Markdown

Pages

Learn how to split your document into pages with different layouts.

AI assisted, human approved — novem uses AI to review and keep our documentation up to date.

Available in: documents only.

{{ page                  # page break
  orient: landscape      # page orientation
  cols: 2                # number of columns
  column-fill: auto      # fill columns sequentially (default: balance)
  type: fp               # page type
}}

The {{ page }} section creates a new page in your document. Each page can have its own orientation, column layout and type. Content before the first {{ page }} becomes page 0.

The page section is always self-closing — there is no {{ /page }} tag.

keyword: orient / orientation / o
options: portrait / p / port | landscape / l / land
default: portrait

Controls whether the page is portrait (tall) or landscape (wide).

keyword: cols
options: 1 | 2 | 3
default: 1

Sets the number of columns for the page layout. Content flows across columns left to right.

keyword: column-fill
options: balance | auto
default: balance

Controls how content is distributed across columns when cols is greater than 1.

  • balance — content is split evenly so all columns end at roughly the same height. This is the CSS default and matches what most print and editorial layouts expect.
  • auto — content fills the first column to the bottom of the page before flowing into the next. Useful for newspaper-style pages or when you want the second column reserved for overflow only.

column-fill is ignored on single-column pages.

Use {{ colbreak }} inside a multi-column page to force the following content into the next column. It is a self-closing token with no attributes:

{{ page
cols: 2
column-fill: auto
}}

This text fills the first column.

{{ colbreak }}

This text starts at the top of the second column, regardless of how
much space was left below the previous block.

{{ colbreak }} only takes effect on CSS multicolumn pages — pages with cols > 1 and no height: 100% vis or paragraph child. When a flex-height child is present the page is rewrapped into manual column buckets and {{ colbreak }} is currently ignored; in that case, lay out the columns by ordering content explicitly or split into separate {{ page }}s.

keyword: type
options: fp | index | centered | blank

Controls the page type:

  • fp — front page, typically used for cover pages
  • index — index or table of contents style
  • centered — centered content layout
  • blank — empty page
keyword: footer
options: true | false | "Custom footer text"
default: true

Controls whether a footer is displayed and optionally sets custom footer text.

keyword: pnum
options: "auto" | "custom string"

Overrides the page number display.

keyword: autopaginate
options: true | false
default: true

When a page's content exceeds the available space, novem automatically flows the overflow onto continuation pages that inherit the original page's orient, cols, column-fill, type, and footer settings.

What carries over:

  • Lists keep numbering across the split — an <ol> that splits between items 3 and 4 starts the continuation list with start="4".
  • Tables reprint their <thead> (or leading <th> row) and <colgroup> on every continuation, so column widths and header labels stay aligned.
  • Callouts and blockquotes split with their chrome (padding, border, background) replicated on each page they cross.
  • Headings move forward when they'd otherwise be orphaned at the bottom of a page with no following content to keep them company.
  • Footnotes follow the reference. A [[ftn: ...]] whose <sup> ends up on the second continuation has its body rendered in that page's footer, not stranded on the original.
  • Page numbering resets at format transitions — a doc with pnum: i prologue pages followed by arabic body pages reads i, ii, iii, 1, 2, 3.

Opting out:

Set autopaginate: false to clip overflow as before — useful for cover, index, TOC, and centered / blank pages where you've already hand-tuned the layout. Those page types are also skipped automatically; you only need the explicit override for content pages.

Set as document frontmatter to control the default, or on an individual page to override:

---
title: My Document
autopaginate: false   # disable across the whole doc
---

{{ page
autopaginate: true    # but re-enable for this one
}}

Theme hooks:

Continuation pages are stamped with data-auto-cont (presence-only) and data-auto-seq="N" (1-based continuation index) on the page wrapper. Themes can target either:

/* Hide the running header on continuations */
.novem--doc--page-wrapper[data-auto-cont] .novem--doc--page-header {
  visibility: hidden;
}

/* Or just mark them */
.novem--doc--page-wrapper[data-auto-cont] .novem--doc--page-header::after {
  content: " (continued)";
  color: var(--novem-text-muted);
  font-size: 0.85em;
}

The --doc-title, --doc-subtitle, --doc-author, and --doc-date CSS custom properties are stripped on continuations, so themes that use content: var(--doc-title) in ::before rules automatically suppress the title on continuations without any extra work.

data-page-num vs data-page-index:

  • data-page-num (1-based) counts every rendered page including continuations. This is what readers see.
  • data-page-index (0-based) identifies the source {{ page }} — continuations of source page 3 all carry data-page-index="3". Use this when styling "the second author-defined page" regardless of how many continuations it spans.

Caveats:

  • nth-child selectors on page wrappers count continuations. Use [data-page-num] or [data-page-index] attribute selectors instead if you want to target the author's logical pages.
  • Multi-column with column-fill: balance and tightly packed tall atoms can rarely overflow by a few pixels — the engine balances columns post-pack, which can land one column slightly taller than the others. Use column-fill: auto if exact fit matters.
  • Paragraphs aren't split mid-line. A single paragraph taller than the page gets placed on its own page; if it's still taller than the page, it clips at the bottom.

keyword: ref
options: FQNP | shortname | local path | global path

Embeds another novem visual as a full-page element. Supports references to documents (/d/), plots (/p/) and grids (/g/). The embedded visual replaces the page content entirely.

# Cover Page

{{ page
orient: portrait
}}

# Chapter One

Content for chapter one.

{{ page
orient: landscape
cols: 2
}}

## Data Overview

Two-column landscape layout for charts.


{{ page
ref: /u/novem_demo/d/quarterly-report
}}


{{ page
orient: landscape
ref: /u/novem_demo/g/nei_rgn_dash
}}


---
title: Quarterly Review
---

# Q4 2024 Review

{{ page
orient: portrait
type: fp
}}

## Executive Summary

{{ page
orient: landscape
cols: 2
}}

## Charts and Data

{{ page
orient: portrait
type: centered
}}

## Conclusions
Next
Page references