YAMLfrontmated

YAMLfrontmated is commonly a misspelling or informal reference to YAML front matter, the metadata block placed at the top of a content file. In many static site generators and some content management systems, the front matter contains structured data written in YAML that describes attributes of the page or post, such as its title, date, draft status, author, layout, and tags. The front matter is separated from the content body by a delimiter, typically a line consisting of three hyphens on its own line at the start and end of the block.

In practice, the front matter is not rendered as part of the page body; instead, the site generator reads it and uses the values to render the page, determine the layout, or enable features. The content body follows after the closing delimiter. The YAML block must be valid YAML, and the exact fields available depend on the system, but common ones include title, date, draft, author, layout, tags, and categories.

Formats and systems vary in front matter support. Jekyll uses YAML front matter by default. Hugo supports YAML, TOML, or JSON front matter, selectable by the author or project configuration. Some editors, pipelines, and frameworks may recognize other delimiters or extensions, but the general concept remains the same: a top-of-file metadata section that informs how the file is processed and displayed.

Example:

---

title: "An Example Post"

date: 2024-06-01

tags:

- example

layout: post

---

The body of the content begins after the closing delimiter.