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Quick Start

Get up and running with Django IncludeContents in 5 minutes! This guide assumes you have Django IncludeContents installed with the custom template engine.

Template Engine Support

This guide uses HTML component syntax (<include:component>). This syntax works with:

  • Django: Custom template engine required
  • Jinja2: Works automatically with the extension

For template tag syntax ({% includecontents %}), see template tag examples.

Create Your First Component

1. Create a Component Template

Create a components directory in your templates folder and add your first component:

templates/components/welcome-card.html 

{# props title, subtitle="" #}
<div class="card border rounded-lg p-6 shadow-sm">
    <h2 class="text-2xl font-bold text-gray-900">{{ title }}</h2>
    {% if subtitle %}
        <p class="text-gray-600 mt-2">{{ subtitle }}</p>
    {% endif %}
    <div class="mt-4">
        {{ contents }}
    </div>
</div>

2. Use the Component

In any template, use your component with HTML-like syntax:

templates/home.html 

<include:welcome-card title="Welcome!" subtitle="Getting started is easy">
    <p>This is your first Django IncludeContents component!</p>
    <p>You can include any HTML content here.</p>
</include:welcome-card>

3. See the Result

The component renders as:

<div class="card border rounded-lg p-6 shadow-sm">
    <h2 class="text-2xl font-bold text-gray-900">Welcome!</h2>
    <p class="text-gray-600 mt-2">Getting started is easy</p>
    <div class="mt-4">
        <p>This is your first Django IncludeContents component!</p>
        <p>You can include any HTML content here.</p>
    </div>
</div>

Understanding the Example

Let's break down what happened:

  1. Component Definition: {# props title, subtitle="" #} defines that this component requires a title and has an optional subtitle
  2. HTML Syntax: <include:welcome-card> tells Django to render the components/welcome-card.html template
  3. Props: title="Welcome!" and subtitle="Getting started is easy" are passed as template variables
  4. Content: Everything between the opening and closing tags becomes the {{ contents }} variable

Common Patterns

Using Variables from Context

<include:welcome-card title="{{ user.name }}" subtitle="Welcome back!">
    <p>You have {{ notifications.count }} new notifications.</p>
</include:welcome-card>

Conditional Rendering

{% if user.is_authenticated %}
    <include:welcome-card title="Welcome back, {{ user.name }}!">
        <p>Ready to continue where you left off?</p>
    </include:welcome-card>
{% else %}
    <include:welcome-card title="Welcome, Guest!">
        <p><a href="{% url 'login' %}">Sign in</a> to get started.</p>
    </include:welcome-card>
{% endif %}

Named Content Blocks

For more complex components, use named content blocks:

templates/components/layout-card.html 

<div class="card">
    <header class="card-header">
        {{ contents.header }}
    </header>
    <main class="card-body">
        {{ contents }}
    </main>
    {% if contents.footer %}
        <footer class="card-footer">
            {{ contents.footer }}
        </footer>
    {% endif %}
</div>

Usage: 

<include:layout-card>
    <content:header>
        <h1>My Title</h1>
    </content:header>

    <p>This is the main content area.</p>

    <content:footer>
        <button>Action</button>
    </content:footer>
</include:layout-card>

Without the Custom Engine

If you're using the traditional setup (without the custom template engine), the syntax is slightly different:

{% load includecontents %}

{% includecontents "components/welcome-card.html" title="Welcome!" subtitle="Getting started is easy" %}
    <p>This is your first Django IncludeContents component!</p>
    <p>You can include any HTML content here.</p>
{% endincludecontents %}

Next Steps

Now that you've created your first component, explore more features:

Ready to build more complex components? Check out the Component Patterns guide!