AEM Insider
EP06 // AEM Complete Tutorial Series 2026

Editable Templates —
How Every Page Gets Its Structure

Structure · Initial Content · Policies · The Template Editor
no Javatemplate editor/confthe guest list
aeminsider.com · @aeminsider · Not affiliated with Adobe Inc.
// Chapter 01 · What a template decides

Every page starts from a template.

Structure

The fixed frame — header and footer, locked on every page. Plus one container left open for the page's own content.

Initial content

The starting content of a new page — what is already there before an author does anything.

Policies

The rules. Which components are allowed inside which container. The guest list.

No template → no page. And the page remembers its template. Forever.
// Chapter 02 · The chain

From component to page.

Page componentrenders the whole page
/apps
→
Template typethe blank form
/conf
→
Templatestructure · initial · policies
/conf
→
Pagescreated by authors
/content
The link between a template type and a template exists only at creation time — it's a copy.
// Chapter 03 · Where everything lives

Three folders. Three jobs.

jcr-repository
/apps/aeminsider/components/page      ← the page component  (code)
/conf/aeminsider/settings/wcm
  ├── template-types/page             ← the template type   (blank form)
  ├── templates/page-content          ← the template        (structure · initial · policies)
  └── policies                        ← the policies        (the actual rules)
/content/aeminsider/us/en/...         ← the pages           (what authors create)

// the whole episode is one page's trail through these three folders
// Chapter 05 · Template types, properly

A template embryo.

/conf/aeminsider/settings/wcm/template-types
page                     ← the shipped type
├── jcr:content          ← jcr:title = "Page"
├── initial/jcr:content  ← our page component
├── structure            ← empty starting layout
└── policies             ← default rules
The embryo

Same three parts a template has — initial, structure, policies — plus the title the Create Template wizard shows.

The pointer

Its resourceType carries the page component. Every template stamped from the type inherits it — every page renders through it.

A stamp

Templates copy from it at creation, then never look back. Delete the type — no template notices.

// Chapter 06 · Make your own template type

No button for this. Just copy one.

01
Copy

Copy the shipped page type in CRXDE, paste it right next to the original.

02
Rename + retitle

Node → aeminsider-page · jcr:title → AEM Insider Page. It appears in the Create Template wizard immediately.

03
Check the pointer

The resourceType inside — change it only if your type should render through a different page component.

One type per kind of template — content pages, experience fragments. Real projects ship types in code (ui.content).
// Chapter 07 · Structure mode

The fixed part of every page.

HEADER — from the template
CONTAINER — authors work here
FOOTER — from the template
Locked

Structure components show a padlock on every page. Authors cannot edit, move, or delete them.

Live

One source: the template. Edit the structure and every existing page changes. Instantly.

The unlocked container

The hole in the frame — the one place page authors are allowed to work.

// Chapter 08 · How a page renders

One page. Two sources.

The template/conf

The frame — structure components, locked, one copy for all pages.

The page/content

The middle — whatever the author put into the unlocked container.

HEADER renders from /conf
AUTHOR CONTENT renders from /content
FOOTER renders from /conf
One page in the browser — two sources in the repository, merged on every request.
// Chapter 09 · Policies

The guest list, finally.

Allowed components
✓AEM Insider Site - Content (Card · Teaser · core components)
General
Adobe CQ

One ticked group covers every component in it — that checkbox is why the Card and the Teaser were allowed on the page.

the pointer
container
  cq:policy = "aeminsider/components/container/policy_..."
  // resolved under /conf/.../policies
Policies live next to the templates — shared, reusable, and edits hit every template that points at them.
// Chapter 10 · Initial content

The head start.

Template · initial mode
title "Article title goes here"
card "Summary"

The master copy, in /conf.

Copied once
at page creation
New page
title ← editable
card ← editable, deletable

The author's copy, in /content. No locks.

Change it tomorrow — existing pages don't move. Only new pages get the new kit.
// The rule of this episode
Every template question comes down to knowing which of these two you're standing in.
// Chapter 11 · Layout mode

The third mode: width.

CARD · 6 cols
TEASER · 6 cols
PHONE: full width, stacked
12 columns

Every container sits on a hidden grid. Drag a component's handles to set how many columns it takes. Side by side — no CSS.

Per breakpoint

The emulator bar switches desktop / tablet / phone — each keeps its own layout. One content, per-device widths.

Stored as cq:responsive

On the page for page edits, in the template for structure defaults. Grid settings come from the container's policy.

Layout mode exists in both editors — the template sets the defaults, the page overrides them.
// Chapter 12 · The interview minute

Static vs editable.

Static templates
Editable templates
Lives under /apps, defined in code only
Lives under /conf, edited in the template editor
No link to its pages after creation
Structure stays live — one edit, every page
No policies, no style system
Policies, style system, core components
Legacy — AEM before 6.2
Today's standard. Full stop.
// Next on AEM Insider

Next: Sling Resource Resolution

How a URL becomes a resource becomes a script — resource types, super types, selectors, and the search paths. The engine under everything we've built. In detail.

EP07 · after this, AEM stops being magic — for good
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