Content Fragment Templates

Last update: April 11, 2024

CREATED FOR:

  • Developer
CAUTION
Content fragment models are recommended for creating all new content fragments.
Content fragment models are used for all examples in WKND.
NOTE
Prior to AEM 6.3 Content Fragments were created based on templates instead of models.
Content Fragment templates are now deprecated. They can still be used for creating fragments, but using Content Fragment Models instead is recommended. No new features will be added to fragment templates, and they will be removed in a future version.

Templates are selected when creating a content fragment. They provide the new fragment with the basic structure, element(s) and variation. The templates used for content fragments are subject to the Granite Configuration Manager.

The out-of-the-box templates are held under:

  • /libs/settings/dam/cfm/templates

You can create your site-specific templates for content fragments under:

  • /apps/settings/dam/cfm/templates
    The location for overlaying out-of-the-box templates or providing customer-specific, application-wide templates that are not intended to be extended/changed at runtime.

  • /conf/global/settings/dam/cfm/templates
    The location for instance-wide customer-specific templates that need to be changed at runtime.

The order of precedence is (in descending order) /conf, /apps, /libs.

CAUTION
You must not change anything in the /libs path.
This is because the content of /libs is overwritten the next time you upgrade your instance (and may well be overwritten when you apply either a hotfix or feature pack).
The recommended method for configuration and other changes is:

  1. Recreate the required item (that is, as it exists in /libs) under /apps

  2. Make any changes within /apps

The basic structure of a template is held under:

conf
  global
    settings
      dam
        cfm
          templates
            <template-name>
              ...

With the specific structure being:

+ <template-name>
    - jcr:primaryType
    - jcr:title
    - jcr:description
    - initialAssociatedContent
    - precreateElements
    - version
    + elements
        - jcr:primaryType
        + <element-name>
            - jcr:primaryType
            - jcr:title
            - defaultContent
            - initialContentType
            - name
        ... + other element definitions
    + variations
        - jcr:primaryType
        + <variation-name>
            - jcr:primaryType
            - jcr:title
            - jcr:description
            - name
        ... + other variation definitions

More details about the nodes and their properties are:

  • Template

    NameTypeValue
    <template-name>nt:unstructuredThis node is the root for each template. It is mandatory and should have a unique name.
    jcr:title

    String

    required

    		The title of the template (displayed in the Create Fragment wizard).
    jcr:description

    String

    optional

    		A text that describes the purpose of the template (displayed in the Create Fragment wizard).
    initialAssociatedContent

    String[]

    optional

    		An array with paths to collections that should be associated to a newly created content fragment by default.
    precreateElements

    Boolean

    required

    true, if the subassets representing the elements (except the master element) of the content fragment should be created when the content fragment is created; false if they should be created "on the fly".

    Note: currently this parameter has to be set to true.

    version

    Long

    required

    Version of the content structure; currently supported:

    Note: currently this parameter has to be set to 2.

  • Elements

    NameTypeValue
    elements

    nt:unstructured

    required

    Node that contains the definition of the elements of the content fragment. It is mandatory and needs to contain at least one child node for the Main element, but can contain [1..n] child nodes.

    When the template is used the elements sub-branch is copied to the model sub-branch of the fragment.

    The first element (as viewed in CRXDE Lite) is automatically considered to be the main element; the node name is irrelevant and the node itself does not have a special significance, apart from the fact that it is represented by the main asset; the other elements are handled as sub assets.

  • Element Name

    NameTypeValue
    <element-name>nt:unstructuredThis node defines an element. It is mandatory and should have a unique name.
    jcr:title

    String

    required

    		The title of the element (displayed in the fragment editor's element selector).
    defaultContent

    String

    optional

    default: ""

    		Initial content of the element; only used if precreateElements = true
    initialContentType

    String

    optional

    default: text/html

    Initial content type of the element; only used if precreateElements = true; currently supported:

    • text/html
    • text/plain
    • text/x-markdown
    name

    String

    required

    		The internal name of the element; must be unique for the fragment type.

  • Variations

    NameTypeValue
    variations

    nt:unstructured

    optional

    		This optional node contains the definition of the initial variations of the content fragment.

  • Variation Name

    NameTypeValue
    <variation-name>

    nt:unstructured

    required if a variation node is present

    Defines an initial variation.
    The variation is added to all elements of the content fragment by default.

    The variation will have the same initial content as the respective element (see

    defaultContent/ initialContentType

    )

    jcr:title

    String

    required

    		The title of the variation (displayed in the fragment editor's Variation tab (left rail)).
    jcr:desciption

    String

    optional

    default: ""

    		A text that provides a description of the variation (displayed in the fragment editor's Variation tab (left rail)).

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