Blueprints vs templates
How blueprints, templates, and reusable sections differ when you edit them later: a blueprint copies blocks once, while a template and a reusable section stay in sync.
Basker gives you three ways to reuse structure across your site, and they behave differently when you edit them later. The difference comes down to one thing: a blueprint is a copy, while a template and a reusable section are shared.
- A blueprint gives a new page a head start. Its blocks are copied in once, and from then on the page is yours to change. Editing the blueprint later only affects pages you create afterwards.
- A template controls the shared opening and closing structure for one kind of page. Website Builder templates belong to a theme and can be created and edited in Basker: change one and every page using it changes.
- A reusable section is a block of content built once and embedded on many pages. Edit the section and every page that embeds it updates.
The one rule to remember
If you want a head start you'll then change freely, use a blueprint: you get a copy. If you want one change to ripple everywhere, use a template for the overall look, or a reusable section for a chunk of content.
Side by side
| Blueprint | Template | Reusable section | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it gives you | A starting arrangement of blocks for a new page | The look a kind of page renders through | A block of content embedded on many pages |
| How it attaches | Copied in once | Shared and referenced live | Shared and referenced live |
| Edit it later → existing pages | Not affected (only future pages) | Every page using it updates | Every page embedding it updates |
| Editable per page afterwards | Yes, fully independent | Per-page appearance overrides only; the structure stays shared | No; edit it in its own area |
| Where it lives | Blueprints, under Design | Templates, under Design | Sections, under Website |
| Applies to | One content type you choose | A content type, often with a default | Any page |
Blueprints copy, once
When you start a page from a blueprint, Basker copies the blueprint's blocks into the new page. The blueprint area even tells you this directly: These blocks will be copied into new items when this blueprint is applied. Editing blocks here will not change any existing items.
After that, the new page is independent. You can add, remove, and rewrite its blocks without touching the blueprint, and updating the blueprint later won't reach back into pages already created from it. Only future pages pick up the change.
Reach for a blueprint when teams keep rebuilding the same opening arrangement of blocks and each page then diverges.
See Blueprints for creating one, choosing which content type it applies to, and showing or hiding it in the picker.
Templates stay in sync
A Website Builder template defines the shared blocks around a kind of page, for example a Masthead before every event's own page content and a Collection after it. In Design → Templates, choose the Website Builder theme, edit one of its templates, or create a new one. A template can set its content type, layout, colour scheme, introductory blocks, and closing blocks. Because every page assigned to it uses that shared structure, one change updates them all at once.
One template per content type can be marked Set as Default Template. New pages of that type then use it automatically and stay in sync with it.
Per-page appearance
A template fixes the shared structure, but you can still override the look of a single page without breaking the link to the template. See page theme settings.
Templates belong to the Website Builder theme selected when you manage them. Global appearance remains separate. See themes and theme settings for site-wide colours, fonts, and navigation.
Reusable sections stay in sync
A reusable section carries a chunk of content you embed on many pages. Build a section once, such as a contact block, sponsor strip, or standard call to action, then embed it across your pages. Editing it once updates every page that embeds it.
See reusable sections for building and embedding them.