Starting Templates

What it helps you do

Reuse a layout you already built. Mark one published page (or post, or other block-editor type) as the starting template, and every new item of that type opens with those blocks already in place — so you are not rebuilding the same hero, sections, and spacing from scratch.

Where to find it

  • Open any Page, Post, or other block-editor item.
  • In the editor sidebar, open the Page / Post (document) settings — not the block settings for a selected block.
  • Look for the Starting template panel.
    • Use as starting template — this item becomes the Add New starter for its type.
    • Include block content — when on, new items get the headlines, paragraphs, images, and other written copy; when off, they get the same block structure with empty copy.

There is no Customizer control for this. The toggles live only in the document settings of the editor.

How to use it

  1. Build and Publish (or schedule / set private) the page or post whose layout you want to reuse. Drafts cannot be the starter.
  2. Open that item in the block editor and open the document settings sidebar.
  3. In Starting template, turn on Use as starting template. Help text confirms that new items of this type will begin with these blocks (or that you are replacing another starter).
  4. Leave Include block content on if new pages should arrive with the same copy and media; turn it off if you only want the empty layout shell.
  5. Click Update (or Publish) so the choice saves.
  6. Go to Add New for that type (for example Pages → Add New). The canvas starts with the starter’s blocks.
  7. Edit the new item freely — change copy, swap images, remove sections. It is a copy, not a live link to the starter.

Only one starter is allowed per type. Turning the toggle on for a different page replaces the previous starter for that type.

What happens automatically

  • With a starter and Include block content on, new empty drafts receive a one-time copy of the starter’s blocks and written content when you create them.
  • With a starter and Include block content off, new items get the same block structure with written copy cleared so you fill in fresh text and media.
  • If no page starter is set, new pages still open with Dirigible’s default starter layout (a hero plus a content section) so Add New Page is never a blank canvas.
  • Posts and other types without a starter stay blank until you designate one.
  • Trashing or permanently deleting the starter clears that type’s assignment so new items no longer copy from it.

Things to know

  • Requires Dirigible Blocks. The Starting template panel appears in the block editor when that plugin is active.
  • Publish (or private / scheduled) first — drafts and other non-live statuses cannot be the starting template.
  • Starters are per type: one for pages, one for posts, and one for each other block-editor type that supports it. A page starter does not apply when you add a new post.
  • Existing pages and posts are not updated when you change the starter. Only items created after you set (or change) the starter receive the new layout.
  • This is not WordPress’s classic Template dropdown (Default Template, Landing, and similar theme PHP templates). Those still control the page shell; Starting template only seeds the block content on Add New.
  • Turning off Use as starting template on the current starter (and updating) removes it; new items of that type go back to the default behavior above.

Related settings and guides