Patent attributes
A web template author can author interactive web templates via a static markup language-based authoring tool. The web template author can insert static markup language snippets representing one or more configurable controls of a web template into a static markup language-based authoring tool. Each snippet includes a definition of a preview of a configurable control in a static markup language as well as one or more disabled CMS instructions for the configurable control. The web template author can configure and view previews of the inserted configurable controls as they are added to the web template being developed within the static markup language-based authoring tool. When the web template author is satisfied with a version of a web template, the web template author can upload the static markup language definition of the web template to the server, where the web template is converted into a CMS-compatible web template.