+## variables
+
+ **pinopress** makes extensive use of **gnu envsubst** so in each template, you can use variables that will be substituted in on build. variables can be used in both templates and blog articles. Here's a list of some that you can use:
+
+### global
+
+`$SITEURL` - the SITEURL variable you set in the pinopress config
+
+`$USERGLOBAL1` - global variable you can use however you want
+
+`$USERGLOBAL2` - a second user defined global variable
+
+### article only
+
+`$ARTICLE_TITLE` - title of article, as set in article header
+
+`$PUBLISHED_DATE` - the date/time the article was published, as set in the article header
+
+`$DESCRIPTION` - brief description of the blog post
+
+`$USERLOCAL1` - article specific variable you can use for whatever you want
+
+`$USERLOCAL2` - another user local variable
+
+## mounts
+
+mounts are the **pinopress** solution to html includes. to include any file from the template directory, use the following syntax:
+```
+<!-- MOUNT_[NAMEOFFILE] -->
+```
+note that the name of file is without any extensions and in all caps. also, mounts are **not** expanded recursively.
+
+**pinopress** also has the following builtin mounts that are used internally, prefixed by an underscore:
+```
+<!-- _MOUNT_ARTICLECONTENT -->
+<!-- _MOUNT_ROLLINGITEM -->
+<!-- _MOUNT_ARCHIVEITEM -->
+<!-- _MOUNT_FEEDITEM -->
+```
+