diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 76208429..e0372467 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ set(AWE_DOC_FILES
     ${AWE_DOC_DIR}/02-contributing.md
     ${SOURCE_DIR}/LICENSE)
 
+set(AWE_DOC_IMAGES
+    ${AWE_DOC_DIR}/images/widgetlayout1.png
+    ${AWE_DOC_DIR}/images/widgetlayout2.png
+)
+
 set(AWE_SRCS
     ${BUILD_DIR}/awesome.c
     ${BUILD_DIR}/banning.c
@@ -259,6 +264,9 @@ if(GENERATE_DOC)
     file(GLOB_RECURSE AWE_LUA_FILES ${BUILD_DIR}/lib/*.lua)
     file(GLOB_RECURSE AWE_MD_FILES ${AWE_DOC_DIR}/*.md)
 
+    # Copy the images to the build directory
+    file(COPY ${SOURCE_DIR}/docs/images DESTINATION ${AWE_DOC_DIR})
+
     # Run ldoc and make it fail if any warnings are generated. The
     # redirection-magic swaps stdout and stderr and awk exits with a non-zero
     # status if it sees at least one line of input.
@@ -341,7 +349,8 @@ install(DIRECTORY ${SOURCE_DIR}/themes DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DATA_PATH}
     PATTERN "*.lua" EXCLUDE)
 install(DIRECTORY ${BUILD_DIR}/themes DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DATA_PATH}
     PATTERN "*.lua")
-install(FILES ${AWE_DOC_FILES} DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DOC_PATH})
+install(FILES ${AWE_DOC_FILES}  DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DOC_PATH})
+install(FILES ${AWE_DOC_IMAGES} DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DOC_PATH}/images)
 install(FILES "awesome.desktop" DESTINATION ${AWESOME_XSESSION_PATH})
 if(GENERATE_DOC)
     install(DIRECTORY ${BUILD_DIR}/doc DESTINATION ${AWESOME_DOC_PATH})
diff --git a/awesomerc.lua b/awesomerc.lua
index 5fb42d30..23311888 100755
--- a/awesomerc.lua
+++ b/awesomerc.lua
@@ -195,27 +195,24 @@ for s = 1, screen.count() do
     -- Create the wibox
     mywibox[s] = awful.wibox({ position = "top", screen = s })
 
-    -- Widgets that are aligned to the left
-    local left_layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal()
-    left_layout:add(mylauncher)
-    left_layout:add(mytaglist[s])
-    left_layout:add(mypromptbox[s])
-
-    -- Widgets that are aligned to the right
-    local right_layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal()
-    right_layout:add(mykeyboardlayout)
-
-    if s == 1 then right_layout:add(wibox.widget.systray()) end
-    right_layout:add(mytextclock)
-    right_layout:add(mylayoutbox[s])
-
-    -- Now bring it all together (with the tasklist in the middle)
-    local layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal()
-    layout:set_left(left_layout)
-    layout:set_middle(mytasklist[s])
-    layout:set_right(right_layout)
-
-    mywibox[s]:set_widget(layout)
+    -- Add widgets to the wibox
+    mywibox[s]:setup {
+        layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal,
+        { -- Left widgets
+            layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+            mylauncher,
+            mytaglist[s],
+            mypromptbox[s],
+        },
+        mytasklist[s], -- Middle widget
+        { -- Right widgets
+            layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+            mykeyboardlayout,
+            s == 1 and wibox.widget.systray(),
+            mytextclock,
+            mylayoutbox[s],
+        },
+    }
 end
 -- }}}
 
@@ -482,45 +479,42 @@ client.connect_signal("manage", function (c)
     if titlebars_enabled and (c.type == "normal" or c.type == "dialog") then
         -- buttons for the titlebar
         local buttons = awful.util.table.join(
-                awful.button({ }, 1, function()
-                    client.focus = c
-                    c:raise()
-                    awful.mouse.client.move(c)
-                end),
-                awful.button({ }, 3, function()
-                    client.focus = c
-                    c:raise()
-                    awful.mouse.client.resize(c)
-                end)
-                )
+            awful.button({ }, 1, function()
+                client.focus = c
+                c:raise()
+                awful.mouse.client.move(c)
+            end),
+            awful.button({ }, 3, function()
+                client.focus = c
+                c:raise()
+                awful.mouse.client.resize(c)
+            end)
+        )
 
-        -- Widgets that are aligned to the left
-        local left_layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal()
-        left_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.iconwidget(c))
-        left_layout:buttons(buttons)
-
-        -- Widgets that are aligned to the right
-        local right_layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal()
-        right_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.floatingbutton(c))
-        right_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.maximizedbutton(c))
-        right_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.stickybutton(c))
-        right_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.ontopbutton(c))
-        right_layout:add(awful.titlebar.widget.closebutton(c))
-
-        -- The title goes in the middle
-        local middle_layout = wibox.layout.flex.horizontal()
-        local title = awful.titlebar.widget.titlewidget(c)
-        title:set_align("center")
-        middle_layout:add(title)
-        middle_layout:buttons(buttons)
-
-        -- Now bring it all together
-        local layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal()
-        layout:set_left(left_layout)
-        layout:set_right(right_layout)
-        layout:set_middle(middle_layout)
-
-        awful.titlebar(c):set_widget(layout)
+        awful.titlebar(c) : setup {
+            { -- Left
+                awful.titlebar.widget.iconwidget(c),
+                buttons = buttons,
+                layout  = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal
+            },
+            { -- Middle
+                { -- Title
+                    align  = "center",
+                    widget = awful.titlebar.widget.titlewidget(c)
+                },
+                buttons = buttons,
+                layout  = wibox.layout.flex.horizontal
+            },
+            { -- Right
+                awful.titlebar.widget.floatingbutton (c),
+                awful.titlebar.widget.maximizedbutton(c),
+                awful.titlebar.widget.stickybutton   (c),
+                awful.titlebar.widget.ontopbutton    (c),
+                awful.titlebar.widget.closebutton    (c),
+                layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal()
+            },
+            layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal
+        }
     end
 end)
 
diff --git a/docs/03-declarative-layout.md b/docs/03-declarative-layout.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b752439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/03-declarative-layout.md
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+# The declarative layout system
+
+This system provide an alternative to the system used in Awesome 3.5 and is
+inspired by the one once used by Awesome 3.2-3.4 and Qt QML system.
+
+## A simple layout
+
+* Display `my_first_widget` only on screen one
+* Add a background color to `my_third_widget`
+* Dispose in a `wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal` layout
+
+Code:
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        s == 1 and my_first_widget, -- Only display on screen 1
+        my_second_widget,
+        { -- Add a background color/pattern for my_third_widget
+              my_third_widget,
+              bg     = beautiful.bg_focus,
+              widget = wibox.widget.background,
+        },
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+
+
+In this example `s == 1` is an inline expression. In the default `rc.lua`,
+there is an `s` variable represent to define the current screen. Any lua
+logic expression can be used as long as it return a valid widget, or a
+declarative layout, or `nil`.
+
+
+## Define widgets inline and place them
+
+* Create a `wibox.widget.textbox` with various properties
+* Force the textbox size using `wibox.layout.constraint`
+* Add a margin around another textbox
+* Add a `wibox.widget.background` (for visualization)
+
+Code:
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        {
+            -- Force the textbox to always be 300 pixel long
+            {
+                {
+                    markup = "<b>Hello World!</b>",
+                    align  = "center",
+                    widget = wibox.widget.textbox
+                },
+                bg     = "#ff0000",
+                widget = wibox.widget.background,
+            },
+            width    = 300,
+            strategy = "min",
+            layout   = wibox.layout.constraint
+        },
+        {
+            -- Add a border around the background
+            {
+                {
+                    markup = "Foobar",
+                    widget = wibox.widget.textbox
+                },
+                bg     = "#0000ff",
+                widget = wibox.widget.background
+            },
+            left   = 10,
+            right  = 10,
+            top    = 1,
+            bottom = 2,
+            layout = wibox.layout.margin
+        },
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+
+
+Result:
+![Example2 screenshot](../../docs/images/widgetlayout1.png)
+
+
+## Use an `wibox.layout.align` layout
+The `wibox.layout.align` is a little different. While most layouts will
+ignore any `nil` lines, the `align` layout rely on them so `left`, `middle`
+and `right` can be defined
+
+Code:
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        my_textbox1, -- Left
+        nil,         -- Nothing in the middle
+        my_textbox2, -- Right
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+
+
+
+## Define new widgets
+
+New trivial widgets can be created directly in the layout declaration. Here
+is a simple circle widget:
+
+Code:
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        fit    = function(self, context, width, height)
+            return height, height -- A square taking the full height
+        end,
+        draw   = function(self, context, cr, width, height)
+            cr:set_source_rgb(1, 0, 0) -- Red
+            cr:arc(height/2, height/2, height/2, 0, math.pi*2)
+            cr:fill()
+        end,
+        layout = wibox.widget.base.make_widget,
+    }
+
+Result:
+![Example4 screenshot](../../docs/images/widgetlayout2.png)
+
+For more information about how to draw widgets, refer to the `Cairo` api:
+
+* [Path](http://cairographics.org/manual/cairo-Paths.html)
+* [Context](http://cairographics.org/manual/cairo-cairo-t.html)
+* [Pattern](http://cairographics.org/manual/cairo-cairo-pattern-t.html)
+* [transformation](http://cairographics.org/manual/cairo-Transformations.html)
+* [Operator](http://cairographics.org/operators/)
+* [Pango text](https://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/)
+
+
+## Externally defined widgets and layouts
+
+This is useful when the widget is provided by an external module or when it
+requires complex manipulations which would make the declaration unreadable.
+
+Code:
+
+    local tb = wibox.widget.textbox()
+    tb:set_markup("Hello world! ")
+    
+    -- Repeat "tb" 3 times
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        tb,
+        tb,
+        tb,
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+
+
+
+## Accessing widgets
+
+For each widget or container, it is possible to add an `identifier` attribute
+so the widget can be accessed later.
+
+Widgets defined using `setup` can be access by 3 means:
+
+* Avoid the issue by using externally created widgets
+* Use `my_wibox.my_first_widget.my_second_widget` style access
+* Use JavaScript like `my_wibox:get_children_by_id("my_second_widget")[1]`
+
+The first method mixes the imperative and declarative syntax, but makes the code
+less readable. The second is a little verbose and only works if every node in
+the chain have a valid identifier. The last one doesn't require long paths,
+but it is not easy to get a specific instance if multiple widgets have the
+same identifier.
+
+WARNING: The widget identifier must not use reseved name. This include all
+method names, existing widget attributes, `layout` and `widget`. Names should
+also respect the lua variable name policies (case sensitive, alphanumeric and
+underscore characters and non-numeric first character)
+
+Code:
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        {
+            id     = "second",
+            widget = wibox.widget.textbox
+        },
+        {
+            id     = "third",
+            widget = wibox.widget.textbox
+        },
+        id     = "first",
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+    
+    mywibox[s].first.second:set_markup("changed!")
+    mywibox[s]:get_children_by_id("third")[1]:set_markup("Also changed!")
+
+
+
+## Extending the system
+
+This system is very flexible. Each section attribute (the entries with string
+keys) is directly linked to the layout or widget API. When setting the
+imaginary `myproperty`, it will first check if `set_myproperty` exist. If it
+doesn't, it will check if there is a `myproperty` method. Finally, it will
+just set the `mywidget.myproperty` directly in case it is used later or
+catched by a lua `metatable` (operator overload).
+
+Code:
+
+    -- "Monkeypatch" a new function to wibox.widget.textbox to add vicious
+    -- extension support
+    function wibox.widget.textbox:vicious(args)
+        local f = unpack or table.unpack -- Lua 5.1 compat
+        vicious.register(w, f(args))
+    end
+
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        {
+            vicious = {vicious.widgets.cpu, "CPU: $1%", 3},
+            widget  = wibox.widget.textbox
+        },
+        layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
+    }
+
+
+In this example, the system is extended to that the popular
+[Vicious](http://awesome.naquadah.org/wiki/Vicious) extension module can be
+used directly in the layout declaration. This example will update the textbox
+every 3 seconds to show the CPU usage.
+
+
+## Handling sections
+
+The system allows sections to be defined externally, then composed into
+the final layout declaration. Here is an example re-using one of the above
+example:
+
+Code:
+
+    local circle = {
+        fit    = function(self, context, width, height)
+            return height, height -- A square taking the full height
+        end,
+        draw   = function(self, context, cr, width, height)
+            cr:set_source_rgb(1, 0, 0) -- Red
+            cr:arc(height/2, height/2, height/2, 0, math.pi*2)
+            cr:fill()
+        end,
+        layout = wibox.widget.base.make_widget,
+    }
+    
+    -- Define a layout with the imperative syntax
+    local l = wibox.widget.align()
+    
+    -- 3 circle
+    mywibox[s] : setup {
+        circle,
+        circle,
+        circle,
+        l,
+        layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal
+    }
+    
+    -- This can be done instead
+    local three_circle = {layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal}
+    for i=1, 3 do
+        table.insert(three_circle, circle)
+    end
+    
+    mywibox[s] : setup (three_circle)
+
diff --git a/docs/04-new-widgets.md b/docs/04-new-widgets.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b519d855
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/04-new-widgets.md
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# Creating new widget
+
+All widgets have to be generated via this function so that
+the needed signals are added and mouse input handling is set up.
+
+The returned widget will have a `:buttons` member function that can be used to
+register a set of mouse button events with the widget.
+
+To implement your own widget, you can implement some member functions on a
+freshly-created widget. Note that all of these functions should be deterministic
+in the sense that they will show the same behavior if they are repeatedly called
+with the same arguments (same width and height). If your widget is updated and
+needs to change, suitable signals have to be emitted. This will be explained
+later.
+
+The first callback is `:fit`. This function is called to select the size of your
+widget. The arguments to this function is the available space and it should
+return its desired size. Note that this function only provides a hint which is
+not necessarily followed. The widget must also be able to draw itself at
+different sizes than the one requested.
+
+    function widget:fit(context, width, height)
+        -- Find the maximum square available
+        local m = math.min(width, height)
+        return m, m
+    end
+
+The next callback is `:draw`. As the name suggests, this function is called to
+draw the widget. The arguments to this widget are the context that the widget is
+drawn in, the cairo context on which it should be drawn and the widget's size.
+The cairo context is set up in such a way that the widget as its top-left corner
+at (0, 0) and its bottom-right corner at (width, height). In other words, no
+special transformation needs to be done. Note that during this callback a
+suitable clip will already be applied to the cairo context so that this callback
+will not be able to draw outside of the area that was registered for the widget
+by the layout that placed this widget. You should not call `cr:reset_clip()`, as
+redraws will not be handled correctly in this case.
+
+    function widget:draw(context, cr, width, height)
+        cr:move_to(0, 0)
+        cr:line_to(width, height)
+        cr:move_to(0, height)
+        cr:line_to(width, 0)
+        cr:stroke()
+    end
+
+There are two signals configured for a widget. When the result that `:fit` would
+return changes, the `widget::layout_changed` signal has to be emitted. If this
+actually causes layout changes, the affected areas will be redrawn. The other
+signal is `widget::redraw_needed`. This signal signals that `:draw` has to be
+called to redraw the widget, but it is safe to assume that `:fit` does still
+return the same values as before. If in doubt, you can emit both signals to be
+safe.
+
+If your widget only needs to draw something to the screen, the above is all that
+is needed. The following callbacks can be used when implementing layouts which
+place other widgets on the screen.
+
+The `:layout` callback is used to figure out which other widgets should be drawn
+relative to this widget. Note that it is allowed to place widgets outside of the
+extents of your own widget, for example at a negative position or at twice the
+size of this widget. Use this mechanism if your widget needs to draw outside of
+its own extents. If the result of this callback changes,
+`widget::layout_changed` has to be emitted. You can use `:fit_widget` to call
+the `:fit` callback of other widgets. Never call `:fit` directly!  For example,
+if you want to place another widget `child` inside of your widget, you can do it
+like this:
+
+    -- For readability
+    local base = wibox.widget.base
+    function widget:layout(width, height)
+        local result = {}
+        table.insert(result, base.place_widget_at(child, width/2, 0, width/2, height)
+        return result
+    end
+
+Finally, if you want to influence how children are drawn, there are four
+callbacks available that all get similar arguments:
+
+    function widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+    function widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+    function widget:before_draw_child(context, index, child, cr, width, height)
+    function widget:after_draw_child(context, index, child, cr, width, height)
+
+All of these are called with the same arguments as the `:draw()` method. Please
+note that a larger clip will be active during these callbacks that also contains
+the area of all children. These callbacks can be used to influence the way in
+which children are drawn, but they should not cause the drawing to cover a
+different area. As an example, these functions can be used to draw children
+translucently:
+
+    function widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+        cr:push_group()
+    end
+    function widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+        cr:pop_group_to_source()
+        cr:paint_with_alpha(0.5)
+    end
+
+In pseudo-code, the call sequence for the drawing callbacks during a redraw
+looks like this:
+
+    widget:draw(context, cr, width, height)
+    widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+    for child do
+        widget:before_draw_child(context, cr, child_index, child, width, height)
+        cr:save()
+        -- Draw child and all of its children recursively, taking into account the
+        -- position and size given to base.place_widget_at() in :layout().
+        cr:restore()
+        widget:after_draw_child(context, cr, child_index, child, width, height)
+    end
+    widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
diff --git a/docs/config.ld b/docs/config.ld
index 94403fe1..ce738c8e 100644
--- a/docs/config.ld
+++ b/docs/config.ld
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ topics={
     '00-authors.md',
     '01-readme.md',
     '02-contributing.md',
+    '03-declarative-layout.md',
+    '04-new-widgets.md',
 }
 
 -- Setup @client to be an alias for "@tparam client.object"
diff --git a/docs/images/widgetlayout1.png b/docs/images/widgetlayout1.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..30940785
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/widgetlayout1.png differ
diff --git a/docs/images/widgetlayout2.png b/docs/images/widgetlayout2.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ff1b9b5
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/widgetlayout2.png differ
diff --git a/lib/awful/titlebar.lua b/lib/awful/titlebar.lua
index 41ec779b..f259453f 100644
--- a/lib/awful/titlebar.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/titlebar.lua
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ local titlebar = {
     widget = {}
 }
 
+--- Set a declarative widget hierarchy description.
+-- See [The declarative layout system](../documentation/03-declarative-layout.md.html)
+-- @param args An array containing the widgets disposition
+-- @name setup
+-- @class function
+
 --- Show tooltips when hover on titlebar buttons (defaults to 'true')
 titlebar.enable_tooltip = true
 
@@ -108,6 +114,9 @@ local function new(c, args)
     -- Make sure the titlebar has the right colors applied
     bars[position].update_colors()
 
+    -- Handle declarative/recursive widget container
+    ret.setup = base.widget.setup
+
     return ret
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/wibox/init.lua b/lib/wibox/init.lua
index 5952571a..be61fadd 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/init.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/init.lua
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ local sort = require("gears.sort")
 local beautiful = require("beautiful")
 local surface = require("gears.surface")
 local cairo = require("lgi").cairo
+local base = require("wibox.widget.base")
 
 --- This provides widget box windows. Every wibox can also be used as if it were
 -- a drawin. All drawin functions and properties are also available on wiboxes!
@@ -36,6 +37,13 @@ function wibox:set_widget(widget)
     self._drawable:set_widget(widget)
 end
 
+--- Set a declarative widget hierarchy description.
+-- See [The declarative layout system](../documentation/03-declarative-layout.md.html)
+-- @param args An array containing the widgets disposition
+-- @name setup
+-- @class function
+wibox.setup = base.widget.setup
+
 --- Set the background of the wibox
 -- @param c The background to use. This must either be a cairo pattern object,
 --   nil or a string that gears.color() understands.
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/align.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/align.lua
index bc7635cd..95337aa8 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/align.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/align.lua
@@ -171,6 +171,17 @@ function align:get_children()
     return util.from_sparse {self.first, self.second, self.third}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept three children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function align:set_children(children)
+    if not children then return self:reset() end
+    self.first  = children[1]
+    self.second = children[2]
+    self.third  = children[3]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Fit the align layout into the given space. The align layout will
 -- ask for the sum of the sizes of its sub-widgets in its direction
 -- and the largest sized sub widget in the other direction.
@@ -243,6 +254,9 @@ local function get_layout(dir, first, second, third)
     ret:set_second(second)
     ret:set_third(third)
 
+    -- An align layout allow set_children to have empty entries
+    ret.allow_empty_widget = true
+
     return ret
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/constraint.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/constraint.lua
index 32aa06a5..9fd4c1d2 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/constraint.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/constraint.lua
@@ -50,6 +50,14 @@ function constraint:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function constraint:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Set the strategy to use for the constraining. Valid values are 'max',
 -- 'min' or 'exact'. Throws an error on invalid values.
 function constraint:set_strategy(val)
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/fixed.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/fixed.lua
index 291c96e3..0611effd 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/fixed.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/fixed.lua
@@ -110,6 +110,14 @@ function fixed:get_children()
     return self.widgets
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function fixed:set_children(children)
+    if not children then return self:reset() end
+    self.widgets = children
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Replace the first instance of `widget` in the layout with `widget2`
 -- @param widget The widget to replace
 -- @param widget2 The widget to replace `widget` with
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/flex.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/flex.lua
index a6312e71..9c0a4b54 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/flex.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/flex.lua
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ local flex = {}
 -- @name get_children
 -- @class function
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+-- @name set_children
+-- @class function
+
 --- Add some widgets to the given fixed layout
 -- @param layout The layout you are modifying.
 -- @tparam widget ... Widgets that should be added (must at least be one)
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/margin.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/margin.lua
index 1666f85f..e9b97e75 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/margin.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/margin.lua
@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@ function margin:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function margin:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Set all the margins to val.
 function margin:set_margins(val)
     self.left = val
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/mirror.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/mirror.lua
index c98e407f..a0975459 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/mirror.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/mirror.lua
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ function mirror:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function mirror:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Reset this layout. The widget will be removed and the axes reset.
 function mirror:reset()
     self.horizontal = false
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/rotate.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/rotate.lua
index 5d5d3b66..616d2564 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/rotate.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/rotate.lua
@@ -72,6 +72,14 @@ function rotate:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function rotate:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Reset this layout. The widget will be removed and the rotation reset.
 function rotate:reset()
     self.direction = nil
diff --git a/lib/wibox/layout/scroll.lua b/lib/wibox/layout/scroll.lua
index 44165ea5..d443a4a4 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/layout/scroll.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/layout/scroll.lua
@@ -267,6 +267,14 @@ function scroll:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function scroll:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Specify the expand mode that is used for extra space.
 -- @tparam boolean expand If true, the widget is expanded to include the extra
 -- space. If false, the extra space is simply left empty.
diff --git a/lib/wibox/widget/background.lua b/lib/wibox/widget/background.lua
index 8ea11954..a31616a8 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/widget/background.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/widget/background.lua
@@ -101,6 +101,14 @@ function background:get_children()
     return {self.widget}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- This layout only accept one children, all others will be ignored
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function background:set_children(children)
+    self.widget = children and children[1]
+    self:emit_signal("widget::layout_changed")
+end
+
 --- Set the background to use
 function background:set_bg(bg)
     if bg then
diff --git a/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua b/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
index 5e324207..72393144 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/widget/base.lua
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 local object = require("gears.object")
 local cache = require("gears.cache")
 local matrix = require("gears.matrix")
+local util = require("awful.util")
 local setmetatable = setmetatable
 local pairs = pairs
 local type = type
@@ -80,6 +81,14 @@ function base.widget:get_children()
     return {}
 end
 
+--- Replace the layout children
+-- The default implementation does nothing, this must be re-implemented by
+-- all layout and container widgets.
+-- @tparam table children A table composed of valid widgets
+function base.widget:set_children(children)
+    -- Nothing on purpose
+end
+
 -- It could have been merged into `get_all_children`, but it's not necessary
 local function digg_children(ret, tlw)
     for k, w in ipairs(tlw:get_children()) do
@@ -321,126 +330,121 @@ function base.place_widget_at(widget, x, y, width, height)
     return base.place_widget_via_matrix(widget, matrix.create_translate(x, y), width, height)
 end
 
---[[--
-Create a new widget. All widgets have to be generated via this function so that
-the needed signals are added and mouse input handling is set up.
+-- Read the table, separate attributes from widgets
+local function parse_table(t, leave_empty)
+    local keys= {}
+    local max = 0
+    local attributes, widgets = {}, {}
+    for k,v in pairs(t) do
+        if type(k) == "number" then
+            -- As `ipairs` doesn't always work on sparse tables, update the
+            -- maximum
+            if k > max then
+                max = k
+            end
 
-The returned widget will have a :buttons member function that can be used to
-register a set of mouse button events with the widget.
-
-To implement your own widget, you can implement some member functions on a
-freshly-created widget. Note that all of these functions should be deterministic
-in the sense that they will show the same behavior if they are repeatedly called
-with the same arguments (same width and height). If your widget is updated and
-needs to change, suitable signals have to be emitted. This will be explained
-later.
-
-The first callback is :fit. This function is called to select the size of your
-widget. The arguments to this function is the available space and it should
-return its desired size. Note that this function only provides a hint which is
-not necessarily followed. The widget must also be able to draw itself at
-different sizes than the one requested.
-
-    function widget:fit(context, width, height)
-      -- Find the maximum square available
-      local m = math.min(width, height)
-      return m, m
+            widgets[k] = v
+        else
+            attributes[k] = v
+        end
     end
 
-The next callback is :draw. As the name suggests, this function is called to
-draw the widget. The arguments to this widget are the context that the widget is
-drawn in, the cairo context on which it should be drawn and the widget's size.
-The cairo context is set up in such a way that the widget as its top-left corner
-at (0, 0) and its bottom-right corner at (width, height). In other words, no
-special transformation needs to be done. Note that during this callback a
-suitable clip will already be applied to the cairo context so that this callback
-will not be able to draw outside of the area that was registered for the widget
-by the layout that placed this widget. You should not call `cr:reset_clip()`, as
-redraws will not be handled correctly in this case.
-
-    function widget:draw(context, cr, width, height)
-      cr:move_to(0, 0)
-      cr:line_to(width, height)
-      cr:move_to(0, height)
-      cr:line_to(width, 0)
-      cr:stroke()
+    -- Pack the sparse table if the container doesn't support sparse tables
+    if not leave_empty then
+        widgets = util.table.from_sparse(widgets)
+        max = #widgets
     end
 
-There are two signals configured for a widget. When the result that :fit would
-return changes, the `widget::layout_changed` signal has to be emitted. If this
-actually causes layout changes, the affected areas will be redrawn. The other
-signal is `widget::redraw_needed`. This signal signals that :draw has to be
-called to redraw the widget, but it is safe to assume that :fit does still
-return the same values as before. If in doubt, you can emit both signals to be
-safe.
+    return max, attributes, widgets
+end
 
-If your widget only needs to draw something to the screen, the above is all that
-is needed. The following callbacks can be used when implementing layouts which
-place other widgets on the screen.
+-- Recursively build a container from a declarative table
+local function drill(ids, content)
+    if not content then return end
 
-The :layout callback is used to figure out which other widgets should be drawn
-relative to this widget. Note that it is allowed to place widgets outside of the
-extents of your own widget, for example at a negative position or at twice the
-size of this widget. Use this mechanism if your widget needs to draw outside of
-its own extents. If the result of this callback changes,
-`widget::layout_changed` has to be emitted. You can use @{fit_widget} to call
-the `:fit` callback of other widgets. Never call `:fit` directly!  For example,
-if you want to place another widget `child` inside of your widget, you can do it
-like this:
+    -- Alias `widget` to `layout` as they are handled the same way
+    content.layout = content.layout or content.widget
 
-    -- For readability
-    local base = wibox.widget.base
-    function widget:layout(width, height)
-      local result = {}
-      table.insert(result, base.place_widget_at(child, width/2, 0, width/2, height)
-      return result
+    -- Make sure the layout is not indexed on a function
+    local layout = type(content.layout) == "function" and  content.layout() or content.layout
+
+    -- Create layouts based on metatable __call
+    local l = layout.is_widget and layout or layout()
+
+    -- Get the number of children widgets (including nil widgets)
+    local max, attributes, widgets = parse_table(content, l.allow_empty_widget)
+
+    -- Get the optional identifier to create a virtual widget tree to place
+    -- in an "access table" to be able to retrieve the widget
+    local id = attributes.id
+
+    -- Clear the internal attributes
+    attributes.id, attributes.layout, attributes.widget = nil, nil, nil
+
+    for k = 1, max do
+        -- ipairs cannot be used on sparse tables
+        local v, id2, e = widgets[k], id, nil
+        if v then
+            -- It is another declarative container, parse it
+            if not v.is_widget then
+                e, id2 = drill(ids, v)
+                widgets[k] = e
+            end
+
+            -- Place the widget in the access table
+            if id2 then
+                l  [id2] = e
+                ids[id2] = ids[id2] or {}
+                table.insert(ids[id2], e)
+            end
+        end
     end
 
-Finally, if you want to influence how children are drawn, there are four
-callbacks available that all get similar arguments:
+    -- Replace all children (if any) with the new ones
+    l:set_children(widgets)
 
-    function widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
-    function widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
-    function widget:before_draw_child(context, index, child, cr, width, height)
-    function widget:after_draw_child(context, index, child, cr, width, height)
-
-All of these are called with the same arguments as the :draw() method. Please
-note that a larger clip will be active during these callbacks that also contains
-the area of all children. These callbacks can be used to influence the way in
-which children are drawn, but they should not cause the drawing to cover a
-different area. As an example, these functions can be used to draw children
-translucently:
-
-    function widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
-      cr:push_group()
-    end
-    function widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
-      cr:pop_group_to_source()
-      cr:paint_with_alpha(0.5)
+    -- Set layouts attributes
+    for attr, val in pairs(attributes) do
+        if l["set_"..attr] then
+            l["set_"..attr](l, val)
+        elseif type(l[attr]) == "function" then
+            l[attr](l, val)
+        else
+            l[attr] = val
+        end
     end
 
-In pseudo-code, the call sequence for the drawing callbacks during a redraw
-looks like this:
+    return l, id
+end
 
-    widget:draw(context, cr, width, height)
-    widget:before_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
-    for child do
-        widget:before_draw_child(context, cr, child_index, child, width, height)
-        cr:save()
-        -- Draw child and all of its children recursively, taking into account the
-        -- position and size given to base.place_widget_at() in :layout().
-        cr:restore()
-        widget:after_draw_child(context, cr, child_index, child, width, height)
+-- Only available when the declarative system is used
+local function get_children_by_id(self, name)
+    return self._by_id[name] or {}
+end
+
+--- Set a declarative widget hierarchy description.
+-- See [The declarative layout system](../documentation/03-declarative-layout.md.html)
+-- @param args An array containing the widgets disposition
+function base.widget:setup(args)
+    local f,ids = self.set_widget or self.add or self.set_first,{}
+    local w, id = drill(ids, args)
+    f(self,w)
+    if id then
+        -- Avoid being dropped by wibox metatable -> drawin
+        rawset(self, id, w)
     end
-    widget:after_draw_children(context, cr, width, height)
+    rawset(self, "_by_id", ids)
+    rawset(self, "get_children_by_id", get_children_by_id)
+end
 
-@param proxy If this is set, the returned widget will be a proxy for this
-  widget. It will be equivalent to this widget. This means it
-  looks the same on the screen.
-@tparam[opt] string widget_name Name of the widget.  If not set, it will be
-  set automatically via `gears.object.modulename`.
-@see fit_widget
---]]--
+--- Create an empty widget skeleton
+-- See [Creating new widgets](../documentation/04-new-widget.md.html)
+-- @param proxy If this is set, the returned widget will be a proxy for this
+--   widget. It will be equivalent to this widget. This means it
+--   looks the same on the screen.
+-- @tparam[opt] string widget_name Name of the widget.  If not set, it will be
+--   set automatically via `gears.object.modulename`.
+-- @see fit_widget
 function base.make_widget(proxy, widget_name)
     local ret = object()
 
@@ -470,6 +474,9 @@ function base.make_widget(proxy, widget_name)
     -- Widget is fully opaque
     ret.opacity = 1
 
+    -- Differentiate tables from widgets
+    ret.is_widget = true
+
     -- Size is not restricted/forced
     ret._forced_width = nil
     ret._forced_height = nil