{literal} tags allow a block of data to be taken literally. This is typically used around Javascript or stylesheet blocks where {curly braces} would interfere with the template delimiter syntax. Anything within {literal}{/literal} tags is not interpreted, but displayed as-is. If you need template tags embedded in a {literal} block, consider using {ldelim}{rdelim} to escape the individual delimiters instead.

<script>
   // the following braces are ignored by Smarty
   // since they are surrounded by whitespace
   function myFoo {
     alert('Foo!');
   }
   // this one will need literal escapement
   {literal}
     function myBar {alert('Bar!');}
   {/literal}
</script>

  

See also {ldelim} {rdelim} and the escaping Smarty parsing page.