Modular development in Power Pages ensures scalability, maintainability, and reuse across projects. By applying modular design principles, developers can break down a portal into smaller, reusable components and patterns — much like front-end component libraries or microservices in web development.
Core Modular Patterns
1. Reusable Web Templates
- Use Web Templates as base layout components.
- Structure reusable pieces like headers, footers, and navigation.
- Pass dynamic content via Liquid
{% include %}or{% inject %}statements.
Example:
{% include 'HeaderTemplate' %}
{% include 'SidebarTemplate' %}
2. Componentized Web Files
- Use Web Files for reusable CSS, JavaScript, and image assets.
- Store libraries like Bootstrap, Toastr, or custom styles in separate files and reference via
<link>or<script>tags in Web Templates.
3. Content Snippets for Text Management
- Store repeatable text, labels, or settings in Content Snippets.
- Make localization easier by abstracting textual content from code.
Example:
{{ snippets['WelcomeMessage'] }}
4. Modular Entity Forms and Lists
- Create Entity Forms and Entity Lists that are generic and dynamically filtered using query strings or Liquid.
- Use the same form on different pages with slight variations in behavior.
5. Liquid Helper Includes
- Write helper Liquid templates for repeated logic like date formatting, conditional displays, or user role checks.
- Use
{% include 'Helper_UserCheck' %}to reuse logic.
6. Dynamic Web Page Hierarchy
- Organize portal pages using logical, folder-like Web Page hierarchy.
- Parent-child structure allows easier breadcrumb generation and routing.
- Enables inheritance of settings and layout templates.
7. JavaScript Modules per Feature
- Instead of inline scripting, create feature-specific JS files (e.g.,
form-validation.js,modal-handler.js). - Keep logic encapsulated, with a unique namespace per module to avoid conflicts.
8. Portal Settings as Config Store
- Use Site Settings and Environment Variables to store config options.
- Useful for toggling features, defining endpoints, and theme settings.
Example:
{% assign enableChat = settings['EnableChatBot'] %}
{% if enableChat == 'true' %}
<!-- Render chatbot -->
{% endif %}
9. Role-Based Partial Pages
- Design page fragments for different user roles and load them conditionally using Liquid.
- Example: A dashboard that shows different cards for Admin vs Partner.
10. ALM with Solutions
- Package web templates, web files, lists, forms, etc. into Solutions for portability.
- Use solution layering and DevOps pipelines to promote modular components between environments.
Advanced Modular Concepts
| Pattern | Description |
|---|---|
| Feature Folders | Organize templates and assets by feature (e.g., /Events/, /Jobs/, /Profile/) |
| Micro Portals | Create multiple small portals with shared backend and custom branding |
| Portal Components Library | Maintain internal library of styled components/templates for reuse |
| Dynamic Routing | Use query parameters or Liquid logic to control which view/form loads dynamically |
Tools That Help
- Portal Management App – Central hub to manage reusable components
- VS Code + Power Platform CLI – For structured file development and deployment
- Git for Version Control – Track modular changes to templates/scripts
- Power Platform Solution Explorer – Manage modular solutions across environments
Benefits of Modular Design
- Maintainability: Update one module, affect all pages using it.
- Scalability: Easily add new features without disrupting the rest of the portal.
- Reusability: Share components across projects or tenants.
- Team Collaboration: Developers can work on different modules independently.