The `block` keyword allows you to define the outer shell of your pages' one or more master template(s) and then fill in or override portions as necessary.
## Base Template Lookup Order
The [lookup order][lookup] for base templates is as follows:
Variables are denoted by capitalized text set within `<>`. Note that Hugo's default behavior is for `type` to inherit from `section` unless otherwise specified.
### Example Base Template Lookup Order
As an example, let's assume your site is using a theme called "mytheme" when rendering the section list for a `post` section. Hugo picks `layout/section/post.html` as the template for [rendering the section][]. The `{{define}}` block in this template tells Hugo that the template is an extension of a base template.
Here is the lookup order for the `post` base template:
The following defines a simple base template at `_default/baseof.html`. As a default template, it is the shell from which all your pages will be rendered unless you specify another `*baseof.html` closer to the beginning of the lookup order.
<!-- Code that all your templates share, like a header -->
{{ block "main" . }}
<!-- The part of the page that begins to differ between templates -->
{{ end }}
{{ block "footer" . }}
<!-- More shared code, perhaps a footer but that can be overridden if need be in -->
{{ end }}
</body>
</html>
{{</code>}}
## Override the Base Template
From the above base template, you can define a [default list template][hugolists]. The default list template will inherit all of the code defined above and can then implement its own `"main"` block from:
This replaces the contents of our (basically empty) "main" block with something useful for the list template. In this case, we didn't define a `"title"` block, so the contents from our base template remain unchanged in lists.
{{% warning %}}
Code that you put outside the block definitions *can* break your layout. This even includes HTML comments. For example:
```
<!-- Seemingly harmless HTML comment..that will break your layout at build -->
{{ define "main" }}
...your code here
{{ end }}
```
[See this thread from the Hugo discussion forums.](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/baseof-html-block-templates-and-list-types-results-in-empty-pages/5612/6)
{{% /warning %}}
The following shows how you can override both the `"main"` and `"title"` block areas from the base template with code unique to your [default single page template][singletemplate]:
