Static View Guide

A static page shows fixed content without a database lookup. CorianderPHP 0.4.1 can render it directly from a GET file, without a forwarding handler.

Create Your Page

For an /about page, you can run:

php coriander make:view about

This creates src/Views/about/index.get.php. Replace its contents:

<section>
    <h1>About us</h1>
    <p>We build tools for our community.</p>
</section>

You can create the same file by hand. index.get.php serves the directory's URL; a plain index.php does not.

Visit /about. Do not also create about.get.php: it would define the same GET endpoint.

Give The Page A Title

Create src/Views/about/_metadata.php:

<?php
return [
    'title' => 'About us',
    'description' => 'Learn about our team.',
];

The metadata file returns an array and prints nothing. The framework merges root metadata first, then directory metadata. Use metadata for title/description defaults, not for database calls or authentication.

Add A Shared Layout

A fresh starter already has root layouts. Update them rather than creating competing copies. If your app has none, create src/Views/_header.php:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title><?= $metadata['title'] ?? 'My app' ?></title>
    <meta name="description" content="<?= $metadata['description'] ?? '' ?>">
</head>
<body>
<main>

Create src/Views/_footer.php:

</main>
</body>
</html>

The title/description strings are already escaped by the framework. Output them directly rather than calling htmlspecialchars() again.

The direct page runs before the layouts, but variables assigned inside it are not forwarded to the header/footer. Put shared layout information in metadata. All three receive the same matched $request.

Understand The Rendering Flow

A directory can override only its header and retain the root footer, or the other way around. If no layout exists, only the page HTML appears.

Add Browser Behavior Only When Needed

Create src/Views/about/index.ts beside the page, then build:

php coriander nodejs run build-prod

The framework automatically includes its compiled module when present. Do not add a second manual script tag. See Page Scripts for a working interaction and shared imports. PHP-only pages do not need TypeScript or Node.js.

Check Your Work

php coriander routes:list

Confirm GET and HEAD /about appear. Open the page and inspect its title. If the URL is 404, check file casing and the method suffix, not the template contents.

The homepage is src/Views/index.get.php. For images and public files, use Assets. Add public URLs to the Sitemap; views are not scanned to infer sitemap entries.

When data must come from the request or a repository, continue with Dynamic View Guide.