---
title:                                  J1 Template
tagline:                                first version is out
date:                                   2021-03-03 00:00:00

categories:                             [ Featured ]
tags:                                   [ About, J1 ]

series:                                 false
image:                                  /assets/images/modules/attics/runner-1920x1200.jpg

adsense:                                false
comments:                               false
advertising:                            false
fam_menu_id:                            default
toc:                                    false

regenerate:                             false

resources:                              []
resource_options:
  - attic:
      padding_top:                      400
      padding_bottom:                   50
      opacity:                          0.5
      slides:
        - url:                          /assets/images/modules/attics/runner-1920x1200.jpg
          alt:                          Photo by Alex Holyoake on Unsplash
          badge:
            type:                       unsplash
            author:                     Alex Holyoake
            href:                       https://unsplash.com/@stairhopper
---

// Page Initializer
// =============================================================================
// Enable the Liquid Preprocessor
:page-liquid:

// Set (local) page attributes here
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// :page--attr:                         <attr-value>
:badges-enabled:                        false


// Place an excerpt at the most top position
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The template system was initially developed to create a simple but fully
configurable website creation toolset for document servers. Document servers
provide websites or other content formats like PDF, projects, software
documentation, or similar approaches.

[role="clearfix mb-3"]
excerpt__end

//  Load Liquid procedures
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
{% capture load_attributes %}themes/{{site.template.name}}/procedures/global/attributes_loader.proc{%endcapture%}

// Load page attributes
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
{% include {{load_attributes}} scope="global" %}


// Page content
// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

// Include sub-documents
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ifeval::[{badges-enabled} == true]
{badge-j1--license} {badge-j1--version-latest} {badge-j1-gh--last-commit} {badge-j1--downloads}
endif::[]

// [[readmore]]
Many large today's companies like {url-docker--docs}[Docker, {browser-window--new}]
are using template-based systems to create their documentation sites. Or like
{url-oreilly-atlas--home}[O'Reilly Atlas, {browser-window--new}],
to provide a fully-featured writers platform for writing books or extensive
documentation.

All these platforms are technically different, but they share common ideas:

* the layout of all content (pages) is based on a standard skeleton but
  separated from the content
* content is written using a neutral meta-language
* the final output is not predefined
* the result is automatically generated by engines (robots)

To make these real, a lot of things are to be managed. You can imagine.
The approaches of Docker or O'Reilly points to a possible solution: a template
system based on _Bootstrap_ for the CCS framework, _Jekyll_ and _Liquid_ for
the core engines, and _Asciidoc_ (Asciidoctor) for a neutral meta-language
writing content.

The next thought comes to my mind. Why developing a toolset for only
document servers? Documentation webs of today are complex websites. Some
features used for general web design may be not needed for documentation
systems, but a lot of components are required that are wanted in general:

* a powerful CSS and Javascript framework
* a modular approach for dynamic content and apps
* a configuration system to separate content from the layout and to automate
  creation processes following the development pattern *MVC*
  (https://blog.codinghorror.com/understanding-model-view-controller/[Model–View–Controller, {browser-window--new}])

A plan was made in 2016, based on Jekyll V3 and Bootstrap V3, to create a
template-based robot system that can be used for all types of websites, for
all standard formats to create digital content.

I was too optimistic about how long it would take to build such a system:

* easy to use by developers and non-technical people
* modular, powerful and stable
* supporting modern content design
* usable on common computer hardware, available to the public
* less in components, using well-known software
* entirely usable on small PCs locally as well as on powerful remote systems
  on the Internet

It took me nearly four years. Now, in early 2021, I can present the first
version of J1 Template for the public. Hopefully, most of the objectives
are achieved.

Have fun!