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Issue: New content type template does not preserve frontmatter formatting/comments #308

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opened 2026-10-05 02:39:17 +02:00 by adam · 5 comments
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:17 +02:00
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Describe the bug
When creating a new content based on a content type with a template as from Issue #351 any frontmatter formatting in the template file is wiped out. Comments are removed, whitespace is removed. Keys which exist in the template but not in the content type are preserved and any non-frontmatter content (below the frontmatter) is preserved.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Make a file like:
    /archetypes/blog/index.md/
---
# Predefined Parameters (eg: .Title)
title: {{ replace (replaceRE `^\d*(-| |)` "" .Name) "-" " " | title }}
slug: {{ replaceRE `^\d*(-| |)` "" .Name | urlize }}
draft: true
date: {{ .Date }}
lastmod: {{ .Date }}
description: &summary 
summary: *summary
keywords: 
type: blog
weight: 10
randokey: nothin
# User-Defined Parameters (eg: .Params.categories)
subtitle: 
featuredPost: false
headerImage:
  src: images/headerdefault.png
  title: 
  alt: 
categories: 
tags: 
---

This is a test.
  1. Add it to the content type:
"name": "blog",
"pageBundle": true,
"template": "[[workspace]]/archetypes/blog/index.md",
  1. Create a new content of type blog
  2. See what it hath wrought:
---
title: test1
slug: ""
draft: ""
date: 2022-08-09T23:43:44.433Z
lastmod: 2022-08-09T23:43:44.433Z
description: "&summary"
summary: "*summary"
keywords: ""
type: blog
weight: 10
randokey: nothin
subtitle: ""
featuredPost: false
headerImage:
  src: images/headerdefault.png
  title: test1
  alt: ""
categories: ""
tags: ""
---

This is a test.

Expected behavior
Formatting to remain, only the keys defined in the content type would have their values specifically changed.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

  • OS: Windows 10
  • VSCode 1.7.0
  • Front Matter 8.0.1

Additional context
Also, in Hugo at least, one can define an archetype for a page bundle, with folders and extra files and all. They will all get created when the new content of that archetype is created. It would be nice to have the same behavior with content types linked to templates.

**Describe the bug** When creating a new content based on a content type with a template as from Issue #351 any frontmatter formatting in the template file is wiped out. Comments are removed, whitespace is removed. Keys which exist in the template but not in the content type are preserved and any non-frontmatter content (below the frontmatter) is preserved. **To Reproduce** Steps to reproduce the behavior: 1. Make a file like: _/archetypes/blog/index.md/_ ```yaml --- # Predefined Parameters (eg: .Title) title: {{ replace (replaceRE `^\d*(-| |)` "" .Name) "-" " " | title }} slug: {{ replaceRE `^\d*(-| |)` "" .Name | urlize }} draft: true date: {{ .Date }} lastmod: {{ .Date }} description: &summary summary: *summary keywords: type: blog weight: 10 randokey: nothin # User-Defined Parameters (eg: .Params.categories) subtitle: featuredPost: false headerImage: src: images/headerdefault.png title: alt: categories: tags: --- This is a test. ``` 2. Add it to the content type: ```json "name": "blog", "pageBundle": true, "template": "[[workspace]]/archetypes/blog/index.md", ``` 3. Create a new content of type blog 4. See what it hath wrought: ```yaml --- title: test1 slug: "" draft: "" date: 2022-08-09T23:43:44.433Z lastmod: 2022-08-09T23:43:44.433Z description: "&summary" summary: "*summary" keywords: "" type: blog weight: 10 randokey: nothin subtitle: "" featuredPost: false headerImage: src: images/headerdefault.png title: test1 alt: "" categories: "" tags: "" --- This is a test. ``` **Expected behavior** Formatting to remain, only the keys defined in the content type would have their values specifically changed. **Desktop (please complete the following information):** - OS: Windows 10 - VSCode 1.7.0 - Front Matter 8.0.1 **Additional context** Also, in Hugo at least, one can define an archetype for a page bundle, with folders and extra files and all. They will all get created when the new content of that archetype is created. It would be nice to have the same behavior with content types linked to templates. <!-- github-sync-id:1333899476 -->
adam closed this issue 2026-10-05 02:39:17 +02:00
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:18 +02:00
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I also just noticed that I have two keys that are called title but one is for the content title at the top and one is a child of the headerImage key. In the template the child title is empty, but after creation in FM, it gets populated with the page title also.

Also, even in the content type I define the default values for the keys with the reference variable, it treats them like strings:

        {
          "title": "Description",
          "name": "description",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "&summary"
        },
        {
          "title": "Summary",
          "name": "summary",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "*summary"
        },

becomes

description: "&summary"
summary: "*summary"

when I want

description: &summary
summary: *summary

And the datetime fields are made with UTC time, not local time.

I also just noticed that I have two keys that are called `title` but one is for the content title at the top and one is a child of the `headerImage` key. In the template the child title is empty, but after creation in FM, it gets populated with the page title also. <hr> Also, even in the content type I define the default values for the keys with the reference variable, it treats them like strings: ```json { "title": "Description", "name": "description", "type": "string", "default": "&summary" }, { "title": "Summary", "name": "summary", "type": "string", "default": "*summary" }, ``` becomes ```yaml description: "&summary" summary: "*summary" ``` when I want ```yaml description: &summary summary: *summary ``` <hr> And the datetime fields are made with UTC time, not local time. <!-- github-comment-id:1210008112 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:18 +02:00
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Comments are not preserved

Comments are by default removed by the YAML parser. We already had this question or suggestion a while ago, but unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this apart from rewriting parts of the YAML parser.

Formatting changes

The YAML parser converts strings to valid YAML if it contains special characters.

From the YAML docs: Strings containing any of the following characters must be quoted. :, {, }, [, ], ,, &, *, #, ?, |, -, <, >, =, !, %, @, `

Besides the two double quotes added, it is still a valid string that your SSG can use.

HeaderImage title

Could you share your Content Type configuration for this? That way, we can test it out.

> Comments are not preserved Comments are by default removed by the YAML parser. We already had this question or suggestion a while ago, but unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this apart from rewriting parts of the YAML parser. > Formatting changes The YAML parser converts strings to valid YAML if it contains special characters. From the YAML docs: *Strings containing any of the following characters must be quoted.* :, {, }, [, ], ,, &, *, #, ?, |, -, <, >, =, !, %, @, ` Besides the two double quotes added, it is still a valid string that your SSG can use. > HeaderImage title Could you share your Content Type configuration for this? That way, we can test it out. <!-- github-comment-id:1210253992 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:19 +02:00
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Could you share your Content Type configuration for this? That way, we can test it out.

{
  "$schema": "https://frontmatter.codes/frontmatter.schema.json",
  "frontMatter.taxonomy.contentTypes": [
    {
      "name": "blog",
      "pageBundle": true,
      "template": "[[workspace]]/archetypes/blog/index.md",
      "previewPath": null,
      "fields": [
        {
          "title": "Post Title",
          "name": "title",
          "type": "string",
          "single": true,
          "default": "{{title}}"
        },
        {
          "title": "Slug",
          "name": "slug",
          "type": "slug",
          "editable": true,
          "default": "{{slug}}"
        },
        {
          "title": "Is In Draft?",
          "name": "draft",
          "type": "draft",
          "default": true
        },
        {
          "title": "Created On",
          "name": "date",
          "type": "datetime",
          "isPublishDate": true,
          "default": "{{now}}"
        },
        {
          "title": "Last Modified On",
          "name": "lastmod",
          "type": "datetime",
          "isModifiedDate": true,
          "default": "{{now}}"
        },
        {
          "title": "SEO Description",
          "name": "description",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "&summary"
        },
        {
          "title": "Link Preview Summary",
          "name": "summary",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "*summary"
        },
        {
          "title": "Target Keywords",
          "name": "keywords",
          "type": "list"
        },
        {
          "title": "Content Type",
          "name": "type",
          "type": "string",
          "default": "blog",
          "hidden": true
        },
        {
          "title": "Weight",
          "name": "weight",
          "type": "number",
          "default": 10
        },
        {
          "title": "Sub-Title",
          "name": "subtitle",
          "type": "string",
          "single": false,
          "wysiwyg": true,
          "default": ""
        },
        {
          "title": "Is A Featured Post?",
          "name": "featuredPost",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        },
        {
          "title": "Header Image",
          "name": "headerImage",
          "type": "fields",
          "fields": [
            {
              "title": "Image",
              "name": "src",
              "type": "image",
              "default": "images/headerdefault.png",
              "isPreviewImage": true
            },
            {
              "title": "Image Title",
              "name": "title",
              "type": "string",
              "single": true,
              "default": ""
            },
            {
              "title": "Image Alt-Text",
              "name": "alt",
              "type": "string",
              "single": true,
              "default": ""
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "title": "Categories",
          "name": "categories",
          "type": "categories"
        },
        {
          "title": "Tags",
          "name": "tags",
          "type": "tags"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "frontMatter.framework.id": "hugo",
  "frontMatter.content.publicFolder": "assets",
  "frontMatter.content.pageFolders": [
    {
      "title": "Pages",
      "path": "[[workspace]]/content",
      "excludeSubdir": true
    },
    {
      "title": "Blog",
      "path": "[[workspace]]/content/blog"
    },
    {
      "title": "About Page",
      "path": "[[workspace]]/content/about"
    }
  ],
  "frontMatter.dashboard.content.cardTags": "tags"
}

If I change the default value for the headerImage child title field, to something like " " or anything else, it inserts that default value, not the page title. But it shouldn't be inserting the page title anyway even with a default empty string.

Regarding the &summary / *summary variables, is there no way to preserve them? I admit this is more something for a dev to use, less of a user interacting with a CMS. And a user that only interacted with the CMS wouldn't care or notice.

> Could you share your Content Type configuration for this? That way, we can test it out. ```json { "$schema": "https://frontmatter.codes/frontmatter.schema.json", "frontMatter.taxonomy.contentTypes": [ { "name": "blog", "pageBundle": true, "template": "[[workspace]]/archetypes/blog/index.md", "previewPath": null, "fields": [ { "title": "Post Title", "name": "title", "type": "string", "single": true, "default": "{{title}}" }, { "title": "Slug", "name": "slug", "type": "slug", "editable": true, "default": "{{slug}}" }, { "title": "Is In Draft?", "name": "draft", "type": "draft", "default": true }, { "title": "Created On", "name": "date", "type": "datetime", "isPublishDate": true, "default": "{{now}}" }, { "title": "Last Modified On", "name": "lastmod", "type": "datetime", "isModifiedDate": true, "default": "{{now}}" }, { "title": "SEO Description", "name": "description", "type": "string", "default": "&summary" }, { "title": "Link Preview Summary", "name": "summary", "type": "string", "default": "*summary" }, { "title": "Target Keywords", "name": "keywords", "type": "list" }, { "title": "Content Type", "name": "type", "type": "string", "default": "blog", "hidden": true }, { "title": "Weight", "name": "weight", "type": "number", "default": 10 }, { "title": "Sub-Title", "name": "subtitle", "type": "string", "single": false, "wysiwyg": true, "default": "" }, { "title": "Is A Featured Post?", "name": "featuredPost", "type": "boolean", "default": false }, { "title": "Header Image", "name": "headerImage", "type": "fields", "fields": [ { "title": "Image", "name": "src", "type": "image", "default": "images/headerdefault.png", "isPreviewImage": true }, { "title": "Image Title", "name": "title", "type": "string", "single": true, "default": "" }, { "title": "Image Alt-Text", "name": "alt", "type": "string", "single": true, "default": "" } ] }, { "title": "Categories", "name": "categories", "type": "categories" }, { "title": "Tags", "name": "tags", "type": "tags" } ] } ], "frontMatter.framework.id": "hugo", "frontMatter.content.publicFolder": "assets", "frontMatter.content.pageFolders": [ { "title": "Pages", "path": "[[workspace]]/content", "excludeSubdir": true }, { "title": "Blog", "path": "[[workspace]]/content/blog" }, { "title": "About Page", "path": "[[workspace]]/content/about" } ], "frontMatter.dashboard.content.cardTags": "tags" } ``` If I change the default value for the headerImage child title field, to something like `" "` or anything else, it inserts that default value, not the page title. But it shouldn't be inserting the page title anyway even with a default empty string. Regarding the `&summary / *summary` variables, is there no way to preserve them? I admit this is more something for a dev to use, less of a user interacting with a CMS. And a user that only interacted with the CMS wouldn't care or notice. <!-- github-comment-id:1210586597 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:20 +02:00
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The title field is indeed a bug that will get fixed.

Unfortunately, the summary variables you add cannot be fixed, as it would invalidate the YAML parser.

The title field is indeed a bug that will get fixed. Unfortunately, the summary variables you add cannot be fixed, as it would invalidate the YAML parser. <!-- github-comment-id:1210727838 -->
adam commented 2026-10-05 02:39:21 +02:00
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Ok, Thank you. I understand about the YAML parser. I'll have to decide how I want to work with it or not. Thank you for the fix and the clarity.

Ok, Thank you. I understand about the YAML parser. I'll have to decide how I want to work with it or not. Thank you for the fix and the clarity. <!-- github-comment-id:1210742641 -->
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Reference: adam/vscode-front-matter#308