express-ejs-layouts

Layout support for ejs in express

Installation

$ npm install express-ejs-layouts

Example

Check the example folder.

git clone https://github.com/soarez/express-ejs-layouts.git
cd express-ejs-layouts
npm install
node example
Open http://localhost:3000/

Usage

var express = require('express');
var expressLayouts = require('express-ejs-layouts');

var app = express();

app.set('view engine', 'ejs');

app.use(expressLayouts);

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  var locals = {
    title: 'Page Title',
    description: 'Page Description',
    header: 'Page Header'
  };
  res.render('the-view', locals);
});

app.listen(3000);

`contentFor`

A view

tyler
<%- contentFor('foo') %>
club
<%- contentFor('bar') %>
fight

With a layout

<%-bar%> <%-foo%>
<%-body%>

Renders

fight club
tyler

As another example, consider this view:

foo
<%- contentFor('pageSectionA') %>
bar
<%- contentFor('pageSectionB') %>
baz

Using it with this layout:

<div class="header"><%- pageSectionA %></div>
<div class="body"><%- body %></div>
<div class="footer"><%-defineContent('pageSectionB')%></div>

Will render:

<div class="header">bar</div>
<div class="body">foo</div>
<div class="footer">baz</div>

Notice that the difference between using <%- pageSectionA %> and <%-defineContent('pageSectionA')%> is that the former will generate an error if the view doesn't define content for this section.

This can be used not only to fill large layout parts, but also for simple stuff, like setting page title:

With this layout:

<html>
  <head>
    <title><%- title %></title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <%- body %>
  </body>
</html>

You can set page title by:

foo
<%- contentFor('title') %>
Foo Page

Or if you would rather set title at the beginning of the view:

<%- contentFor('title') %>Foo Page<%- contentFor('body') %>
foo

Script blocks extraction

If you like to place all the script blocks at the end, you can do it like this:

app.set("layout extractScripts", true)

A view

something<script>somejs<script>something

With a layout

<body>
  <%- body %>
  <%- script %>
</body>

Renders

<body>
  somethingsomething
  <script>somejs<script>
</body>

Enabling individually:

req.render('view', { extractScripts: true })

When the "layout extractScripts" option is activated, scripts defined in views will be extracted (won't be a part of body) and will be available for use in the layout through the variable scripts.

Another example:

This view:

<script src="/b.js" />
<div>foo</div>
<script src="/a.js" />
<div>bar</div>
<script src="/c.js" />

Used with this layout:

<div class="main">
<%- body %>
</div>
<!-- place the scripts at the end of the html page -->
<%- script %>

Will render:

<div class="main">
<div>foo</div>
<div>bar</div>
</div>
<!-- place the scripts at the end of the html page -->
<script src="/b.js" />
<script src="/a.js" />
<script src="/c.js" />

Style blocks extraction

Works exactly like script blocks extraction except:

Supported tags are <link rel="stylesheet" …> and <style …>
The option is named extractStyles
The template variable in layout is style

Meta blocks extraction

Works exactly like script blocks extraction except:

Supported tags are <meta …> and <meta …/>
The option is named extractMetas
The template variable in layout is meta

Set custom default layout

By default 'layout.ejs' is used. If you want to specify your custom layout (e.g. 'layouts/layout.ejs'), just set layout property in express app settings.

app.set('layout', 'layouts/layout');

Set custom layout for single render

Just pass layout as render locals object.

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.render('the-view', { layout: 'specific-layout' });
});

Set no layout for single render

Just pass layout: false as render locals object.

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.render('the-view', { layout: false });
);

Optional sections

In a layout, you can have optional sections using defineContent: Unspecified section content defaults to ''.

1
<%-defineContent('a')%>
2
<%-defineContent('b')%>
3

with a view:

<%- contentFor('a') %>
1.5

will render:

Running tests

Clone the repo and run:

$ npm test

License

MIT

soarez/express-ejs-layouts