diff --git a/plug-api/lib/frontmatter.ts b/plug-api/lib/frontmatter.ts
index 9f517cb9..40fb27d5 100644
--- a/plug-api/lib/frontmatter.ts
+++ b/plug-api/lib/frontmatter.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export async function extractFrontmatter(
 // Updates the front matter of a markdown document and returns the text as a rendered string
 export async function prepareFrontmatterDispatch(
   tree: ParseTree,
-  data: Record<string, any>,
+  data: string | Record<string, any>,
 ): Promise<any> {
   let dispatchData: any = null;
   await traverseTreeAsync(tree, async (t) => {
@@ -114,14 +114,20 @@ export async function prepareFrontmatterDispatch(
       const yamlText = renderToText(bodyNode);
 
       try {
-        const parsedYaml = await YAML.parse(yamlText) as any;
-        const newData = { ...parsedYaml, ...data };
+        let frontmatterText = "";
+        if (typeof data === "string") {
+          frontmatterText = yamlText + data + "\n";
+        } else {
+          const parsedYaml = await YAML.parse(yamlText) as any;
+          const newData = { ...parsedYaml, ...data };
+          frontmatterText = await YAML.stringify(newData);
+        }
         // Patch inline
         dispatchData = {
           changes: {
             from: bodyNode.from,
             to: bodyNode.to,
-            insert: await YAML.stringify(newData),
+            insert: frontmatterText,
           },
         };
       } catch (e: any) {
@@ -133,12 +139,19 @@ export async function prepareFrontmatterDispatch(
   });
   if (!dispatchData) {
     // If we didn't find frontmatter, let's add it
+    let frontmatterText = "";
+    if (typeof data === "string") {
+      frontmatterText = data + "\n";
+    } else {
+      frontmatterText = await YAML.stringify(data);
+    }
+    const fullFrontmatterText = "---\n" + frontmatterText +
+      "---\n";
     dispatchData = {
       changes: {
         from: 0,
         to: 0,
-        insert: "---\n" + await YAML.stringify(data) +
-          "---\n",
+        insert: fullFrontmatterText,
       },
     };
   }
diff --git a/plugs/directive/template_directive.ts b/plugs/directive/template_directive.ts
index dbd96e09..600c5e6e 100644
--- a/plugs/directive/template_directive.ts
+++ b/plugs/directive/template_directive.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export async function templateDirectiveRenderer(
 
   // if it's a template injection (not a literal "include")
   if (directive === "use") {
-    newBody = await renderTemplate(newBody, pageMeta, parsedArgs);
+    newBody = (await renderTemplate(newBody, pageMeta, parsedArgs)).text;
 
     // Recursively render directives
     const tree = await markdown.parseMarkdown(newBody);
diff --git a/plugs/template/api.ts b/plugs/template/api.ts
index 53000874..91582a1b 100644
--- a/plugs/template/api.ts
+++ b/plugs/template/api.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export async function renderTemplate(
   templateText: string,
   pageMeta: PageMeta,
   data: any = {},
-): Promise<string> {
+): Promise<{ frontmatter?: string; text: string }> {
   const tree = await markdown.parseMarkdown(templateText);
   const frontmatter: Partial<TemplateObject> = await extractFrontmatter(tree, {
     removeFrontmatterSection: true,
@@ -24,15 +24,20 @@ export async function renderTemplate(
   });
   templateText = renderToText(tree).trimStart();
   // If a 'frontmatter' key was specified in the frontmatter, use that as the frontmatter
+  let frontmatterText: string | undefined;
   if (frontmatter.frontmatter) {
     if (typeof frontmatter.frontmatter === "string") {
-      templateText = "---\n" + frontmatter.frontmatter + "---\n" + templateText;
+      frontmatterText = frontmatter.frontmatter;
     } else {
-      templateText = "---\n" + (await YAML.stringify(frontmatter.frontmatter)) +
-        "---\n" + templateText;
+      frontmatterText = await YAML.stringify(frontmatter.frontmatter);
     }
   }
-  return handlebars.renderTemplate(templateText, data, { page: pageMeta });
+  return {
+    frontmatter: frontmatterText,
+    text: await handlebars.renderTemplate(templateText, data, {
+      page: pageMeta,
+    }),
+  };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/plugs/template/plug_api.ts b/plugs/template/plug_api.ts
index 37a64675..4087e02b 100644
--- a/plugs/template/plug_api.ts
+++ b/plugs/template/plug_api.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ export function renderTemplate(
   templateText: string,
   pageMeta: PageMeta,
   data: any = {},
-): Promise<string> {
+): Promise<{ frontmatter?: string; text: string }> {
   return system.invokeFunction(
     "template.renderTemplate",
     templateText,
diff --git a/plugs/template/template.ts b/plugs/template/template.ts
index a74a3811..57fa037b 100644
--- a/plugs/template/template.ts
+++ b/plugs/template/template.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { editor, handlebars, markdown, space, YAML } from "$sb/syscalls.ts";
-import { extractFrontmatter } from "$sb/lib/frontmatter.ts";
+import {
+  extractFrontmatter,
+  prepareFrontmatterDispatch,
+} from "$sb/lib/frontmatter.ts";
 import { renderToText } from "$sb/lib/tree.ts";
 import { niceDate, niceTime } from "$sb/lib/dates.ts";
 import { readSettings } from "$sb/lib/settings_page.ts";
@@ -29,13 +32,26 @@ export async function templateSlashComplete(
 export async function insertSlashTemplate(slashCompletion: SlashCompletion) {
   const pageObject = await loadPageObject(slashCompletion.pageName);
 
-  let templateText = await space.readPage(slashCompletion.templatePage);
-  templateText = await renderTemplate(templateText, pageObject);
+  const templateText = await space.readPage(slashCompletion.templatePage);
+  let { frontmatter, text } = await renderTemplate(templateText, pageObject);
 
   const cursorPos = await editor.getCursor();
-  const carretPos = templateText.indexOf("|^|");
-  templateText = templateText.replace("|^|", "");
-  await editor.insertAtCursor(templateText);
+
+  if (frontmatter) {
+    frontmatter = frontmatter.trim();
+    const pageText = await editor.getText();
+    const tree = await markdown.parseMarkdown(pageText);
+
+    const dispatch = await prepareFrontmatterDispatch(tree, frontmatter);
+    if (cursorPos === 0) {
+      dispatch.selection = { anchor: frontmatter.length + 9 };
+    }
+    await editor.dispatch(dispatch);
+  }
+
+  const carretPos = text.indexOf("|^|");
+  text = text.replace("|^|", "");
+  await editor.insertAtCursor(text);
   if (carretPos !== -1) {
     await editor.moveCursor(cursorPos + carretPos);
   }