If a variable is used frequently throughout your templates, applying
the default
modifier every time it is mentioned can get a bit ugly. You
can remedy this by assigning the variable its default value with the
{assign}
function.
Example 243. Assigning a template variable its default value
{* do this somewhere at the top of your template *}
{assign var='title' value=$title|default:'no title'}
{* if $title was empty, it now contains the value "no title" when you use it *}
{$title}
See also
default
modifier and blank variable handling.