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Templates

by Nishant Mittal
Recommended editor productivity
Install Plugin

Description

This plugin allows you to create and use templates in Joplin.

Additional Information

Links:
Maintainers: laurent22 tessus jackgruber calebjohn
Version:3.0.0
Minimum app version:2.2.5
Downloads: This version:222
Last updated:2025-10-25T18:33:00Z

Templates Plugin
npm version

This plugin allows you to create templates in Joplin and use them to create new notes and to-dos.

📚 New to the plugin? Check out the Complete Feature Demonstration Template to see all features in action with examples and expected outputs.

Table of contents

Installing Plugin

  • Open Joplin
  • Go to Tools > Options > Plugins
  • Search for Templates
  • Click Install plugin
  • Restart Joplin to enable the plugin

Importing Legacy Templates

  • If you were already using the legacy version of templates, your templates will be automatically imported once you install the plugin. They will appear in an Imported Templates - dd/mm/yyyy notebook. See the README note in that notebook for more details.

  • Your existing templates will still be present in the templates directory but will be renamed from .md to .md.old. You can safely delete these old templates once you verify that they've been imported correctly in Joplin.

Using the Template Plugin

Adding a new template

Create templates by creating a new note or to-do in any notebook that:

  • Includes your template content
  • Is tagged with template

Using templates

You can access the templates options in Tools > Templates.

Features

Template variables

Built in variables

Built in variables are inserted automatically, without interaction from you. For example, in the following template, the date will be automatically added:

Date: {{date}}
Hours:
Details:

The currently supported built in template variables are:

Variable Description Example
{{date}} Today's date 2019-01-01
{{time}} Current time 13:00
{{datetime}} Current date and time 01/01/19 1:00 PM
{{#custom_datetime}} Current date and/or time formatted based on a supplied string (using moment.js formatting) {{#custom_datetime}}M d{{/custom_datetime}}
{{bowm}} Date of the beginning of the week (when week starts on Monday)
{{bows}} Date of the beginning of the week (when week starts on Sunday)

NOTE: All dates are formatted based on your Joplin settings in General > Date Format

Custom variables

You can also define custom variables in your template that prompt you to enter a value when you use the template. For example in the following example the name and color variables will prompt you each time you use the template:

---
name: text
color: dropdown(Red, Yellow, Green)

---

Hi there, {{ name }}. Your favorite color is {{ color }}. This note/to-do was created on {{ datetime }}.

The currently supported custom variable types are:

Type Example
text name: text
number count: number
boolean show_summary: boolean
date meeting_date: date
time meeting_time: time
dropdown color: dropdown(Red, Yellow)

Points to note

  • You can't use special characters ("@", ",", "#", "+", "(", etc.) or spaces in variable names. However, you can use "_" in variable names.
  • If you declare a custom variable with same name as the built-in variables, the custom variable value will be used.
  • Internally, Handlebars.Js is used to compile the templates. You can write templates to be compatible with Handlebars.

Advanced Usage

You can also define a label for each custom variable. Label is something that appears instead of the variable name in the variables input dialog. You can use the following syntax to do so.

---
name: text
project:
  label: Select a project
  type: dropdown(project 1, project 2, project 3)
show_summary:
  label: Add summary in note?
  type: boolean

---

Hi {{ name }},
This is a report for {{ project }}.

{{#if show_summary}}
## Summary
> Enter the summary here.
{{/if}}

Points to note

  • The indentation should be 2 spaces exactly. Don't use tabs for indentation otherwise it can result in errors.

Special variables

These are the variables that have a specific purpose other than being used in templates. Some of the important features of these special variables are

  • Both built-in and custom variables can be used while defining these variables.
  • The values of these variables can be used in the template body just like built-in and custom variables.

Currently there are four special variables.

Variable Purpose Example
template_title Title of the note/to-do created using this template. template_title: Standup - {{ date }}
template_tags Comma separated tags to be applied to the note/to-do created using this template. template_tags: spec, {{ project }}
template_notebook The ID of the target notebook for this template. Whenever a new note/to-do will be created by this template, it will be created in this target notebook. template_notebook: 82d2384b025f44588e4d3851a1237028
template_todo_alarm The date and time for a to-do alarm/reminder. Only applies when creating to-dos from templates. template_todo_alarm: {{ datetime delta_days=1 format="YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm" }}

Points to note

  • If template_title is not provided, the title of the template will be used as a fallback value.
  • If a tag specified in template_tags doesn't exist already, it will be created.
  • You can't use these variable names i.e. template_title, template_tags, template_notebook, and template_todo_alarm for custom variables. In general, please avoid defining custom variables with template_ prefix.
  • To get the ID of a notebook, you can right click on that notebook and click on Copy notebook ID.
  • While you are inserting the template in an existing note/to-do, template_tags variable is used to apply those tags to the note the template is inserted in. However, you can disable using template_tags while inserting templates from the plugin settings.
  • The template_todo_alarm variable expects a date-time string in the format "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm" (without seconds). You can use the datetime helper to generate properly formatted timestamps.

Example of a template using special variables

---
project: dropdown(project 1, project 2)
template_title: Weekly Meet - {{ project }} - {{ date }}
template_tags: meeting notes, {{ project }}

---

## {{ template_title }}

This note contains the meeting minutes of the weekly meet held on {{ datetime }} for {{ project }}.

Advanced Template Features (Helpers)

The plugin uses Handlebars.js as its templating engine, which provides powerful helpers for advanced template logic. These helpers allow you to perform comparisons, mathematical operations, text transformations, loops, and complex date/time manipulations.

💡 Tip: See the Complete Feature Demonstration Template for a comprehensive example using all helpers together in a real-world scenario.

Compare Helper

The compare helper allows you to compare two values using various operators. This is useful for conditional logic in your templates.

Syntax: {{#if (compare value1 operator value2)}}...{{/if}}

Supported operators:

Operator Alternative Names Description
== eq, equals Equal (type coercion)
=== seq, strictly-equals Strictly equal (no type coercion)
!= ne, not-equals Not equal
!== sne, strictly-not-equals Strictly not equal
< lt, less-than Less than
<= lte, less-than-equals Less than or equal
> gt, greater-than Greater than
>= gte, greater-than-equals Greater than or equal

Example:

---
age: number
temperature: number

---

{{#if (compare age ">" 18)}}
You are an adult.
{{else}}
You are a minor.
{{/if}}

{{#if (compare temperature ">=" 30)}}
It's hot outside! 🌞
{{else if (compare temperature "<" 10)}}
It's cold outside! ❄️
{{else}}
The weather is pleasant.
{{/if}}

Condition Helper

The condition helper provides logical operators for combining multiple conditions.

Syntax: {{#if (condition value1 operator value2)}}...{{/if}}

Supported operators:

Operator Alternative Names Description
&& and Logical AND
|| or Logical OR

Example:

---
show_summary: boolean
has_data: boolean
is_weekend: boolean

---

{{#if (condition show_summary "and" has_data)}}
## Summary
Data is available and summary display is enabled.
{{/if}}

{{#if (condition is_weekend "or" (compare temperature ">" 25))}}
Perfect day for outdoor activities!
{{/if}}

{{! For negation, use Handlebars' built-in unless helper }}
{{#unless show_summary}}
Summary is hidden.
{{/unless}}

Note: For simple boolean negation, use Handlebars' built-in {{#unless variable}} helper instead of the condition helper.

Math Helper

The math helper performs mathematical operations on numbers.

Syntax: {{math value1 operator value2}}

Supported operators:

Operator Description
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
** Exponentiation (power)
% Modulo (remainder)

Example:

---
price: number
quantity: number
tax_rate: number

---

# Invoice

Price per item: ${{price}}
Quantity: {{quantity}}
Subtotal: ${{math price "*" quantity}}
Tax ({{math tax_rate "*" 100}}%): ${{math (math price "*" quantity) "*" tax_rate}}
**Total: ${{math (math price "*" quantity) "*" (math 1 "+" tax_rate)}}**

---

Area of circle with radius 5: {{math (math 5 "**" 2) "*" 3.14159}}

Case Helper

The case helper transforms text to different cases.

Syntax: {{case type text}}

Supported types:

Type Description
upper Convert to UPPERCASE
lower Convert to lowercase

Example:

---
name: text
company: text

---

# Welcome {{case "upper" name}}!

Company: {{case "upper" company}}
Email: {{case "lower" name}}@{{case "lower" company}}.com

Repeat Helper

The repeat helper repeats a block of content a specified number of times. Inside the block, you have access to a repeat_index variable (0-based).

Syntax: {{#repeat count}}...{{/repeat}}

Example:

---
num_items: number

---

# Checklist

{{#repeat num_items}}
- [ ] Item {{math repeat_index "+" 1}}: 
{{/repeat}}

---

# Weekly Goals

{{#repeat 7}}
## Day {{math repeat_index "+" 1}}
- Morning: 
- Afternoon: 
- Evening: 

{{/repeat}}

DateTime Helper

The datetime helper provides advanced date and time manipulation capabilities. It allows you to set specific dates/times, add/subtract time intervals, and format the output.

Syntax: {{datetime attribute1=value1 attribute2=value2 ...}}

Supported attributes:

Attribute Type Description Example
format string Output format (moment.js format) "YYYY-MM-DD"
set_date string Set a specific date "2024-12-31"
set_time string Set a specific time "09:00:00"
delta_years number Add/subtract years 1 or -1
delta_months number Add/subtract months 3 or -2
delta_days number Add/subtract days 7 or -14
delta_hours number Add/subtract hours 2 or -3
delta_minutes number Add/subtract minutes 30 or -15
delta_seconds number Add/subtract seconds 45 or -10

Examples:

# Date Manipulation Examples

Today: {{datetime}}
Tomorrow: {{datetime delta_days=1}}
Next week: {{datetime delta_days=7}}
One month from now: {{datetime delta_months=1}}
Last year: {{datetime delta_years=-1}}

# Specific Date/Time
New Year: {{datetime set_date="2024-01-01" set_time="00:00:00"}}
Project deadline: {{datetime set_date="2024-12-31" set_time="23:59:59"}}

# Custom Formatting
ISO format: {{datetime format="YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss"}}
Readable: {{datetime format="MMMM Do, YYYY [at] h:mm A"}}
Short: {{datetime format="MM/DD/YY"}}

# Combined Operations
Meeting in 2 days at 2 PM: {{datetime delta_days=2 set_time="14:00" format="YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"}}

Using with template_todo_alarm:

---
days_until_due: number
template_title: Task due in {{days_until_due}} days
template_todo_alarm: {{datetime delta_days=days_until_due set_time="09:00" format="YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"}}

---

This task is due on {{datetime delta_days=days_until_due format="MMMM Do, YYYY"}}.

Points to note:

  • All date/time operations start from the current date and time
  • When using set_date, the format should match your Joplin date format settings (found in Preferences > General)
  • When using set_time, the format should match your Joplin time format settings (typically "HH:mm" for 24-hour or "h:mm A" for 12-hour format, without seconds)
  • Delta operations are applied after any set operations
  • The default output format matches your Joplin date/time format settings
  • For more format options, see moment.js format documentation

Default Templates

You can define templates you use frequently as default templates, allowing you to quickly create notes and to-dos without selecting a template each time. The plugin supports both global default templates and notebook-specific default templates.

Global Default Templates

Global default templates apply across all notebooks unless overridden by notebook-specific defaults.

Setting global defaults:

  1. Go to Tools > Templates > Default templates > Set default template
  2. Select your desired template
  3. Choose the type:
    • Note: Sets the default for notes only
    • To-do: Sets the default for to-dos only
    • Both: Sets the same template as default for both notes and to-dos

Using global defaults:

  • Use the command "Create note from default template" (Alt+Shift+N by default)
  • Use the command "Create to-do from default template" (Alt+Shift+T by default)

You can customize these keyboard shortcuts in Joplin's keyboard shortcut settings.

Notebook-Specific Default Templates

Notebook-specific default templates allow you to set different default templates for different notebooks. These take precedence over global defaults when you're working in a specific notebook.

Setting notebook-specific defaults:

  1. Go to Tools > Templates > Default templates > Set default template for notebook
  2. Select the target notebook
  3. Select your desired template
  4. Choose the type (Note, To-do, or Both)

Example use cases:

  • Work notebook: Use a professional meeting notes template by default
  • Personal notebook: Use a daily journal template by default
  • Projects notebook: Use a project task template by default

Viewing all default templates: Go to Tools > Templates > Default templates > Show default templates to see:

  • Your global default templates (for notes and to-dos)
  • All notebook-specific default templates

Clearing notebook-specific defaults: If you want to remove the default templates for a specific notebook (reverting to global defaults):

  1. Go to Tools > Templates > Default templates > Clear default templates for notebook
  2. Select the notebook
  3. Confirm the action

Precedence rules: When you create a note/to-do from the default template:

  1. If the current notebook has a specific default template → use it
  2. Otherwise → use the global default template
  3. If no default is set → show an error message

Using notebooks to store templates

The plugin also supports using notebooks to store templates instead of tags. You can start using notebooks to store your templates by going to the plugin settings and selecting Notebook instead of Tag.

Now, any note or todo placed in a notebook titled "Templates" will be considered a template.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

Supporting

You can support the development of this plugin through PayPal. Also, do consider supporting the development of the main Joplin app through the official donate page.

Contributing

Contributions to this plugin are most welcome. Feel free to open a pull request or an issue. Make sure to use conventional commit messages if you're creating a pull request.