Pligg uses the Smarty template engine. Smarty separates application data from presentation. This allows users to edit the way that their site looks and functions without having to modify the php files that handle the main processes.

Template files (.tpl) contain presentation mark-up (HTML, CSS), while content data is delivered through Smarty tags, enclosed in curly brackets: { ... }. Smarty also allows presentation logic from within template files, such as including one template inside of another .