Structure¶
Django automatically looks for a base.html yet our base extends base_root.html. This is a good example of how Django’s template inheritance is working. In order to keep the basic html structure minimalistic, we outsource all head and foot relevant code into base_html which makes this file better maintainable.
Where to start¶
Build your general structure within base.html. This includes namely the header and the footer. Do not split up header and footer into separate files, you can use django blocks and overwrite default behaviours when needed. Additional structure should be defined within the CMS templates:
Content Management¶
Within setting.py we can define so called Templates which are than available over django CMS toolbars Page > Templates UI. These templates can have a different structures. In the boilerplate there are four predefined templates:
- fullsize.html
- sidebar_left.html
- sidebar_right.html
- tpl_home.html
When choosing a name, be descriptive about their uses as the customer can set them by himself. If I would add a more narrow header option for fullsize, I would simply call it fullsize_simple.html.
Messages¶
You need to be aware of the django message framework which displays global notifications or error messages. This file is kept within templates/includes/messages.html and included within templates/base.html.
Analytics¶
Store all analytics code within the designated file in templates/includes/analytics.html which will be injected right after the opening <body> tag. Google Analytics is already pre-prepared and will be shown when adding the required UA-XXXXX code within the CMS.