iantsch / wp-hbs-engine
Renders Handlebars templates within your WordPress Theme/Plugin
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Type:wordpress-plugin
pkg:composer/iantsch/wp-hbs-engine
Requires
- composer/installers: ~1.0
- zordius/lightncandy: 1.2.0
This package is not auto-updated.
Last update: 2025-10-26 11:50:07 UTC
README
Renders Handlebars/Moustache templates within your WordPress Theme/Plugin. Handlebars rendering is powered by LightnCandy. Tested with WordPress 5.2.3
Installation
You can install this (must-use) plugin two ways
Via Composer
If you load your dependenies via Composer you can load this plugin with
$ php composer require iantsch/wp-hbs-engine
Via Download
Download/fork this repository and copy the plugin-folder into wp-content/plugins/.
If you visit your Plugin section in the wp-admin area, activate it and you are good to go.
Troubleshoots
You need to load the zordius/lightncandy dependency via composer. Install composer and run $ composer install in the wp-content/plugins/wp-hbs-engine folder.
The plugin needs a folder with write permissions for caching the handlebar files. It tries to create the folder wp-content/plugins/wp-hbs-engine/cache.
The plugin will try to load partials from the default folder src/templates/partials within your current theme. If the folder does not exist please add it (or use the filter hook to adapt).
Usage
Setup and modify the render engine to your needs in your functions.php or your plugin
add_filter('MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Helpers', function($helpers) { $helpers['__'] = function($string) { return __($string, 'mbt'); }; $helpers['permalink'] = 'get_permalink'; $helpers['content'] = function() { return apply_filters('the_content', get_the_content()); }; return $helpers; });
In your theme call it like a WordPress function.
global $post; while (have_posts()){ the_post(); $data = (array) $post; the_hbs_template('article', $data); }
In your article.hbs it is handlebarsjs.com syntax
<h2>{{this.post_title}}</h2> <div>{{{content}}}</div> <a href="{{permalink}}">{{__ 'Click'}}</a>
API
get_hbs_template
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $template | string | template name | 
| $data | string | associative array with all the needed data for the template | 
| $templateDir | string | boolean | absolutee path to template entry directory, defaults to /src/templates/in current theme | 
| $cacheDir | string | boolean | absolute path to caching directory, defaults to /cache/in plugins folder | 
| Returns: $html- the rendered HTML output | 
the_hbs_template
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $template | string | template name | 
| $data | string | associative array with all the needed data for the template | 
| $templateDir | string | boolean | absolutee path to template entry directory, defaults to /src/templates/in current theme | 
| $cacheDir | string | boolean | absolute path to caching directory, defaults to /cache/in plugins folder | 
| echoes the rendered HTML output | 
Hooks
There are several hooks to modify and adapt the render engine
Filters
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Extension
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $extension | string | file extension, default: hbs | 
| Returns: $extension- file extension of your handlebar templates | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Helpers
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $helpers | array | associative array with callback functions for the implemented helpers | 
| $this | object | Current instance of Handlebars engine | 
| Returns: $helpers- array of handlebars helper | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Flags
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $flags | int | bitwise flags used by LightnCandy | 
| $this | object | Current instance of Handlebars engine | 
| Returns: $flags- LightnCandy Flags | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Partials
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $partials | array | associative array with the relative path to the partials | 
| $this | object | Current instance of Handlebars engine | 
| Returns: $partials- array of available partials | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/DefaultData
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $defaultData | array | fallback data for the template | 
| $template | string | template name | 
| Returns: $defaultData- fallback data for the template | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Data
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $data | array | associative array with all the needed data for the template | 
| $template | string | template name | 
| Returns: $data- the data for the template | 
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Html
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $html | string | rendered HTML output (with data) | 
| $template | string | template name | 
| $data | array | data used to render output | 
| Returns: $html- the rendered HTML output | 
Actions
MBT/Engine/Handlebars/Init
| Parameter | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| $this | object | Current instance of Handlebars engine | 
Credits
@iantsch - web developer behind this and other projects.