Backbone "Layout" View inspired by https://github.com/tbranyen/backbone.layoutmanager

gistfile1.js

Base.TemplateContext = {};

Base.Views.Layout = Backbone.View.extend({

    initialize: function() {
        this.setViews(_.extend({}, this.views, this.options.views));
        if (this.options.template) {
            this.template = this.options.template;
        }
        this.templateContext = _.extend({}, Base.TemplateContext, this.templateContext);
        if (this.options.templateContext) {
            _.extend(this.templateContext, this.options.templateContext);
        }
    },

    templateContext: {},

    setViews: function(views) {
        _.extend(this.views, views);
    },

    views: {},

    render: function() {
        this.$el.html(Mustache.render(this.template, this.templateContext));
        this.delegateEvents();
        _.each(this.views, function(view, key) {
            this.$el.find(key).html(view.render().el);
        }, this);
        return this;
    }

});

// example extension
Base.Views.ToolbarView = Base.Views.Layout.extend({

    render: function() {
        Base.Views.Layout.prototype.render.call(this);
        // jquery plugin stuff
        return this;
    }

});