Obliquid makes extensive use of templates. Templates are a way to separate HTML from PHP code and are designed to look as much like regular HTML as possible. The HTML code is displayed by the browser normally, while some special codes are substituted by the Smarty template engine. The most simple code is the one for variable substitution. A variable inside a Smarty template is a placeholder that looks like this {{$variable}}. From a PHP script it's possible to substitute the variable with any value, including another template.

Obliquid core implements a three level template system. Three levels means that templates are substituted inside templates which in turn are substituted inside the top level templates. The top level template is called frame level and corresponds to the outer layout of a served page. It's possible to have many different frames templates for different pages, or always reuse the same one for every page. The second level is the block level and is used to put some window like border to the elementary content. This level is not mandatory and may be bypassed. The third level is the slot level and is used to deliver the content and the functionality of a simple part of an application. A slot may or may not have an associated PHP script that delivers dynamic functionality.