-ikiwiki uses the HTML::Template module as its template engine. This
-supports things like conditionals and loops in templates and is pretty easy
-to learn.
-
-The aim is to keep almost all html out of ikiwiki and in the templates.
-
-It ships with some basic templates which can be customised:
-
-* `page.tmpl` - Used for displaying all regular wiki pages.
-* `misc.tmpl` - Generic template used for any page that doesn't
- have a custom template.
-* `recentchanges.tmpl` - Used for the RecentChanges page.
-* `editpage.tmpl` - Create/edit page.
-* `notifymail.tmpl` - Not a html template, this is used to
- generate change notification mails for users who have subscribed to
- changes to a page.
-* `passwordmail.tmpl` - Not a html template, this is used to
- generate the mail with the user's password in it.
-* `rsspage.tmpl` - Used for generating rss feeds for [[blog]]s.
+[[Ikiwiki]] uses many templates for many purposes. By editing its templates,
+you can fully customise its appearance, and avoid duplicate content.
+
+Ikiwiki uses the HTML::Template module as its template engine. This
+supports things like conditionals and loops in templates and is pretty
+easy to learn. All you really need to know to modify templates is this:
+
+* To insert the value of a template variable, use `<TMPL_VAR variable>`.
+* To make a block of text conditional on a variable being set use
+ `<TMPL_IF variable>text</TMPL_IF>`.
+* To use one block of text if a variable is set and a second if it's not,
+ use `<TMPL_IF variable>text<TMPL_ELSE>other text</TMPL_IF>`
+
+[[!if test="enabled(template) or enabled(edittemplate)" then="""
+## template pages
+
+Template pages are regular wiki pages that are used as templates for other
+pages.
+"""]]
+
+[[!if test="enabled(template)" then="""
+The [[!iki ikiwiki/directive/template desc="template directive"]] allows
+template pages to be filled out and inserted into other pages in the wiki.
+"""]]
+
+[[!if test="enabled(edittemplate)" then="""
+The [[!iki ikiwiki/directive/edittemplate desc="edittemplate directive"]] can
+be used to make new pages default to containing text from a template
+page, which can be filled out as the page is edited.
+"""]]
+
+[[!if test="(enabled(template) or enabled(edittemplate))
+and enabled(inline)" then="""
+These template pages are currently available:
+
+[[!inline pages="templates/* and !*.tmpl and !templates/*/* and !*/discussion"
+feeds=no archive=yes sort=title template=titlepage
+rootpage=templates postformtext="Add a new template page named:"]]
+"""]]
+
+## template files
+
+Template files are unlike template pages in that they have the extension
+`.tmpl`. Template files are used extensively by Ikiwiki to generate html.
+They can contain html that would not normally be allowed on a wiki page.
+
+Template files are located in `/usr/share/ikiwiki/templates` by default;
+the `templatedir` setting can be used to make another directory be
+searched first. Customised template files can also be placed inside the
+"templates/" directory in your wiki's source -- files placed there override
+ones in the `templatedir`.
+
+Here is a full list of the template files used:
+
+* `page.tmpl` - Used for displaying all regular wiki pages. This is the
+ key template to customise to change the look and feel of Ikiwiki.
+ [[!if test="enabled(pagetemplate)" then="""
+ (The [[!iki ikiwiki/directive/pagetemplate desc="pagetemplate directive"]]
+ can be used to make a page use a different template than `page.tmpl`.)"""]]
+* `rsspage.tmpl` - Used for generating rss feeds for blogs.