| name | redaxo-templates |
| description | REDAXO template authoring – page layouts that wrap article content. Use when the user creates or edits a template, asks about getArticle(), works with rex_fragment, sets up multi-language output, or wants to embed slices into a layout. |
REDAXO Templates
Templates are the page layouts in REDAXO. They include the document shell (<html>, <head>, <body>) plus navigation, header/footer – and call getArticle() to render the article content built from modules.
Each article in the structure addon is assigned a template (with optional inheritance and category-based defaults).
Minimum template structure
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="<?= rex_clang::getCurrent()->getCode() ?>">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title><?= rex_escape(rex_article::getCurrent()->getName()) ?> – <?= rex_escape(rex::getServerName()) ?></title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?= rex_url::frontend('assets/style.css') ?>">
</head>
<body>
<header>
<a href="<?= rex_getUrl(rex_article::getSiteStartArticleId()) ?>">
<?= rex_escape(rex::getServerName()) ?>
</a>
<?php
</header>
<main>
<?php
<?= REX_ARTICLE[] ?>
</main>
<footer>
<p>© <?= date('Y') ?> <?= rex_escape(rex::getServerName()) ?></p>
</footer>
</body>
</html>
REX_ARTICLE[] (the bracket placeholder) is the standard way to render the current article's slices. There's also REX_ARTICLE[id=5] to render a specific article inline.
Multi-language
REDAXO supports multiple languages via rex_clang. Each language has an ID, a code (e.g. de, en), and a name.
<html lang="<?= rex_clang::getCurrent()->getCode() ?>">
<?php
<ul class="lang-switch">
<?php foreach (rex_clang::getAll(true) as $clang): ?>
<?php $url = rex_getUrl(null, $clang->getId()); ?>
<li class="<?= $clang->getId() === rex_clang::getCurrentId() ? 'active' : '' ?>">
<a href="<?= $url ?>" hreflang="<?= $clang->getCode() ?>">
<?= rex_escape($clang->getName()) ?>
</a>
</li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
rex_getUrl(null, $clangId) keeps the current article but switches the language. rex_getUrl($articleId, $clangId) switches both.
Navigation patterns
The structure addon doesn't ship navigation builders; use one of these:
Manual recursion (small sites):
function renderNav(int $parentId = 0, int $maxDepth = 2, int $depth = 0): string
{
if ($depth >= $maxDepth) {
return '';
}
$items = rex_category::getChildrenById($parentId);
if (!$items) {
return '';
}
$html = '<ul class="nav-level-' . $depth . '">';
foreach ($items as $cat) {
if (!$cat->isOnline()) {
continue;
}
$current = $cat->getId() === rex_category::getCurrentId() ? ' class="active"' : '';
$html .= '<li' . $current . '>';
$html .= '<a href="' . $cat->getUrl() . '">' . rex_escape($cat->getName()) . '</a>';
$html .= renderNav($cat->getId(), $maxDepth, $depth + 1);
$html .= '</li>';
}
return $html . '</ul>';
}
echo renderNav();
Bootstrap-style menus: consider the bootstrap_components or jp_navtagger addons – they generate navigation HTML from the structure.
Fragments – reusable template parts
rex_fragment lets you split templates into reusable pieces. Looks for fragments under <addon>/fragments/ or in your project's fragments/ directory.
$f = new rex_fragment();
$f->setVar('title', $article->getName(), false);
$f->setVar('image', $heroImage);
echo $f->parse('hero.php');
In fragments/hero.php:
<section class="hero">
<h1><?= rex_escape($this->getVar('title')) ?></h1>
<?php if ($img = $this->getVar('image')): ?>
<img src="<?= rex_url::media($img) ?>" alt="">
<?php endif; ?>
</section>
Cache-aware patterns
Templates run on every request unless cached. For expensive lookups (DB queries, external APIs), use rex_extension::register('OUTPUT_FILTER', ...) for full-page caching, or store fragments via rex_file::put(rex_path::cache(...)).
Common pitfalls
- Hardcoding the start article's ID instead of
rex_article::getSiteStartArticleId().
- Forgetting the
lang attribute on <html> – breaks accessibility and SEO.
- Outputting unescaped article names or category titles. Editors can put HTML there.
- Using
$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] instead of rex::getServer() / rex_yrewrite::getCurrentDomain().
- Forgetting to handle the "article not found" case for
rex_article::get() – it returns null.
