for templates that are rendered as part of a handler (for example by leveraging #render or one of the generic handlers involving rendered templates).

This can be used to insert the CSRF token into a hidden form input so that it gets sent to the handler processing the form data for example. Indeed, handlers will automatically perform a CSRF check in order to protect unsafe requests (ie. requests whose methods are not GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, or TRACE):

<form method="post" action="" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<input type="hidden" name="csrftoken" value="{% csrf_token %}" />
<input type="text" name="test" />
<button>Submit</button>
</form>

See Cross-Site Request Forgery protection to learn more about this.

extend

The extend template tag allows to define that a template inherits from a specific base template. This tag must be used with one mandatory argument, which can be either a string literal or a variable that will be resolved at runtime. This mechanism is useful only if the base template defines blocks that are overridden or extended by the child template. See Template inheritance to learn more about this capability.

for

The for template tag allows to loop over the items of iterable objects and it also handles fallbacks through the use of the else inner block. It should be noted that the for template tag requires a closing endfor tag.

For example:

{% for item in items %}
Display {{ item }}
{% else %}
No items!
{% endfor %}

It should be noted that for loops support unpacking multiple items when applicable (eg. when iterating over hashes or enumerables containing arrays or tuples):

{% for label, url in navigation_items %}
<a href="{{ url }}">{{ label }}</a>
{% endfor %}

Finally, loops give access to a special loop variable inside the loop in order to expose information about the iteration process:

VariableDescription
loop.indexThe index of the current iteration (1-indexed)
loop.index0The index of the current iteration (0-indexed)
loop.revindexThe index of the current iteration counting from the end of the loop (1-indexed)
loop.revindex0The index of the current iteration counting from the end of the loop (0-indexed)
loop.first?A boolean indicating if this is the first iteration of the loop
loop.last?A boolean indicating if this is the last iteration of the loop
loop.parentThe parent's loop variable (only for nested for loops)

if

The if template tags allows to define conditions allowing to control which blocks should be executed. An if tag must always start with an if condition, followed by any number of intermediate elsif conditions and an optional (and final) else block. It also requires a closing endif tag.

For example:

{% if my_var == 0 %}
Zero!
{% elsif my_var == 1 %}
One!
{% else %}
Other!
{% endif %}

include

The include template tag allows to include and render another template using the current context. This tag must be used with one mandatory argument: the name of the template to include, which can be either a string literal or a variable that will be resolved at runtime.

For example:

{% include "path/to/my_snippet.html" %}

Included templates are rendered using the context of the including template. This means that all the variables that are expected or provided to the including template can also be used as part of the included template.

For example:

hello.html
Hello, {{ name }}! {% include "question.html" %}
question.html
How are you {{ name }}?

If name is "John", then the output will be "Hello, John! How are you John?".

Finally, it should be noted that additional variables that are specific to the included template only can be specified using the with keyword:

{% include "path/to/my_snippet.html" with new_var="hello" %}

Multiple variables can also be specified if necessary. In that case, variable assignments must be separated by commas. For example:

{% include "path/to/my_snippet.html" with var1="foo", var2="bar" %}
caution

Templates that are included using the include template are parsed and rendered when the including template is rendered as well. Included templates are not parsed when the including template is parsed itself. This means that the including template and the included template are always rendered separately.

local_time

The local_time template tag allows to output the string representation of the local time. It must take one argument (the format used to output the time).

For example, the following lines are valid usages of the local_time tag:

{% local_time "%Y" %}
{% local_time "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %:z" %}

Optionally, the output of this tag can be assigned to a specific variable using the as keyword:

{% local_time "%Y" as current_year %}

spaceless

The spaceless template tag allows to remove whitespaces, tabs, and new lines between HTML tags. Whitespaces inside tags are left untouched. It should be noted that the spaceless template tag requires a closing endspaceless tag.

For example:

{% spaceless %}
<p>
<a href="/sign-in">Sign In</a>
</p>
{% endspaceless %}

Would output the following:

<p><a href="/sign-in">Sign In</a></p>

super

The super template tag allows to render the content of a block from a parent template (in a situation where both the extend and block tags are used). This can be useful in situations where blocks in a child template need to extend (add content) to a parent's block content instead of overwriting it. See Template inheritance to learn more about this capability.

translate

The translate template tag allows to perform translation lookups by using the I18n configuration of the project. It must take at least one argument (the translation key) followed by keyword arguments.

For example the following lines are valid usages of the translate tag:

{% translate "simple.translation" %}
{% translate "simple.interpolation" value: 'test' %}

Translation keys and parameter values can be resolved as template variables too, but they can also be defined as literal values if necessary.

Optionally, resolved translations can be assigned to a specific variable using the as keyword:

{% translate "simple.interpolation" value: 'test' as my_var %}

trans

Alias for translate.

t

Alias for translate.

url

The url template tag allows to perform URL lookups. It must take at least one argument (the name of the targeted handler) followed by optional keyword arguments (if the route requires parameters).

For example, the following lines are valid usages of the url tag:

{% url "my_handler" %}
{% url "my_other_handler" arg1: var1, arg2: var2 %}

URL names and parameter values can be resolved as template variables too, but they can also be defined as literal values if necessary.

Optionally, resolved URLs can be assigned to a specific variable using the as keyword:

{% url "my_other_handler" arg1: var1, arg2: var2 as my_var %}

verbatim

The verbatim template tag prevents the content of the tag to be processed by the template engine. It should be noted that the verbatim template tag requires a closing endverbatim tag.

For example:

{% verbatim %}
This should not be {{ processed }}.
{% endverbatim %}

Would output This should not be {{ processed }}..

with

The with template tag assigns one or more variables inside a block. After the end of the block has been reached the block variables are no longer available.

For example:

{% with x = 'Hello World', y = 1 %}
{{ x }} {{ y }}!
{% endwith %}

Would output Hello World 1!.