#+TITLE: CLIP Template Refactoring - Complete
#+AUTHOR: Asteroid Radio Development Team
#+DATE: 2025-10-04

* Overview

Complete refactoring of template rendering system to use CLIP (Common Lisp HTML Processor) machinery properly, eliminating code duplication and establishing a centralized template management system.

* What Was Completed

** Centralized Template Utilities
- Created =template-utils.lisp= with core rendering functions
- Implemented =render-template-with-plist= for consistent template rendering
- Added template caching for improved performance
- Defined CLIP attribute processors (=data-text=) in centralized location

** Template Refactoring
All pages now use the centralized rendering system:
- Front page (=/=)
- Admin dashboard (=/admin=)
- User management (=/admin/users=)
- Web player (=/player=)

** Files Modified
- =asteroid.asd= - Added template-utils.lisp to system definition
- =asteroid.lisp= - Refactored all define-page forms to use new system
- =template-utils.lisp= - New file with centralized utilities
- All =.chtml= template files - Updated to use CLIP processors

* Technical Implementation

** Template Caching
#+BEGIN_SRC lisp
(defvar *template-cache* (make-hash-table :test 'equal)
  "Cache for compiled templates")

(defun get-cached-template (template-name)
  "Get template from cache or load and cache it"
  (or (gethash template-name *template-cache*)
      (setf (gethash template-name *template-cache*)
            (load-template template-name))))
#+END_SRC

** Rendering Function
#+BEGIN_SRC lisp
(defun render-template-with-plist (template-name &rest plist)
  "Render a template with a property list of values"
  (let ((template (get-cached-template template-name)))
    (clip:process-to-string template plist)))
#+END_SRC

** CLIP Attribute Processors
#+BEGIN_SRC lisp
(clip:define-attribute-processor data-text (node value)
  "Process data-text attributes for dynamic content"
  (plump:clear node)
  (plump:make-text-node node (clip:clipboard value)))
#+END_SRC

* Benefits

1. *Code Reduction* - Eliminated duplicate template loading code across all routes
2. *Performance* - Template caching reduces file I/O
3. *Maintainability* - Single source of truth for template rendering
4. *Consistency* - All pages use the same rendering mechanism
5. *Type Safety* - Centralized error handling for template operations

* Documentation

Complete documentation available in:
- =docs/CLIP-REFACTORING.org= - Detailed technical documentation
- =template-utils.lisp= - Inline code documentation

* Status: ✅ COMPLETE

All template refactoring tasks completed successfully. System is production-ready.