colon issue in HTML

Hi ​@user96222,

The colon issue in AEM 6.5.2 LTS is related to how the HTL/Sightly parser and HTML attribute value handling changed in stricter LTS builds, colons in attribute values can be interpreted as namespace separators in certain contexts.

Here are your options:

Option 1: Encode the colon in HTL
Instead of passing the raw value, encode it using HTL string manipulation:

trackingfeature="aem:tracking:test"

Pass it as a data attribute and encode in HTL: data-trackingfeature="${'aem:tracking:test'}"

Option 2: Use a Sling Model or Use-class
Store the tracking value in your component's Sling Model and expose it as a clean string property, then reference it in HTL:

trackingfeature="${model.trackingFeature}"

This avoids the parser interpreting the colon directly in the template.

Option 3: HTML encode the colon
Use the Unicode or HTML entity representation:
aem:tracking:test

This renders as aem:tracking:test in the browser but bypasses the parser issue.

Root cause: AEM 6.5.2 LTS tightened XML/HTML namespace handling in the HTL parser. Values containing colons in attribute positions can be misread as namespace-prefixed attributes (similar to XML namespaces like xlink:href).

Which approach are you using to set this attribute, directly in HTL template, via JS, or via a backend model? That will help confirm the exact fix.