Template question?

[eluser]WanWizard[/eluser]
There is no definitive guide on how to generate pages, it all depends on your (projects) requirements.

If it's a small site, if the developer has full control, if the development team is small, then PHP in views (or templates) is probably Ok.
If it's a large site, if you have separate backend developers and frontend designers, if the project is built by a large team, then separation of code and presentation is usually required.

When it comes to templates (actually, partials, or sections of a page), Colin's library is quite good. Anther one is Phil Sturgeon's Template library. Both provide the option to generate a page from different sections using a single master layout.
I personally find Colin's library a bit more flexible, as it contains solutions for css and js files as well, and has support for template engines other than CI's internal parser class. It does lack proper theme support, which Phil's library does provide.