Expression Syntax

All expressions are enclosed in double curly braces: {{ expression }}.

Literals

Property Access

Use dot notation to access properties on data roots, with certain alias shorthands supported:

{{ user.name }}
{{ post.title }}
{{ post.meta.card_type }}
{{ site.name }}

In addition to dot notation, the engine supports bracket notation. This is essential for accessing properties using a variable key or keys that contain special characters:

{{ user.meta["my-meta-key"] }}
{{ post.meta["card_type"] }}
{{ post.meta[user.name] }}

Comparison Operators

{{ post.comment_count > 0 }}
{{ user.role == "administrator" }}

Logical Operators

{{ user.is_logged_in && post.meta.members_only }}
{{ !user.is_logged_in }}

Ternary Expressions

{{ condition ? valueIfTrue : valueIfFalse }}

Example:

{{ user.is_logged_in ? "View Dashboard" : "Sign In" }}

Arithmetic Operators

{{ post.meta.price * 1.1 + 20 }}

Grouping with Parentheses

To control the order of operations in complex logic or math, parentheses are fully supported:

{{ (post.meta.price + 20) * 1.1 }}

{{ (user.is_logged_in || post.status == 'publish') && !post.meta.is_private }}

String Concatenation and Interpolation

Use the + operator to join strings:

{{ "Hello, " + user.display_name + "!" }}

Inside a string literal, users can embed expressions directly using single curly braces:

{{ "Hello, {user.name | upper}!" }}

Modifier Pipeline

Apply transformations to a value using |:

{{ post.author_name | upper }}
{{ "now" | date "F j, Y" }}

Modifiers can be chained — they are applied left to right:

{{ user.display_name | lower | default "anonymous" }}

Modifier Arguments - The library supports both positional and named arguments:

{{ post.meta.card_type | match event="Workshop" course="Academy" | default "Resource" }}

See the Modifier Reference for the complete list.

Complete Expression Examples

{{ user.is_logged_in ? "Welcome back, {user.display_name}" : "Join us today" }}

{{ post.meta.card_type | match event="is-event" course="is-course" default="is-standard" }}

{{ post.author_name | upper }} • {{ post.date | date "F j, Y" }}

{{ ("now" | date "U") + 86400 * 5 | date "F j, Y" }}

Raw Output

By default, all output is HTML-escaped. To output raw HTML, use the raw modifier or the special syntax {{{ ... }}}:

{{ "<h2>hello</h2>" | raw }}
{{{ "<h2>hello</h2>" }}}

Of note:

• {{{ }}} syntax is not supported in Gutenberg RichText — use the raw modifier instead.
• This bypasses the default htmlspecialchars path. Note that it still runs through wp_kses_post to strip dangerous tags like
• The editor preview will not show the raw output — it will show the escaped output.