diff --git a/docs/api/rendering.md b/docs/api/rendering.md
index e69de29bb..a66b61269 100644
--- a/docs/api/rendering.md
+++ b/docs/api/rendering.md
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# Rendering templates
+
+## Fetching or rendering templates directly
+As explained in [basics](basics.md), you can use `$smarty->fetch()` or `$smarty->display()`
+to render a template directly.
+
+```php
+display('homepage.tpl');
+
+// or
+
+$output = $smarty->fetch('homepage.tpl');
+```
+
+When you use `display()`, Smarty renders the template to the standard output stream.
+`fetch()` returns the output instead of echoing it.
+
+The example above uses simple filenames to load the template. Smarty also supports
+[loading templates from resources](resources.md).
+
+## Creating a template object
+You can also create a template object which later can be prepared first,
+and rendered later. This can be useful, for example if you plan to re-use several
+templates.
+
+```php
+createTemplate('index.tpl');
+
+// assign a variable (available only to this template)
+$tpl->assign('title', 'My Homepage!');
+
+// display the template
+$tpl->display();
+```
+
+More on assigning variables in [using data in templates](variables/assigning.md).
+
+
+## Testing if a template exists
+You can use `templateExists()` to check whether a template exists before you attempt to use it.
+
+It accepts either a path to the template on the filesystem or a
+resource string specifying the template.
+
+This example uses `$_GET['page']` to
+[`{include}`](../designers/language-builtin-functions/language-function-include.md) a content template. If the
+template does not exist then an error page is displayed instead. First,
+the `page_container.tpl`
+
+```smarty
+
+
+ {$title|escape}
+
+
+ {* include middle content page *}
+ {include file=$content_template}
+
+
+```
+
+And the php script:
+
+```php
+templateExists($mid_template)){
+ $mid_template = 'page_not_found.tpl';
+}
+$smarty->assign('content_template', $mid_template);
+
+$smarty->display('page_container.tpl');
+```
diff --git a/docs/api/variables/assigning.md b/docs/api/variables/assigning.md
index e69de29bb..3aa606b69 100644
--- a/docs/api/variables/assigning.md
+++ b/docs/api/variables/assigning.md
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+# Assigning variables
+
+Templates start to become really useful once you know how to use variables.
+
+## Basic assigning
+Let's revisit the example from the [basics section](../basics.md). The following script assigns a value to
+the 'companyName' variable and renders the template:
+
+```php
+assign('companyName', 'AC & ME Corp.');
+
+$smarty->display('footer.tpl');
+```
+
+footer.tpl:
+```smarty
+Copyright {$companyName|escape}
+```
+
+Smarty will apply the [escape modifier](../designers/language-modifiers/language-modifier-escape.md)
+to the value assigned to the variable
+`companyName` and replace `{$companyName|escape}` with the result.
+
+```html
+Copyright AC & ME Corp.
+```
+
+Using `$smarty->assign()` is the most common way of assigning data to templates, but there are several other methods.
+
+## Appending data to an existing variable
+Using `append()`, you can add data to an existing variable, usually an array.
+
+If you append to a string value, it is converted to an array value and
+then appended to. You can explicitly pass name/value pairs, or
+associative arrays containing the name/value pairs. If you pass the
+optional third parameter of TRUE, the value will be merged with the
+current array instead of appended.
+
+Examples:
+
+```php
+append('foo', 'Fred');
+// After this line, foo will now be seen as an array in the template
+$smarty->append('foo', 'Albert');
+
+$array = [1 => 'one', 2 => 'two'];
+$smarty->append('X', $array);
+$array2 = [3 => 'three', 4 => 'four'];
+// The following line will add a second element to the X array
+$smarty->append('X', $array2);
+
+// passing an associative array
+$smarty->append(['city' => 'Lincoln', 'state' => 'Nebraska']);
+```
+
+## Assigning to template objects
+When you use a template objects, as explained in [rendering a template](../rendering.md#creating-a-template-object),
+you can assign data to the template objects directly instead of assigning it to Smarty. This way, you can use different
+sets of data for different templates.
+
+For example:
+```php
+createTemplate('blue.tpl');
+$tplBlue->assign('name', 'The one');
+$tplBlue->display();
+
+$tplRed = $smarty->createTemplate('red.tpl');
+$tplRed->assign('name', 'Neo');
+$tplRed->display();
+```
+
+## Using data objects
+For more complex use cases, Smarty supports the concept of data objects.
+Data objects are containers to hold data. Data objects can be attached to templates when creating them.
+This allows for fine-grained re-use of data.
+
+For example:
+```php
+createData();
+
+// assign variable to the data object
+$data->assign('name', 'Neo');
+
+// create template object which will use variables from the data object
+$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl', $data);
+
+// display the template
+$tpl->display();
+```
+
+## Clearing assigned data
+When re-using templates, you may need to clear data assigned in a previous run. Use `clearAllAssign()` to
+clear the values of all assigned variables on data objects, template objects or the Smarty object.
+
+Examples:
+```php
+assign('Name', 'Fred');
+// ...
+$smarty->clearAllAssign();
+
+// using a data object
+$data = $smarty->createData();
+$data->assign('name', 'Neo');
+// ...
+$data->clearAllAssign();
+
+// using a template
+$tplBlue = $smarty->createTemplate('blue.tpl');
+$tplBlue->assign('name', 'The one');
+// ...
+$tplBlue->clearAllAssign();
+```
+
+Note that there it's only useful to clear assigned data if you:
+
+1. repeatedly re-use templates, and
+2. the variables used may change on each repetition
+
+If your script simply runs once and then ends, or you always assign the same variables, clearing assigned data
+is of no use.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/api/variables/config-files.md b/docs/api/variables/config-files.md
index e69de29bb..2989d5059 100644
--- a/docs/api/variables/config-files.md
+++ b/docs/api/variables/config-files.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Loading data from config files
diff --git a/docs/programmers/api-functions/api-template-exists.md b/docs/programmers/api-functions/api-template-exists.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 89c25d9f8..000000000
--- a/docs/programmers/api-functions/api-template-exists.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-templateExists()
-
-checks whether the specified template exists
-
-Description
-===========
-
-bool
-
-templateExists
-
-string
-
-template
-
-It can accept either a path to the template on the filesystem or a
-resource string specifying the template.
-
-This example uses `$_GET['page']` to
-[`{include}`](#language.function.include) a content template. If the
-template does not exist then an error page is displayed instead. First
-the `page_container.tpl`
-
-
-
- {$title}
-
- {include file='page_top.tpl'}
-
- {* include middle content page *}
- {include file=$content_template}
-
- {include file='page_footer.tpl'}
-
-
-
-
-And the php script
-
-
- templateExists($mid_template) ){
- $mid_template = 'page_not_found.tpl';
- }
- $smarty->assign('content_template', $mid_template);
-
- $smarty->display('page_container.tpl');
-
- ?>
-
-
-
-See also [`display()`](#api.display), [`fetch()`](#api.fetch),
-and [`{include}`](#language.function.include)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index 71909647e..ce940ff0b 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ nav:
- 'Rendering a template': 'api/rendering.md'
- 'Using data in templates':
- 'Assigning variables': 'api/variables/assigning.md'
- - 'Loading from config files': 'api/variables/config-files.md'
+ - 'Config files': 'api/variables/config-files.md'
- 'Using streams': 'api/variables/streams.md'
- 'Objects': 'api/variables/objects.md'
- 'Static class methods': 'api/variables/static-class-methods.md'