---
layout: step
title: Liquid
position: 2
---
Liquid is where Jekyll starts to get more interesting. Liquid is a templating
language which has three main parts: [objects](#objects), [tags](#tags) and
[filters](#filters).


## Objects

Objects tell Liquid where to output content. They're denoted by double curly
braces: {% raw %}`{{`{% endraw %} and {% raw %}`}}`{% endraw %}. For example:

{% raw %}
```liquid
{{ page.title }}
```
{% endraw %}

Outputs a variable called `page.title` on the page.

## Tags

Tags create the logic and control flow for templates. They are denoted by curly
braces and percent signs: {% raw %}`{%`{% endraw %} and
{% raw %}`%}`{% endraw %}. For example:

{% raw %}
```liquid
{% if page.show_sidebar %}
  <div class="sidebar">
    sidebar content
  </div>
{% endif %}
```
{% endraw %}

Outputs the sidebar if `page.show_sidebar` is true. You can learn more about the
tags available to Jekyll [here](/docs/liquid/tags/).

## Filters

Filters change the output of a Liquid object. They are used within an output
and are separated by a `|`. For example:

{% raw %}
```liquid
{{ "hi" | capitalize }}
```
{% endraw %}

Outputs `Hi`. You can learn more about the filters available to Jekyll
[here](/docs/liquid/filters/).

## Use Liquid

Now it's your turn, change the Hello World! on your page to output as lowercase:

{% raw %}
```liquid
...
<h1>{{ "Hello World!" | downcase }}</h1>
...
```
{% endraw %}

To get our changes processed by Jekyll we need to add [front matter](../03-front-matter/) to the top of the page:

```markdown
---
# front matter tells Jekyll to process Liquid
---
```

Our "Hello World!" will now be downcased on render.

It may not seem like it now, but much of Jekyll's power comes from combining
Liquid with other features.

In order to see the changes from `downcase` Liquid filter, we will need to add front matter.

That's next. Let's keep going.