Learn template-tags while creating interactive forms in a web component (Learn Modulo.js - Part f

? Hey all, welcome back this week! Each tutorial is self-contained, so feel free to start at the beginning, or just plunge in here.

Note: Due to a bug with Dev.To, I'm unable to publish this tutorial normally. The fenced code blocks do not support template syntax, causing the markdown parser to crash.

Introducing: The NewsletterSubscribe Component

In Part 6, we'll be creating a custom, interactive sign-up form that only shows the newsletters to subscribe when the user chooses. This will give us practice with some very useful techniques, while building up our knowledge of template-tags, a core concept in templating.

Starting snippet

In this tutorial, we will start with Props, just like with the PictureFrame component in Part 2.

As with previous tutorials, you can simply copy and paste this code into any HTML file to start:

<template Modulo>
    <Component name="NewsletterSubscribe">
        <Template>
            <form method="POST">
                <h2>Learn Modulo.js - Sign-Up Component</h2>
                <label><strong>Email:</strong><input [state.bind] name="email" /></label>
                <label>
                    <input [state.bind] name="subscribe" type="checkbox" />
                    I want to subscribe to receive news and special offers
                </label>
                <label>
                    <input [state.bind] name="newsletters.kombucha" type="checkbox" />
                    Kombucha Enthusiast Newsletter
                </label>
                <button>Submit</button>
            </form>
        </Template>
        <State
            email=""
            subscribe:=false
            newsletters:={}
            newsletters.kombucha:=true
            newsletters.soda:=false
            newsletters.wine:=true
            newsletters.beer:=false
        ></State>
    </Component>
</template>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/mdu.js"></script>
<x-NewsletterSubscribe></x-NewsletterSubscribe>

Important things to note: Look at how "State" is set-up. Do you see how newsletters:={} assigns to a JavaScript Object (designated with {}), and how then kombucha, soda, wine, and beer are all assigned with the syntax newsletters.kombucha, etc? This creates an Object that ends up looking like: { "kombucha": true, "soda": false ... }. This is a short-hand in Modulo for creating such objects. Also, note how name="newsletters.kombucha" must specify the full name, including the dot (.), to access that true/false value.

Introducing Part 6: Template Tags

In addition to filters, the Modulo templating language also support powerful "template tags", which allow for more complicated custom behavior. This includes the next two topics in this tutorial: "if" template-tag, which allows for conditional rendering (e.g. "only show the submit button if a form is filled correctly", or "only show the modal if the user has clicked the button"), and the "for" template-tag, which allows for HTML to be repeated for each item of some given data (e.g. "every blog post gets it's own

element", or "every field of data gets it's own form field").

Syntax

Unlike template variables or filters, they use {% and %} (instead of {{ and }}) to designate where they are in the Template code. Template tags are in the format of {% tag %}. They allow for more complicated transformations to the HTML code generated. For example, here are a few: {% include other_template %} {% comment %} ... {% endcomment %}

The if-tag

One of the most useful template tags you will use is the if tag, written like this: {% if %}. The if-tag allows for conditional rendering of HTML code based on the condition supplied.

See below for two examples of using the "if" tag:

{% if state.expanded %}

Details: {{ props.details }}