Template editor: create, order and edit overrides without touching INI files #

This page is for designers and site builders who change how a class, a node or a section looks. A template override says "for this class, this node or this section, use this template instead of the default". Exponential keeps the rules in override.ini. The visual template editor, in the admin under Design > Template Editor (/visual/templatelist), lets a designer create, reorder, change and remove those rules and edit the template files. Between 12 July and 20 July 2026 (commit 12a2577f00 and follow ups) it was made safe to use: a rule can no longer be lost or silently ignored.

Open it #

• Admin menu: Design tab, left menu entry Template Editor (setting settings/menu.ini [Leftmenu_design] Links[template_editor]=visual/templatelist, with the matching PolicyList_template_editor[]).
• In menu.ini the Setup menu's older Links[templates]=visual/templatelist lines are commented out ("Removed from 4.3"), so only the Design entry exists unless you enable them. Check with grep -n templatelist settings/menu.ini.
• A user needs the visual/templatelist policy (the Design module).

What changed for you #

New overrides take effect at once #

A new override is written with Priority=0, the highest. The template engine evaluates overrides from the lowest Priority value up, and a rule without a Priority sorts last. Before July the order shown on screen was not the order the engine used; now it is (kernel/common/eztemplatedesignresource.php, overrideArray()).

Reorder with the priority list #

On the override list, change the numbers and press Update overrides. The numbers are saved as Priority in override.ini, and the stale override and INI caches are cleared before and after, so the new order applies at once.

Reorder by drag and drop (September 2026) #

Design > Templates (/visual/templateview/...) lists a template's overrides as cards in exactly the order they are tried and lets you reorder them by drag and drop. Every move is saved at once.

1. Open Design > Templates, choose a template such as node/view/full.tpl.
2. The overrides appear as cards in the order they are tried. Each card shows its position, whether the siteaccess settings or an extension define it, its file and its conditions.
3. Drag a card by its handle to a new place, or move it with its arrows (keyboard and touch work). The new order is saved immediately as the Priority (10, 20, 30 ...) of this template's overrides.
4. Use the filter box to narrow the cards on the page ("filters this page").
5. Remove selected, New override and Save conditions are drawn above the list as well as below it, so a long list needs no scrolling.

Paging: the overrides are shown 20 per page with the pager above and below, and positions counted over the whole list. A drag or an arrow within a page sends that page's new order and the server puts it in the page's place in the full order. The up arrow of a page's first override and the down arrow of its last move it across to the page before or after, swapping it with the override there, and the page is loaded again.

See Where the page sizes live.

Saving is done by ezpTemplateOverrides, which changes only settings/siteaccess/<siteaccess>/override.ini.append.php. It is read from disk, a copy is kept first and the file is checked afterwards. The old page was dangerous:

Verified against a fresh installation with 56 overrides of node/view/full.tpl: moves within page 1, a move from page 2 to page 1 and back, and saving a condition on a later page each left the settings file with only Priority lines or the one changed condition; changing a condition and changing it back restored the file byte for byte. See also Extension loading order, which decides which extension's overrides are found first, and Admin list paging.

Choose where the copy starts #

When you create an override with Default copy, the editor needs a template to copy. It chooses in this order:

1. The template you pick in the TemplateSource drop down.
2. The class specific override that already exists for the class you match (for example full/frontpage.tpl for the class frontpage).
3. The real default template.

This replaces the old behaviour that could copy the wrong template.

Match by a single object #

The node view form has a new Object ID field before Node ID. Matching on object is the most precise override there is, and it is evaluated before the node condition. Use it to restyle one article without changing anything else.

Edit and remove match conditions #

Each override on the list shows its conditions as text fields (class_identifier, node, object, section, ...). You can:

• change a value and press Update overrides;
• tick the box beside a condition to remove it (RemoveMatchArray);
• add a condition with the Add condition drop down. The keys offered are class_identifier, class, node, object, section, section_identifier, remote_id, node_remote_id, parent_node, class_group, depth, url_alias, viewmode, navigation_part_identifier, persistent_variable, state, state_identifier.

An empty value, or -1, removes the condition. Pressing Enter in a field now presses Update overrides instead of Remove selected, so a stray Enter cannot delete a rule (64736998cd).

Remove cleans up #

Remove deletes the INI block as well as the .tpl file, even when the file is already gone.

A better editing box #

The template text area is full width, monospace, at least 70% of the window high and keeps its line breaks (80d3fef827).

The New override button only appears when it can work #

If there is no source template for the resource, the editor says so instead of showing a button that fails.

Example: restyle one article #

1. Design > Template Editor, pick the siteaccess design and open node/view/full.tpl.
2. Press New override, choose Default copy, and enter the Object ID of the article.
3. Press Create. The new rule has Priority=0 and wins over the class rule.
4. Edit the new template and save.
5. Check in the page source with template path comments that your file answers.

The editor saves the block in settings/siteaccess/<siteaccess>/override.ini.append.php and expires the content view cache. It looks like this:

[full_object_1234]
Source=node/view/full.tpl
MatchFile=full/object_1234.tpl
Subdir=templates
Priority=0
Match[object]=1234

(Block and file names are chosen from what you enter; the keys Source, MatchFile, Subdir, Match and Priority are the ones the editor writes.)

Smaller related change #

fetch( 'content', 'class_list', hash( ... ) ) returns the content classes (optionally by group; any sorts value sorts them by name, ascending; limit takes offset and length), for visual modules that browse classes (a219ec4839):

Parameters of the function (kernel/content/function_definition.php, all optional):

{def $classes = fetch( 'content', 'class_list', hash( 'sorts', array( 'name' => 'asc' ), 'limit', hash( 'offset', 0, 'length', 20 ) ) )}

Limits #

• The editor writes the siteaccess override file (settings/siteaccess/<siteaccess>/override.ini.append.php); run php bin/php/ezcache.php --clear-tag=template --allow-root-user if a change does not appear (the editor clears the global INI and override caches itself).
• Keep a backup before bulk edits: the editor edits files on disk.

Related pages #

• Template path comments (see which override answered), extension loading order (which extension's override wins)
• Paging, sorting and page sizes
• Behaviour changes of July and August 2026, behaviour changes, 16 to 30 September 2026
• 6.0.15 changelog
• History: July 2026, 16 to 30 September 2026