>
> --[[smcv]]
->> [[!template id=gitbranch author="[[smcv]]" branch=smcv/definetemplate]]
->> [[!tag patch]]
>> OK, here is a branch implementing what I said. It adds the `definetemplate`
>> directive to [[plugins/goodstuff]] as its last commit.
>>
>> load definetemplate?
>>
>> --[[smcv]]
+
+>>> this looks like a good idea to me.
+>>>
+>>> * i'd put it in core, and add a transition for the time compatibility gets
+>>> broken, provided the transitioning system will be used in that. templates
+>>> can't be expected to just work as markdown+ikiwiki too.
+>>>
+>>> (it being in core would also solve my qualms about `section => "web"` /
+>>> `\[[!tag type/web]]`).
+>>>
+>>> * if definetemplate gets deemed core, no "use definetemplate!" notes on the
+>>> template/edittemplate pages will be required any more.
+>>>
+>>> * first i was sceptical of the approach of re-running scan to make sure the
+>>> `my %templates` is filled, but it is indeed a practical solution.
+>>>
+>>> * the name "`definetemplate`" gives me the first impression that something
+>>> is assigned (as in `#define`), but actually it highlights a region in the
+>>> file. wouldn't "`templatebody`" be a better description of the meaning of
+>>> the directive?
+>>>
+>>> --[[chrysn]]
+
+>>>> Thanks for your feedback!
+>>>> Looking at its description on this wiki, I agree that `type/web` doesn't
+>>>> fit, and core does seem better. I like your `templatebody` suggestion,
+>>>> too, particularly if templates remain restricted to `/templates`.
+>>>> I'll try to come up with better wording for the documentation to say
+>>>> "use `templatebody`, like this", with a note about backwards
+>>>> compatibility later.
+>>>>
+>>>> Rationale for `my %templates`: yes it does seem a bit odd, but
+>>>> if I used `$pagestate{$tpage}{template}` instead of a `my` variable,
+>>>> I'd sometimes _still_ have to force a `scan`, because
+>>>> [[plugins/template]] has to expand the template at scan time so that
+>>>> it can contain links etc. - so I have to make sure that if the
+>>>> template has changed, it has already been scanned (scanning happens
+>>>> in random order, so that can't be guaranteed). This means there's
+>>>> no benefit in reading it back from the index, so it might as well
+>>>> just be in-memory.
+>>>>
+>>>> I suppose an alternative way to do it would be to remember what was
+>>>> passed to `needsbuild`, and only force a `scan` for templates that
+>>>> were in that list - which potentially reduces CPU time and I/O a
+>>>> little, in exchange for a bigger index. I could do that if Joey
+>>>> wants me to, but I think the current approach is simpler,
+>>>> so I'll stick with the current approach if it isn't vetoed.
+>>>> --[[smcv]]
+
+>>>>> @name: even outside `/templates`, `\[[!templatebody]]` would be
+>>>>> interpreted as "when this page is used as a template, this is what its
+>>>>> contents should be", and be suitable.
+>>>>>
+>>>>> @`%templates`: my surprise wasn't to it not being in `%pagestate`, but
+>>>>> rather that the `scan` function was used for it at all, rather than plain
+>>>>> directive parsing that ignores everything else -- but i agree that it's
+>>>>> the right thing to do in this situation.
+>>>>>
+>>>>> --[[chrysn]]
+
+>>>>>> [[!template id=gitbranch author="[[smcv]]" branch=smcv/ready/templatebody
+ browse=http://git.pseudorandom.co.uk/smcv/ikiwiki.git/shortlog/refs/heads/ready/templatebody]]
+>>>>>> [[!tag patch]]
+>>>>>> Branch and directive renamed to `ready/templatebody` as chrysn suggested.
+>>>>>> It's on-by-default now (or will be if that branch is merged).
+>>>>>> Joey, any chance you could review this?
+>>>>>>
+>>>>>> There is one known buglet: `template_syntax.t` asserts that the entire
+>>>>>> file is a valid HTML::Template, whereas it would ideally be doing the
+>>>>>> same logic as IkiWiki itself. I don't think that's serious. --[[smcv]]
+
+>>>>>>> Looking over this, I notice it adds a hash containing all scanned
+>>>>>>> files. This seems to me to be potentially a scalability problem on
+>>>>>>> rebuild of a site with many pages. Ikiwiki already keeps a lot
+>>>>>>> of info in memory, and this adds to it, for what is a fairly
+>>>>>>> minor reason. It seems to me there should be a way to avoid this. --[[Joey]]
+
+>>>>>>>> Maybe. Are plugins expected to cope with scanning the same
+>>>>>>>> page more than once? If so, it's just a tradeoff between
+>>>>>>>> "spend more time scanning the template repeatedly" and
+>>>>>>>> "spend more memory on avoiding it", and it would be OK to
+>>>>>>>> omit that, or reduce it to a set of scanned *templates*
+>>>>>>>> (in practice that would mean scanning each template twice
+>>>>>>>> in a rebuild). --s