What are template variables used for? Examples?

I’ve been using MODx for a while, and I’ve seen people really interested in MODx because of Template Variables, yet I haven’t a clue what they are, or what they could be used for. I’m sure I’ve been missing out on alot of what MODx could offer, could I have some examples of their use and maybe how to learn about them?

Thanks!

http://svn.modxcms.com/docs/display/MODx096/Creating+a+Template+Variable

The official documentation left me confused on this topic, so I wrote up some pages on the wiki:
http://wiki.modxcms.com/index.php/Template_Variables

But basically, in a nutshell, imagine this:
You have a spreadsheet with columns for "Title", "Description", "Alias", "Content", etc. (all the data you need for each of your MODx pages). Then each row is its own page. Well... template variables are a way of adding an extra column to your "spreadsheet".

And even more.....

http://www.sottwell.com/how-template-variables-work.html


/k

Thanks Everett, for explaining it in an easy to understand way, kinda makes more sense to me than the official documentation too.

I think of them as ’custom content fields’ and they are grouped by templates, so you can have different groups of TVs according tot he template you are using. You can also use a resource like ManagerManager to hide determined TVs according to a set of rules.