All valid points, which I agree may be helpful for some although, again they only serve as abstractions. ) Errors in the templates are confined to the Smartys

All valid points, which I agree may be helpful for some although, again they only serve as abstractions. ) Errors in the templates are confined to the Smartys error handling routines, making them as simple and intuitive as possible for the designer. - Ok, but this is an abstracted error message, when the designer could simply learn to work with PHP error messages. ) Programmers aren't messing with templates. They can go about maintaining the application code, changing the way content is acquired, making new business rules, etc. without disturbing the presentation layer. - If you are using an MVC design pattern programmers will rarely need to mess with templates anyway. ) You are not opening your server to the execution of arbitrary PHP code. Smarty has many security features built in so designers won't breach security, whether intentional or accidental. They can only do what they are confined to in the templates. - I thought it was possible to execute abritrary PHP code by using the {php} template tags? I suppose at the end of the day you use what feels most natural for you and what your designers find easiest (or are familiar with). It's totally up to personal preference. For me it has always felt like too much of an abstraction to be worth utilising.