What causes "cms::lang.content.not_found_name" in octobercms/october?

Create the content file under themes/ /content/ at the exact referenced path (.htm default extension)

octobercms/october · error · CmsException

cms::lang.content.not_found_name

Error message

cms::lang.content.not_found_name

What it means

renderContent() (backing the {% content %} tag) could not load the named content block: no cms.page.beforeRenderContent event supplied it and loadContentObject() failed to find it in the theme. With $throwException true (the default for the tag) it throws; otherwise it returns false.

Source

Thrown at modules/cms/classes/controller/HasRenderers.php:328

         *     });
         *
         * Or
         *
         *     $controller->bindEvent('page.beforeRenderContent', function ((string) $contentName) {
         *         return Cms\Classes\Content::loadCached($theme, 'custom-content-name');
         *     });
         *
         */
        if ($event = $this->fireSystemEvent('cms.page.beforeRenderContent', [$name])) {
            $content = $event;
        }
        else {
            $content = $this->loadContentObject($name);
        }

        if ($content === false) {
            if ($throwException) {
                throw new CmsException(Lang::get('cms::lang.content.not_found_name', ['name'=>$name]));
            }
            else {
                return false;
            }
        }

        $fileContent = $content->parsedMarkup;

        // Inject global view variables
        $globalVars = ViewHelper::getGlobalVars();
        if (!empty($globalVars)) {
            $parameters = (array) $parameters + $globalVars;
        }

        // Parse basic template variables
        if (!empty($parameters)) {
            $fileContent = TextParser::parse($fileContent, $parameters);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

Create the content file under themes/<activeTheme>/content/ at the exact referenced path (.htm default extension)
Fix the reference path in the template
Verify the active theme is the one containing the content block
For optional blocks, call renderContent($name, [], false) and branch on the false return

Example fix

{# before #}
{% content 'terms' %}

{# after #}
{% content 'legal/terms' %}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

$theme = \Cms\Classes\Theme::getActiveTheme();
if (!\Cms\Classes\Content::load($theme, 'legal/terms')) {
    // content block missing: skip, fallback, or fail with context
}

Try / catch

try { echo $this->renderContent('legal/terms'); } catch (\Cms\Classes\CmsException $e) { echo '<!-- content block missing -->'; }

Prevention

Keep content-block paths in one place (partials/settings) instead of scattering literals
When cloning themes, copy the content/ directory along with partials/
Prefer renderContent($name, [], false) plus a false check for optional blocks

When it happens

Trigger: {% content 'legal/terms' %} or $this->renderContent('legal/terms') when themes/<activeTheme>/content/legal/terms.htm does not exist.

Common situations: Renaming content blocks without updating templates; splitting a site into themes where a block was not copied; localized content variants missing; casing differences surfacing on Linux deployment.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eed46bd603336f0f. Report an issue: GitHub.