diff --git a/src/Render/FriendicaSmarty.php b/src/Render/FriendicaSmarty.php
index c6dcef429b..50282c38eb 100644
--- a/src/Render/FriendicaSmarty.php
+++ b/src/Render/FriendicaSmarty.php
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class FriendicaSmarty extends Smarty
 
 	public $filename;
 
-	function __construct(string $theme, array $theme_info)
+	public function __construct(string $theme, array $theme_info, string $work_dir)
 	{
 		parent::__construct();
 
@@ -46,13 +46,28 @@ class FriendicaSmarty extends Smarty
 
 		$template_dirs = $template_dirs + ['base' => 'view/' . self::SMARTY3_TEMPLATE_FOLDER . '/'];
 		$this->setTemplateDir($template_dirs);
+		
+		$work_dir = rtrim($work_dir, '/');
 
-		$this->setCompileDir('view/smarty3/compiled/');
-		$this->setConfigDir('view/smarty3/');
-		$this->setCacheDir('view/smarty3/');
+		$this->setCompileDir($work_dir . '/compiled');
+		$this->setConfigDir($work_dir . '/');
+		$this->setCacheDir($work_dir . '/');
 
-		$this->left_delimiter = Renderer::getTemplateLeftDelimiter('smarty3');
-		$this->right_delimiter = Renderer::getTemplateRightDelimiter('smarty3');
+		/*
+		 * Enable sub-directory splitting for reducing directory descriptor
+		 * size. The default behavior is to put all compiled/cached files into
+		 * one single directory. Under Linux and EXT4 (and maybe other FS) this
+		 * will increase the descriptor's size (which contains information
+		 * about entries inside the described directory. If the descriptor is
+		 * getting to big, the system will slow down as it has to read the
+		 * whole directory descriptor all over again (unless you have tons of
+		 * RAM available + have enabled caching inode tables (aka.
+		 * "descriptors"). Still it won't hurt you.
+		 */
+		$this->setUseSubDirs(true);
+
+		$this->left_delimiter  = Renderer::getTemplateLeftDelimiter();
+		$this->right_delimiter = Renderer::getTemplateRightDelimiter();
 
 		$this->escape_html = true;
 
diff --git a/src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php b/src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php
index c64fd29e52..9fe3bf9883 100644
--- a/src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php
+++ b/src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php
@@ -46,23 +46,11 @@ final class FriendicaSmartyEngine extends TemplateEngine
 	{
 		$this->theme = $theme;
 		$this->theme_info = $theme_info;
-		$this->smarty = new FriendicaSmarty($this->theme, $this->theme_info);
+		$work_dir = DI::config()->get('smarty3', 'config_dir');
+		$this->smarty = new FriendicaSmarty($this->theme, $this->theme_info, $work_dir);
 
-		/*
-		 * Enable sub-directory splitting for reducing directory descriptor
-		 * size. The default behavior is to put all compiled/cached files into
-		 * one single directory. Under Linux and EXT4 (and maybe other FS) this
-		 * will increase the descriptor's size (which contains information
-		 * about entries inside the described directory. If the descriptor is
-		 * getting to big, the system will slow down as it has to read the
-		 * whole directory descriptor all over again (unless you have tons of
-		 * RAM available + have enabled caching inode tables (aka.
-		 * "descriptors"). Still it won't hurt you.
-		 */
-		$this->smarty->setUseSubDirs(true);
-
-		if (!is_writable(DI::basePath() . '/view/smarty3')) {
-			$admin_message = DI::l10n()->t('The folder view/smarty3/ must be writable by webserver.');
+		if (!is_writable($work_dir)) {
+			$admin_message = DI::l10n()->t('The folder %s must be writable by webserver.', $work_dir);
 			DI::logger()->critical($admin_message);
 			$message = DI::app()->isSiteAdmin() ?
 				$admin_message :
diff --git a/static/defaults.config.php b/static/defaults.config.php
index 7e34ae66e7..70b0af7810 100644
--- a/static/defaults.config.php
+++ b/static/defaults.config.php
@@ -701,5 +701,10 @@ return [
 		// ap_log_failure (Boolean)
 		// Logs every ActivityPub activity that couldn't be compacted
 		'ap_log_failure' => false,
-	]
+	],
+	'smarty3' => [
+		// config_dir (String)
+		// Base working directory for the templating engine, must be writeable by the webserver user
+		'config_dir' => 'view/smarty3',
+	],
 ];
diff --git a/view/lang/C/messages.po b/view/lang/C/messages.po
index fadc91591d..f448b62a61 100644
--- a/view/lang/C/messages.po
+++ b/view/lang/C/messages.po
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: 2022.09-dev\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2022-08-08 02:12-0400\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2022-08-08 12:31-0400\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
@@ -3246,206 +3246,206 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Could not connect to database."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:428
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:428
 #: src/Module/Settings/Display.php:182
 msgid "Monday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:429
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:429
 msgid "Tuesday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:430
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:430
 msgid "Wednesday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:431
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:431
 msgid "Thursday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:432
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:432
 msgid "Friday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:433
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:433
 msgid "Saturday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:402 src/Model/Event.php:427
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:403 src/Model/Event.php:427
 #: src/Module/Settings/Display.php:182
 msgid "Sunday"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:448
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:448
 msgid "January"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:449
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:449
 msgid "February"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:450
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:450
 msgid "March"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:451
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:451
 msgid "April"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:439
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:439
 msgid "May"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:452
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:452
 msgid "June"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:453
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:453
 msgid "July"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:454
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:454
 msgid "August"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:455
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:455
 msgid "September"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:456
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:456
 msgid "October"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:457
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:457
 msgid "November"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:406 src/Model/Event.php:458
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:407 src/Model/Event.php:458
 msgid "December"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:420
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:420
 msgid "Mon"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:421
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:421
 msgid "Tue"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:422
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:422
 msgid "Wed"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:423
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:423
 msgid "Thu"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:424
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:424
 msgid "Fri"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:425
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:425
 msgid "Sat"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:421 src/Model/Event.php:419
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:422 src/Model/Event.php:419
 msgid "Sun"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:435
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:435
 msgid "Jan"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:436
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:436
 msgid "Feb"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:437
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:437
 msgid "Mar"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:438
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:438
 msgid "Apr"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:440
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:440
 msgid "Jun"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:441
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:441
 msgid "Jul"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:442
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:442
 msgid "Aug"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426
 msgid "Sep"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:444
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:444
 msgid "Oct"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:445
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:445
 msgid "Nov"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:425 src/Model/Event.php:446
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:426 src/Model/Event.php:446
 msgid "Dec"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:444
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:445
 msgid "poke"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:444
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:445
 msgid "poked"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:445
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:446
 msgid "ping"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:445
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:446
 msgid "pinged"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:446
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:447
 msgid "prod"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:446
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:447
 msgid "prodded"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:447
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:448
 msgid "slap"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:447
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:448
 msgid "slapped"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:448
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:449
 msgid "finger"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:448
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:449
 msgid "fingered"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:449
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:450
 msgid "rebuff"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Core/L10n.php:449
+#: src/Core/L10n.php:450
 msgid "rebuffed"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: src/Core/Renderer.php:89 src/Core/Renderer.php:118 src/Core/Renderer.php:145
-#: src/Core/Renderer.php:179 src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php:69
+#: src/Core/Renderer.php:179 src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php:57
 msgid ""
 "Friendica can't display this page at the moment, please contact the "
 "administrator."
@@ -11051,8 +11051,9 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "stopped following"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php:65
-msgid "The folder view/smarty3/ must be writable by webserver."
+#: src/Render/FriendicaSmartyEngine.php:53
+#, php-format
+msgid "The folder %s must be writable by webserver."
 msgstr ""
 
 #: src/Security/Authentication.php:226