Templates

header.php

Generates all HTML from <!DOCTYPE html> to the opening of the main content area.

Injected variables

Variable	Type	Description
$settings	array	All site settings
$data	array	Site content — see note below
$pageTitle	string	Current page title
$metaTitle	string	Calculated SEO <title>
$metaDescription	string	Calculated SEO meta description
$metaKeywords	string	Meta keywords, if set on the item
$ogImage, $ogTitle, $ogDescription	string	Open Graph values
$type	string	Current content type — article, project, page, '', or a site owner's custom type identifier (see Content Model Reference)
$slug	string	Current item slug (empty on list pages)
$headerScripts	array	Extra scripts to inject — pass to render_header_scripts()

Minimal <head>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($settings['site_language'] ?? 'en'); ?>">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title><?php echo $metaTitle; ?></title>
    <?php echo render_meta_tags($settings, $metaTitle, $metaDescription); ?>
    <?php echo render_header_scripts($headerScripts); ?>
</head>

render_header_scripts() injects the <base> tag, i18n/base-URL JSON islands, front-boot.js, the (plain, blocking) system CSS bundle — including shortcodes.css/gallery-layout.css, each only when the page actually needs them — your theme's style.css, search.js (always), the RSS link, highlight.js (conditional), $headerScripts, your theme's script.js, and finally lightbox.css+lightbox.js/collapsibles.js (conditional, enqueued last) — see Rendering Functions for the exact order. Never link assets/css/style.css, assets/js/script.js, or any core asset (including lightbox.css) manually — every core asset is already injected for you, and hand-linking one loads it twice. There's no core-provided page-fade-transition script — if your theme wants a fade-in on load or a fade-out before a pagination link navigates, add the few lines directly to your own script.js (see Front-End Loading Pipeline); it isn't worth a dedicated always-loaded file most themes never use.

---

Admin bar compatibility

Synaptik CMS injects a 36px admin toolbar at the top of the viewport when an administrator is logged in. Two things your theme needs to handle:

1. Offset fixed navigation

The CMS sets --snk-adminbar-height to 36px on :root when the bar is active (0px otherwise via the var() fallback):

.site-header {
  position: fixed;
  top: var(--snk-adminbar-height, 0px);
}

A secondary fixed element below the header needs calc():

.docs-sidebar {
  position: fixed;
  top: calc(var(--snk-adminbar-height, 0px) + var(--header-h));
}

position: sticky elements need no adjustment — flow already accounts for it via body { padding-top }. Do not declare --snk-adminbar-height yourself; the fallback handles the default case.

2. Render order

If your nav uses backdrop-filter, it creates a stacking context that can render the admin bar behind it regardless of z-index. Call render_adminbar() as the first child of <body>, before any theme markup:

</head>
<body>
<?php render_adminbar(); ?>
<header class="site-header">…</header>

It's a no-op for non-admin visitors. Without backdrop-filter in your nav this call is optional (the CMS emits the bar automatically after the header template regardless), but calling it explicitly is recommended for every theme.

---

footer.php

Variable	Type	Description
$settings	array	Site settings
$data	array	Site content
$currentYear	string	date('Y')
$baseUrl	string	Base URL with trailing slash

    </main>
</div>
<?php echo render_search_ui(); ?>
</body>
</html>

---

home.php

Rendered between header.php and footer.php on the homepage. Injected: $data, $settings.

<?php
$articles = $data['article'] ?? [];
usort($articles, fn($a, $b) => strcmp($b['date'] ?? '', $a['date'] ?? ''));
$recent = array_slice($articles, 0, 5);
?>
<h1><?php echo htmlspecialchars($settings['site_title']); ?></h1>
<?php foreach ($recent as $article): ?>
    <?php echo render_article_card($article); ?>
<?php endforeach; ?>

---

content-articles.php, content-pages.php, content-projects.php, content-{type}s.php

Single-item views. Receive $item (the full item array) and, for a custom content type, $type as well. Every render_* helper below returns a string.

A custom content type with no dedicated content-{type}s.php in your theme renders through theme/default/content-generic.php instead — see Content Model Reference.

<article>
    <?php echo render_featured_image($item); ?>
    <?php echo render_content_title($item); ?>
    <?php echo render_content_date($item); ?>
    <?php echo render_content_category($item); ?>
    <?php echo render_content_tags($item); ?>
    <div class="prose">
        <?php echo render_content_html($item['content'] ?? '', $item); ?>
    </div>
</article>

---

content-list.php

Variable	Type	Description
$list_type	string	'article' \	'project' \	'page' \	a custom type's identifier \	'category' \	'tag'
$articles	array	Articles to display, sorted by date desc
$projects	array	Projects to display, sorted by date desc
$items	array	All items with an _content_type key
$filter_value	string	Current category or tag slug
$data	array	Full data store
$settings	array	Site settings

---

Page templates (page-templates/)

<?php /* Template Name: Contact */ ?>
<div class="contact-page">
    <h1><?php echo htmlspecialchars($item['title']); ?></h1>
    <?php echo render_content_html($item['content'] ?? '', $item); ?>
    <?php echo render_contact_form_html(); ?>
</div>

Available variable: $item. Call loadConfig() if you need $settings here.