How to apply a template as site chrome

In short. You've built a template. To make it visible on your public site, pick one of two paths. Appearance assignment — go to Appearance → Footer, Header, or Mobile Menu, choose the template from a dropdown, and Save. One save applies it to every page on the site. Shortcode embed — copy Err: Template not found! from the template's Edit page and paste it into any page or post body. SGEN expands the shortcode into full HTML on every render; future template edits propagate everywhere the shortcode appears. Both paths require the template to be Published — a Draft renders as empty.

On this page: Two paths explained · Reference table · Worked examples · Steps — site chrome · Steps — shortcode · Troubleshooting

How to assign a Published template as your global footer, header, or mobile menu — or embed it on specific pages with a shortcode

SGEN gives you two paths, and they answer different questions.

Path 1 — Site chrome assignment: Go to Appearance and pick the template from a dropdown. One save makes it the active footer, header, or mobile menu on every page of the site. Use this for templates that should appear on every page without exception.

Path 2 — Shortcode embed: Copy the template's shortcode (Err: Template not found!) and paste it into the content body of any page, blog post, product, or event. Use this for templates that should appear only in specific spots — a blog outro, a promo banner, a regional shipping notice on product pages.

Both paths read from the same Templates list. What differs is where you flip the switch.

What is this for?

Applying a template as site chrome means making a template you've already built visible to readers. Until you either assign it in Appearance or paste its shortcode into a page, the template sits in the Templates list but renders nothing on the public site — no matter how polished the content is.

The two paths serve different scopes:

1. Appearance assignment (global) — Footer, Header, Mobile Menu. SGEN holds exactly one active template per slot. Every public page pulls from that slot on each render. Swapping the assignment in Appearance is the only step needed to change the chrome sitewide. No per-page edits; no template copying; one dropdown, one Save.

1. Shortcode embed (per-page) — any page, post, product, or event editor. The shortcode Err: Template not found! expands into the template's full HTML at render time. Paste it once per page; every future edit to the template propagates everywhere the shortcode appears.

Both paths require the template to be Published. A Draft template can't be assigned in Appearance and renders nothing when its shortcode appears on a public page.

Reference

Good use cases

Example 1: Activate a new Footer Template. The team built Footer Template — 2026 Refresh with new social links and a stockist-contact section. Go to Appearance → Footer, open the dropdown, select Footer Template — 2026 Refresh (#5), click Save. The new footer renders on every page immediately. The old footer template stays in the list, ready to swap back if needed.

Here is the Appearance Footer panel with the new template selected and ready to save:

After the save, the 2026 Refresh footer renders on every page of the site:

Example 2: Embed a newsletter CTA at the bottom of every blog post. Your site has a Published template Blog Post Outro — Newsletter CTA with shortcode Err: Template not found!. Paste Err: Template not found! on its own line at the end of each post's content body and save. When the CTA copy changes next month, one edit to the template propagates to all posts automatically — zero per-post updates.

The shortcode goes on its own line at the end of the content body:

<h2>Why we switched to organic cottonh2><p>After fifteen years of sourcing fabric from mills across Europe, our headdesigner has developed a sixth sense for what makes a great material..p><p>[Post body continues for another 800 words]p>[template  id="2"]

Example 3: Region-specific shipping notice on product pages only. A Canada-shipping-delay notice template (Err: Template not found!) belongs only on product detail pages — not the homepage, not the blog. Paste Err: Template not found! just above each product description's closing line. When the shipping delay ends, edit the template's copy in one place — or flip its Status to Draft — and every product page updates on the next render.

Here is what the Canada shipping notice looks like rendered inside a product page:

Example 4: A/B-test two footer designs without touching the live site. Duplicate the active footer template (row action: Duplicate). The copy starts as a Draft — edit freely, publish when satisfied. In Appearance → Footer, swap the dropdown to the new version and Save. If the new footer underperforms after 24–48 hours, swap back. No data lost; both templates stay in the list throughout.

During the test the Templates list shows the split at a glance:

What NOT to use this for

• Don't use a template for content that belongs only on one page. Template overhead is wasted on single-use content. Put it directly in the page's own SG-Builder layout or content body.

• Don't use Custom Codes for visible page content. Custom Codes is for <script>, <style>, <link>, <meta> — analytics, fonts, cookie banners. Templates are for HTML that readers see: text, images, buttons, layout blocks. The two areas look similar in concept but serve different purposes entirely.

• Don't assume embedding a template carries over form submissions, comments, or analytics. A template is a visual block only. If it contains a form, that form submits to your Forms admin — not through the template.

• Don't embed a template inside itself. Err: Template not found! inside the template that IS id=1 creates an infinite recursion. SGEN may render nothing or fail to load the page.

• Don't rely on the template appearing instantly in all caches after a save. Hard-reload the public page (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R) to bypass browser cache. If the CDN edge is stale, purge the cache from wherever you manage it.

• Don't trash a template assigned as active chrome or embedded on live pages without swapping first. The safe order is: un-assign in Appearance, remove shortcodes from all dependent pages, then trash.

How this connects to other features

• Templates list — Browse your templates list — the catalog you pick from. Only Published templates appear in Appearance dropdowns; Drafts and Trash rows are hidden.

• Edit an existing template — Edit an existing template — the Edit page sidebar shows the template's shortcode (Err: Template not found!) ready to copy, and the Status you can flip before assigning.

• Appearance → Header / Footer / Mobile Menu — each slot accepts one Published template at a time. Same dropdown pattern; one template active per slot.

• Pages / Blog posts / Products / Events — every content type's editor accepts Err: Template not found! in the body. Pasting the shortcode drops the template inline at that spot on every public render.

• Custom Codes — same "site-wide injection" mental model, different purpose. Use Custom Codes for analytics scripts, fonts, and cookie banners — invisible injection. Use Templates for visible HTML content that readers interact with.

• SG-Builder — inside SG-Builder page layouts you can embed a template via a Shortcode component. Same Err: Template not found! syntax; the component wraps the shortcode in a draggable canvas block.

Before you start

• You are signed in to SGEN as an Administrator.
• The template you want to apply is Published — Drafts and Trash items can't be assigned as site chrome and render as empty strings when their shortcode appears on a public page.
• For a site-chrome assignment: you know which slot (Header, Footer, or Mobile Menu) you're changing.
• For a shortcode embed: you know which pages or posts the template belongs on, and you have edit access to each one.
• If you're replacing an existing chrome template: have a plan to swap back if needed. The duplicate-then-swap pattern — duplicate the active template, edit the copy as a Draft, publish the copy, then swap the Appearance dropdown — is the safest approach.
• You know the template's numeric ID or can look it up in the Templates list Shortcode column.

Steps — Site chrome assignment

1. Open the Appearance slot

Appearance has three chrome sub-pages: Header, Footer, Mobile Menu. Navigate to the one you're changing. Each shows a Template dropdown listing every Published template by display name and ID.

If your template doesn't appear in the dropdown, its status is still Draft. Open Templates → All Templates, click the template's title, flip Status to Published, click Update a Template, then return to this Appearance panel and reload.

2. Select the template from the dropdown

Choose the template you want to activate. The dropdown shows display names like "Footer Template — 2026 Refresh (#5)." The number in parentheses is the template's numeric ID — the same ID used in its shortcode. Only Published templates appear; Drafts and Trash rows are hidden from this list.

3. Click Save

The assignment takes effect immediately. Every public page of the site renders the newly-assigned template on the next request. No cache-invalidation step is needed on SGEN's side; the server switches at once. Browser and CDN caches may still serve old HTML — hard-reload any page you check (Ctrl+Shift+R).

A success banner confirms the assignment wrote correctly:

Steps — Shortcode embed on a page

1. Copy the template's shortcode

From the Templates list, click the template's row title to open its Edit page. In the sidebar, the Shortcode block shows Err: Template not found!. Click the copy icon or select the text and press Ctrl+C (Cmd+C on Mac).

The shortcode is keyed by numeric ID — renaming the template, changing its status, or updating its content never changes the shortcode value.

2. Open the target page or post in its editor

For a blog post: Blog → All Posts → click the post title. For a page: Pages → click the page title. For a product or event: open from their respective admin lists.

3. Paste the shortcode into the content body

Position your cursor where you want the template to render. Paste Err: Template not found! on its own line. The editor displays plain text — the shortcode expands into full HTML only on the public render. Future edits to the template propagate to every page that carries that shortcode automatically.

4. Save the page or post

Use the page's standard save control — the Publish or Update button. No special handling is needed for the shortcode; SGEN processes it automatically at render time.

5. Verify on the public site

Open the page's public URL in another tab and reload. The template's content should appear at the position where you pasted the shortcode. If the spot is empty or the shortcode renders as literal text, see the troubleshooting section below.

What success looks like

Site chrome assignment:

• The Template dropdown in Appearance shows the new template as the selected value after save.
• The success banner confirms the assignment by name: "footer_template = Footer Template — 2026 Refresh (#5)."
• Every public page shows the new chrome — homepage, blog posts, product pages, and checkout all render it.
• Coming back to this Appearance panel later shows the same selection — the assignment persists.

Shortcode embed:

• The page editor shows the shortcode as plain text at the position you pasted it: Err: Template not found!.
• The public page shows the template's full content rendered inline at that position.
• Editing the template later — copy, images, layout — updates every page that embeds it on the next render.
• The shortcode always renders the current Published state of the template; there is no stale-embed risk as long as the template stays Published.

What to do if it does not work

• Appearance dropdown doesn't show my new template. Two causes: (1) the template is Draft, not Published — flip to Published on the template's Edit page, then reload the Appearance panel. (2) The panel was open in a stale tab — close it, reload.

• My new template is Published but still missing from the dropdown. Check its status under the Published tab in Templates → All Templates. If it appears there but not in Appearance, open the Appearance panel in a fresh private window — some browsers hold the dropdown options in memory between visits.

• The shortcode renders as literal text Err: Template not found! on the public page. Three causes: (1) extra spaces or a typo — use exactly Err: Template not found! with no spaces around = or inside the brackets. (2) The template is Draft or Trash — non-Published templates render empty, not as literal shortcode text; if you see the literal text the shortcode processor may not have run. (3) The content type doesn't expand shortcodes (rare). Confirm status and retype carefully.

• The public site still shows the old footer after the Appearance save. Browser cache. Hard-reload with Ctrl+Shift+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac). If you use a CDN, purge the CDN cache — SGEN switches to the new template immediately on its end.

• After assigning a new Footer Template, the footer is blank on every page. Open the new template's Edit page and check: (1) Status is Published. (2) Content is not empty — for SG-Builder mode the canvas must have at least one component; for Default mode the rich text editor must have HTML. (3) Editor mode matches what was built — switching modes on an existing template can cause stored content to fail to parse. If blank persists, open Appearance and revert to the previous template while you diagnose. See also Edit an existing template.

• Editing the template doesn't update the embedded pages. Every public page renders the template fresh on each request — unless a CDN or reverse proxy caches the full HTML. Hard-reload the page; if old content persists, the edge cache is stale. Purge the cache at the CDN layer.

• Removing a shortcode from a page doesn't remove the template content on the public page. Save the page again after removing the shortcode. For a blog post: confirm the button shows Update and that the save completed successfully.

Related reading

• Browse your templates list
• Create a new template
• Edit an existing template