> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.xibosignage.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.xibosignage.com/developer/widgets/module-templates.md).

# Module Templates

**Module Templates**

A template is the object used to represent an element, stencil (element group) or static template; used for Data Widgets. All data widgets must have templates so that Xibo knows how to visualise the data returned by the Module.

| Type            | Description                                                                                                            |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `element`       | Rendering for a single property on a data item                                                                         |
| `element-group` | A preconfigured group of elements which together form a Stencil shown in the Layout Editor toolbox for the data widget |
| `static`        | A static template, optionally with properties to customise appearance and behaviours.                                  |

They are defined using XML files, in the same way as modules. The xml definition describes the options available: <https://account.xibosignage.com/docs/developer/widgets/xml-definitions#content-2-template>

| Type                | Location                    |
| ------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Core template XML   | `/modules/templates`        |
| Custom template XML | `/custom/modules/templates` |

Starting in CMS v4.1 it is possible to create module templates inside the CMS using the Developer -> Module Templates menu.

**RSS - a worked example**

Xibo’s RSS module is a good example of a data widget. There is a `rss-ticker.xml` file which contains the properties found on the configure tab and a widget provider to fetch data from the configured URL. It declares it’s `dataType` as “article”, which has the following properties:

```php
public function getDefinition(): DataType
{
    $dataType = new DataType();
    $dataType->id = self::$NAME;
    $dataType->name = __('Article');
    $dataType
        ->addField('title', __('Title'), 'text')
        ->addField('summary', __('Summary'), 'text')
        ->addField('content', __('Content'), 'text')
        ->addField('author', __('Author'), 'text')
        ->addField('permalink', __('Permalink'), 'text')
        ->addField('link', __('Link'), 'text')
        ->addField('date', __('Created Date'), 'datetime')
        ->addField('publishedDate', __('Published Date'), 'datetime')
        ->addField('image', __('Image'), 'text');
    return $dataType;
}
```

Xibo provides elements for each of these data fields in the `article-elements.xml` file, and some static templates in the `article-static.xml` file.

We can easily create a new static template which renders out article data types:

```xml
<template>
    <id>article_custom_1</id>
    <type>static</type>
    <dataType>article</dataType>
    <title>My Custom Template</title>
    <startWidth>600</startWidth>
    <startHeight>200</startHeight>
    <properties>
        <property id="effect" type="effectSelector" variant="all">
            <title>Effect</title>
            <helpText>Please select the effect that will be used to transition between items.</helpText>
            <default>noTransition</default>
        </property>
        <property id="speed" type="number">
            <title>Speed</title>
            <helpText>The transition speed of the selected effect in milliseconds (normal = 1000) or the Marquee Speed in a low to high scale (normal = 1)</helpText>
            <default>1000</default>
        </property>
    </properties>
    <stencil>
        <hbs><![CDATA[\
<div class="article">\
    <div>\
        <div class="title">\
            <strong>{{title}}</strong>\
        </div>\
    </div>\
</div>\
        ]]></hbs>
        <style><![CDATA[\
.title {\
    font-size: 3rem;\
}\
        ]]></style>
    </stencil>
    <onTemplateRender><![CDATA[\
// id: The id of the widget\
// target: The target element to render\
// items: The items to render\
// properties: The properties for the widget\
// -------------------------------------------\
$(target).xiboLayoutScaler(properties);\
$(target).xiboTextRender(properties, $(target).find('#content .article'));\
    ]]></onTemplateRender>
</template>
```

Included here is a very basic template which will render out the title field of each data item. `xiboTextRender` will split that into pages if an effect has been selected (via the effects selector output as a property).


---

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