Templates

Published: December 7, 2025 by Statue Repo
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Templates provide pre-configured starting points for different types of sites. They include specific layouts, example content, and configurations tailored to particular use cases.

Want to contribute a template? Share your template with the Statue community! It only takes a single command to submit a PR. Learn how →

What Are Templates?

A template is a complete set of:

  • Route files (src/routes/)
  • Example content (content/)
  • Site configuration (site.config.js)

When you run npx statue init, these files are copied into your project.

Available Templates

Default Template

The standard template with a homepage, blog, docs, and about page.

Initialize:

npx statue init

Includes:

  • Full-featured homepage with hero, stats, and content categories
  • Blog directory setup
  • Documentation directory
  • About page example
  • Legal pages (privacy, terms)

Best for: General-purpose sites, marketing sites, documentation sites

Blog Template

A simplified template focused on blogging.

Initialize:

npx statue init --template blog

Includes:

  • Minimal homepage focused on latest posts
  • Blog directory with example posts
  • Streamlined navigation

Best for: Personal blogs, content-focused sites

Choosing a Template

When to use the default template:

  • You want a full-featured site
  • You need multiple content sections (blog + docs)
  • You want an about page and company info
  • You're building a business/product site

When to use the blog template:

  • You're primarily writing blog posts
  • You want a simpler, focused structure
  • You don't need multiple content categories

Using a Template

1. During Initial Setup

Choose your template when first creating your Statue site:

# Create SvelteKit project
npx sv create . --template minimal --types ts --no-add-ons --install npm

# Install Statue
npm install statue-ssg

# Initialize with chosen template
npx statue init --template blog

# Install dependencies and start
npm install
npm run dev

2. What Gets Created

Templates copy these files to your project:

your-project/
├── src/routes/        # Page templates
├── content/           # Example content
└── site.config.js     # Initial configuration

Note: Templates only affect initial setup. After initialization, you customize these files directly.

Switching Templates

You can't switch templates after initialization. Templates only run during npx statue init.

If you want to change templates:

  1. Manually copy route files from another template
  2. Update your content structure
  3. Modify site.config.js

Or start a new project with a different template.

Customizing Your Template

After initialization, the template files are yours to modify:

Modify Routes

Edit files in src/routes/ to change page layouts:

  • +page.svelte - Homepage
  • [directory]/+page.svelte - Directory listing pages
  • [...slug]/+page.svelte - Content pages

Update Content

Replace example content in content/ with your own markdown files.

Configure Settings

Edit site.config.js to set your site information.

Creating Custom Templates

For Statue contributors, templates are stored in templates/ in the repository.

To create a new template:

  1. Create a directory: templates/my-template/
  2. Add these subdirectories:
    • src/routes/ - Route files
    • content/ - Example content
  3. Add site.config.js with appropriate defaults
  4. Test with npm run template:load my-template

See DEVELOPMENT.md for details.

Template vs Theme

Templates define structure and layout (which pages exist, how they're organized).

Themes define visual styling (colors, fonts, spacing).

You can use any theme with any template - they're independent!

Need More Templates?

We're working on additional templates:

  • Portfolio template (coming soon)
  • Documentation-focused template (coming soon)
  • Landing page template (coming soon)

Want to contribute a template? See ADDING_TEMPLATES.md for a step-by-step guide.

Next Steps