Using Page Properties Dynamically in Initial Page Template(AEM)

[AbilashRa]

Is there a way to use page property values in the initial template? For example, I’ve added a text component in initial/.content.xml—can I dynamically use the page title from the page properties as the text value in this component?

<text
jcr:created="{Date}2024-03-06T01:11:46.178-05:00"
jcr:createdBy="admin"
jcr:lastModified="{Date}2024-03-06T20:43:19.059-05:00"
jcr:lastModifiedBy="admin"
jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured"
sling:resourceType="ABC/components/content/text"
text="Page Title"/>

[giuseppebag]

Yes, it can be done by updating the logic of the text component.

You can inject into your Sling Model the object currentPage:

String pageTitle;
@SlingObject
private Page currentPage
...

@PostConstruct
    protected void init() {
        this.pageTitle = (String) currentPage.getProperties().get("jcr:title");
}
...

public String getPageTitle() {
   return this.pageTitle;
}
...

<div data-sly-use.model="com.project.your.sling.Model"
     class="text-component">
    <h1>${model.pageTtile}</h1>
</div>

or with HTL you can directly leverage the global object pageProperties like so:

<h1>${pageProperties['jcr:title']}</h1>

[AbilashRa]

@giuseppebag , 
Thank you so much for the reply. I don’t want to edit the text component since it’s used on many other pages—I just want to update the template by setting a default value for the text component.

[SantoshSai · Accepted solution]

Hi @AbilashRa,

I think, you cannot dynamically set values like the page title in the initial/.content.xml because that XML is static and processed at template creation time, before the page is created - so dynamic values like jcr:title from page properties aren’t available yet.

May be you could try below 2 options:

1. Use HTL to reference page title at runtime

Instead of hardcoding a value in .content.xml, let the HTL (Sightly) template read the page title dynamically:

<h1>${pageProperties['jcr:title']}</h1>

• No need to modify your model or text component logic.
• Only works if your component supports rendering via HTL.

2. Use a custom page creation workflow or listener

If you truly want to populate the component’s property (e.g., text) with the page title at creation time, you’ll need to:

• Write a custom page creation event listener or workflow step.

• Programmatically read the page’s jcr:title and write it into the text property of the embedded component node.

Example logic (in a servlet or listener):

Node textNode = page.getContentResource("root/text").adaptTo(Node.class);
String title = page.getProperties().get("jcr:title", "");
textNode.setProperty("text", title);

I don't think you can reference ${pageProperties['jcr:title']} directly in .content.xml like:

text="${pageProperties['jcr:title']}"  <!-- This won't work -->

because the XML is not evaluated dynamically.

Hope that helps!

[AmitVishwakarma]

Hi @AbilashRa ,

You cannot use ${pageProperties['jcr:title']} or any dynamic reference in .content.xml:

text="${pageProperties['jcr:title']}"   <!-- This does NOT work -->

Because .content.xml is processed only once when the page is created from the template—and it is treated as static content. At that time, the actual page properties like jcr:title are not yet available for interpolation.

Solution:

To auto-populate the text property of the component based on the page title during page creation, you must use an Event Listener or Page Creation Workflow. Here’s how.

Option 1: Use a Page Creation Listener (Recommended for AEM 6.5)

Try below steps:

Create a listener (OSGi component) that listens for page creation events.

Read the jcr:title of the page.

Write that value into the text property of the component.

Sample Java Code:

@Component(immediate = true,
           service = EventHandler.class,
           property = {
             EventConstants.EVENT_TOPIC + "=" + PageEvent.EVENT_TOPIC
           })
public class PageCreationListener implements EventHandler {

    @Reference
    private ResourceResolverFactory resolverFactory;

    @Override
    public void handleEvent(Event event) {
        PageEvent pageEvent = PageEvent.fromEvent(event);
        for (String path : pageEvent.getAddedPaths()) {
            if (!path.contains("/content")) {
                continue;
            }
            try (ResourceResolver resolver = resolverFactory.getServiceResourceResolver(
                    Collections.singletonMap(ResourceResolverFactory.SUBSERVICE, "datawriter"))) {

                PageManager pageManager = resolver.adaptTo(PageManager.class);
                Page page = pageManager.getPage(path);
                if (page == null) return;

                String pageTitle = page.getProperties().get("jcr:title", "");
                Resource textComponent = resolver.getResource(page.getPath() + "/jcr:content/root/text");

                if (textComponent != null) {
                    ModifiableValueMap props = textComponent.adaptTo(ModifiableValueMap.class);
                    props.put("text", pageTitle);
                    resolver.commit();
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                // log error
            }
        }
    }
}

This runs once at page creation, so it doesn’t impact runtime or page performance.

Option 2: Workflow Step (Alternate Approach)

If you use a custom page creation workflow, add a process step that does the same logic as above—reading the title and updating the component.

Note on Permissions:

Ensure the service user (e.g., datawriter) has write access to the component node. Configure it via /system/console/jcrresolver and /home/users/system.

Regards,
Amit

[AbilashRa]

Thank You @SantoshSai @AmitVishwakarma @giuseppebag , 
All the approaches work fine. I got the idea from all of them, retrieved the template type, and then, only for that template type, set the text property as the page title in the Sling model. I can't mark all the answers as correct above, but thanks to everyone!