diff --git a/syntax.php b/syntax.php
index f460c97..8df6ac7 100644
--- a/syntax.php
+++ b/syntax.php
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/syntax/AbstractSyntax.php');
 require_once(__DIR__ . '/syntax/files.php');
 
 /**
diff --git a/syntax/AbstractSyntax.php b/syntax/AbstractSyntax.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aa0675
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syntax/AbstractSyntax.php
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+<?php
+
+use dokuwiki\Extension\SyntaxPlugin;
+use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Crawler;
+use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Output;
+use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Path;
+
+/**
+ * LuxTools Plugin: Abstract base class for file-listing syntax handlers.
+ *
+ * Provides shared functionality for directory, files, and images syntax.
+ */
+abstract class syntax_plugin_luxtools_abstract extends SyntaxPlugin
+{
+    /**
+     * Returns the syntax keyword (e.g., 'files', 'directory', 'images').
+     * Used for pattern matching and plugin registration.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    abstract protected function getSyntaxKeyword(): string;
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the default parameters for this syntax handler.
+     * Will be merged with the base defaults.
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    protected function getDefaultParams(): array
+    {
+        return [];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Process the parsed path/pattern. Override to customize path handling.
+     *
+     * @param string $path The cleaned path from the syntax
+     * @return array Data to be passed to render()
+     */
+    abstract protected function processPath(string $path): array;
+
+    /**
+     * Perform the actual rendering. Override in each handler.
+     *
+     * @param string $format Output format (xhtml, odt, etc.)
+     * @param \Doku_Renderer $renderer The renderer instance
+     * @param array $pathData Path data from processPath()
+     * @param array $params Parsed parameters
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    abstract protected function doRender(string $format, \Doku_Renderer $renderer, array $pathData, array $params): bool;
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function getType()
+    {
+        return 'substition';
+    }
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function getPType()
+    {
+        return 'block';
+    }
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function getSort()
+    {
+        return 222;
+    }
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function connectTo($mode)
+    {
+        $keyword = $this->getSyntaxKeyword();
+        $pattern = '\{\{' . $keyword . '>.+?\}\}';
+        $this->Lexer->addSpecialPattern($pattern, $mode, 'plugin_luxtools_' . $keyword);
+    }
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
+    {
+        global $INPUT;
+
+        // Do not allow the syntax in discussion plugin comments
+        if (!$this->getConf('allow_in_comments') && $INPUT->has('comment')) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $keyword = $this->getSyntaxKeyword();
+        $match = substr($match, strlen('{{' . $keyword . '>'), -2);
+        [$path, $flags] = array_pad(explode('&', $match, 2), 2, '');
+
+        $params = $this->parseFlags($flags);
+        $pathData = $this->processPath($path);
+
+        return ['pathData' => $pathData, 'params' => $params];
+    }
+
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
+    {
+        if ($data === false) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if ($format !== 'xhtml' && $format !== 'odt') {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $pathData = $data['pathData'];
+        $params = $data['params'];
+
+        // Disable caching if requested
+        if ($params['cache'] === 0) {
+            $renderer->nocache();
+        }
+
+        return $this->doRender($format, $renderer, $pathData, $params);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parse flags string into parameters array.
+     *
+     * @param string $flags The flags string from the syntax
+     * @return array Parsed parameters
+     */
+    protected function parseFlags(string $flags): array
+    {
+        // Base defaults shared by all handlers
+        $baseDefaults = [
+            'sort' => 'name',
+            'order' => 'asc',
+            'style' => 'list',
+            'tableheader' => 0,
+            'recursive' => 0,
+            'titlefile' => '_title.txt',
+            'cache' => 0,
+            'randlinks' => 0,
+            'showsize' => 0,
+            'showdate' => 0,
+            'listsep' => ', ',
+        ];
+
+        // Merge with handler-specific defaults
+        $params = array_merge($baseDefaults, $this->getDefaultParams());
+
+        // Load default config options and combine with provided flags
+        $flags = $this->getConf('defaults') . '&' . $flags;
+        $flagList = explode('&', $flags);
+
+        foreach ($flagList as $flag) {
+            if (empty(trim($flag))) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            [$name, $value] = sexplode('=', $flag, 2, '');
+            $params[trim($name)] = trim(trim($value), '"'); // quotes can be used to keep whitespace
+        }
+
+        return $params;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get path info with error handling.
+     *
+     * @param string $basePath The base path to resolve
+     * @param \Doku_Renderer $renderer The renderer for error output
+     * @return array|false Path info array or false on error
+     */
+    protected function getPathInfoSafe(string $basePath, \Doku_Renderer $renderer)
+    {
+        try {
+            $pathHelper = new Path($this->getConf('paths'));
+            return $pathHelper->getPathInfo($basePath);
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            $this->renderError($renderer, 'error_outsidejail');
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create and configure a Crawler instance.
+     *
+     * @param array $params The parameters array
+     * @return Crawler
+     */
+    protected function createCrawler(array $params): Crawler
+    {
+        $crawler = new Crawler($this->getConf('extensions'));
+        $crawler->setSortBy($params['sort']);
+        $crawler->setSortReverse($params['order'] === 'desc');
+        return $crawler;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Render an error message.
+     *
+     * @param \Doku_Renderer $renderer The renderer
+     * @param string $langKey The language key for the error message
+     */
+    protected function renderError(\Doku_Renderer $renderer, string $langKey): void
+    {
+        $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang($langKey) . ']');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Separate a path into base directory and pattern.
+     *
+     * @param string $path The full path with pattern
+     * @return array [base, pattern]
+     */
+    protected function separatePathAndPattern(string $path): array
+    {
+        $path = Path::cleanPath($path, false);
+        $parts = explode('/', $path);
+        $pattern = array_pop($parts);
+        $base = implode('/', $parts) . '/';
+        return [$base, $pattern];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/syntax/directory.php b/syntax/directory.php
index 84a568b..2b8a9ec 100644
--- a/syntax/directory.php
+++ b/syntax/directory.php
@@ -1,111 +1,41 @@
 <?php
 
-use dokuwiki\Extension\SyntaxPlugin;
-use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Crawler;
 use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Output;
 use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Path;
 
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/AbstractSyntax.php');
+
 /**
  * LuxTools Plugin: Directory syntax.
  *
  * Lists the direct children (folders and files) of a given path.
  * Always renders as a table.
  */
-class syntax_plugin_luxtools_directory extends SyntaxPlugin
+class syntax_plugin_luxtools_directory extends syntax_plugin_luxtools_abstract
 {
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getType()
+    protected function getSyntaxKeyword(): string
     {
-        return 'substition';
+        return 'directory';
     }
 
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getPType()
+    protected function processPath(string $path): array
     {
-        return 'block';
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getSort()
-    {
-        return 222;
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function connectTo($mode)
-    {
-        $this->Lexer->addSpecialPattern('\{\{directory>.+?\}\}', $mode, 'plugin_luxtools_directory');
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
-    {
-        global $INPUT;
-
-        // do not allow the syntax in discussion plugin comments
-        if (!$this->getConf('allow_in_comments') && $INPUT->has('comment')) {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        $match = substr($match, strlen('{{directory>'), -2);
-        [$path, $flags] = explode('&', $match, 2);
-
-        // load default config options
-        $flags = $this->getConf('defaults') . '&' . $flags;
-        $flags = explode('&', $flags);
-
-        $params = [
-            'sort' => 'name',
-            'order' => 'asc',
-            'style' => 'list',
-            'tableheader' => 0,
-            'recursive' => 0,
-            'titlefile' => '_title.txt',
-            'cache' => 0,
-            'randlinks' => 0,
-            'showsize' => 0,
-            'showdate' => 0,
-            'listsep' => ', ',
-        ];
-
-        foreach ($flags as $flag) {
-            [$name, $value] = sexplode('=', $flag, 2, '');
-            $params[trim($name)] = trim(trim($value), '"'); // quotes can be used to keep whitespace
-        }
-
-        // directory path (no glob/pattern)
+        // Directory path (no glob/pattern)
         $path = Path::cleanPath($path, true);
-
-        return [$path, $params];
+        return ['path' => $path];
     }
 
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
+    protected function doRender(string $format, \Doku_Renderer $renderer, array $pathData, array $params): bool
     {
-        if ($data === false) return false;
-        [$path, $params] = $data;
-
-        if ($format != 'xhtml' && $format != 'odt') {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        // disable caching
-        if ($params['cache'] === 0) {
-            $renderer->nocache();
-        }
-
-        try {
-            $pathHelper = new Path($this->getConf('paths'));
-            $pathInfo = $pathHelper->getPathInfo($path);
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_outsidejail') . ']');
+        $pathInfo = $this->getPathInfoSafe($pathData['path'], $renderer);
+        if ($pathInfo === false) {
             return true;
         }
 
-        $crawler = new Crawler($this->getConf('extensions'));
-        $crawler->setSortBy($params['sort']);
-        $crawler->setSortReverse($params['order'] === 'desc');
-
+        $crawler = $this->createCrawler($params);
         $items = $crawler->listDirectory(
             $pathInfo['root'],
             $pathInfo['local'],
@@ -113,7 +43,7 @@ class syntax_plugin_luxtools_directory extends SyntaxPlugin
         );
 
         if ($items == []) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_nomatch') . ']');
+            $this->renderError($renderer, 'error_nomatch');
             return true;
         }
 
diff --git a/syntax/files.php b/syntax/files.php
index b9797c9..e9bc104 100644
--- a/syntax/files.php
+++ b/syntax/files.php
@@ -1,124 +1,48 @@
 <?php
 
-use dokuwiki\Extension\SyntaxPlugin;
-use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Crawler;
 use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Output;
-use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Path;
+
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/AbstractSyntax.php');
 
 /**
  * LuxTools Plugin: Files syntax.
  *
  * Lists files matching a given glob pattern.
  */
-class syntax_plugin_luxtools_files extends SyntaxPlugin
+class syntax_plugin_luxtools_files extends syntax_plugin_luxtools_abstract
 {
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getType()
+    protected function getSyntaxKeyword(): string
     {
-        return 'substition';
+        return 'files';
     }
 
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getPType()
+    protected function processPath(string $path): array
     {
-        return 'block';
+        [$base, $pattern] = $this->separatePathAndPattern($path);
+        return ['base' => $base, 'pattern' => $pattern];
     }
 
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getSort()
+    protected function doRender(string $format, \Doku_Renderer $renderer, array $pathData, array $params): bool
     {
-        return 222;
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function connectTo($mode)
-    {
-        $this->Lexer->addSpecialPattern('\{\{files>.+?\}\}', $mode, 'plugin_luxtools_files');
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
-    {
-        global $INPUT;
-
-        // do not allow the syntax in discussion plugin comments
-        if (!$this->getConf('allow_in_comments') && $INPUT->has('comment')) {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        $match = substr($match, strlen('{{files>'), -2);
-        [$path, $flags] = explode('&', $match, 2);
-
-        // load default config options
-        $flags = $this->getConf('defaults') . '&' . $flags;
-        $flags = explode('&', $flags);
-
-        $params = [
-            'sort' => 'name',
-            'order' => 'asc',
-            'style' => 'list',
-            'tableheader' => 0,
-            'recursive' => 0,
-            'titlefile' => '_title.txt',
-            'cache' => 0,
-            'randlinks' => 0,
-            'showsize' => 0,
-            'showdate' => 0,
-            'listsep' => ', ',
-        ];
-        foreach ($flags as $flag) {
-            [$name, $value] = sexplode('=', $flag, 2, '');
-            $params[trim($name)] = trim(trim($value), '"'); // quotes can be use to keep whitespace
-        }
-
-        // separate path and pattern
-        $path = Path::cleanPath($path, false);
-        $parts = explode('/', $path);
-        $pattern = array_pop($parts);
-        $base = implode('/', $parts) . '/';
-
-        return [$base, $pattern, $params];
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Create output
-     */
-    public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
-    {
-        [$base, $pattern, $params] = $data;
-
-        if ($format != 'xhtml' && $format != 'odt') {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        // disable caching
-        if ($params['cache'] === 0) {
-            $renderer->nocache();
-        }
-
-        try {
-            $pathHelper = new Path($this->getConf('paths'));
-            $pathInfo = $pathHelper->getPathInfo($base);
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_outsidejail') . ']');
+        $pathInfo = $this->getPathInfoSafe($pathData['base'], $renderer);
+        if ($pathInfo === false) {
             return true;
         }
 
-        $crawler = new Crawler($this->getConf('extensions'));
-        $crawler->setSortBy($params['sort']);
-        $crawler->setSortReverse($params['order'] === 'desc');
-
+        $crawler = $this->createCrawler($params);
         $result = $crawler->crawl(
             $pathInfo['root'],
             $pathInfo['local'],
-            $pattern,
+            $pathData['pattern'],
             $params['recursive'],
             $params['titlefile']
         );
 
-        // if we got nothing back, display a message
         if ($result == []) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_nomatch') . ']');
+            $this->renderError($renderer, 'error_nomatch');
             return true;
         }
 
diff --git a/syntax/images.php b/syntax/images.php
index a870d66..02b66f9 100644
--- a/syntax/images.php
+++ b/syntax/images.php
@@ -1,113 +1,55 @@
 <?php
 
-use dokuwiki\Extension\SyntaxPlugin;
-use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Crawler;
 use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Output;
-use dokuwiki\plugin\luxtools\Path;
+
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/AbstractSyntax.php');
 
 /**
  * LuxTools Plugin: Image gallery syntax.
  *
  * Renders a thumbnail gallery of images matching a glob pattern.
  */
-class syntax_plugin_luxtools_images extends SyntaxPlugin
+class syntax_plugin_luxtools_images extends syntax_plugin_luxtools_abstract
 {
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getType()
+    protected function getSyntaxKeyword(): string
     {
-        return 'substition';
+        return 'images';
     }
 
     /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getPType()
+    protected function getDefaultParams(): array
     {
-        return 'block';
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function getSort()
-    {
-        return 222;
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function connectTo($mode)
-    {
-        $this->Lexer->addSpecialPattern('\{\{images>.+?\}\}', $mode, 'plugin_luxtools_images');
-    }
-
-    /** @inheritdoc */
-    public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
-    {
-        global $INPUT;
-
-        // do not allow the syntax in discussion plugin comments
-        if (!$this->getConf('allow_in_comments') && $INPUT->has('comment')) {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        $match = substr($match, strlen('{{images>'), -2);
-        [$path, $flags] = explode('&', $match, 2);
-
-        // load default config options
-        $flags = $this->getConf('defaults') . '&' . $flags;
-        $flags = explode('&', $flags);
-
-        $params = [
-            'sort' => 'name',
-            'order' => 'asc',
-            'recursive' => 0,
-            'titlefile' => '_title.txt',
-            'cache' => 0,
-            'randlinks' => 0,
+        // Images syntax doesn't use some of the common params
+        return [
+            'style' => null,
+            'tableheader' => null,
+            'showsize' => null,
+            'showdate' => null,
+            'listsep' => null,
         ];
-
-        foreach ($flags as $flag) {
-            [$name, $value] = sexplode('=', $flag, 2, '');
-            $params[trim($name)] = trim(trim($value), '"'); // quotes can be use to keep whitespace
-        }
-
-        // separate path and pattern
-        $path = Path::cleanPath($path, false);
-        $parts = explode('/', $path);
-        $pattern = array_pop($parts);
-        $base = implode('/', $parts) . '/';
-
-        return [$base, $pattern, $params];
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Create output
-     */
-    public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    protected function processPath(string $path): array
     {
-        [$base, $pattern, $params] = $data;
+        [$base, $pattern] = $this->separatePathAndPattern($path);
+        return ['base' => $base, 'pattern' => $pattern];
+    }
 
-        if ($format != 'xhtml' && $format != 'odt') {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        // disable caching
-        if ($params['cache'] === 0) {
-            $renderer->nocache();
-        }
-
-        try {
-            $pathHelper = new Path($this->getConf('paths'));
-            $pathInfo = $pathHelper->getPathInfo($base);
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_outsidejail') . ']');
+    /** @inheritdoc */
+    protected function doRender(string $format, \Doku_Renderer $renderer, array $pathData, array $params): bool
+    {
+        $pathInfo = $this->getPathInfoSafe($pathData['base'], $renderer);
+        if ($pathInfo === false) {
             return true;
         }
 
-        $crawler = new Crawler($this->getConf('extensions'));
-        $crawler->setSortBy($params['sort']);
-        $crawler->setSortReverse($params['order'] === 'desc');
-
+        $crawler = $this->createCrawler($params);
         $result = $crawler->crawl(
             $pathInfo['root'],
             $pathInfo['local'],
-            $pattern,
+            $pathData['pattern'],
             $params['recursive'],
             $params['titlefile']
         );
@@ -115,9 +57,8 @@ class syntax_plugin_luxtools_images extends SyntaxPlugin
         $items = $this->flattenResultTree($result);
         $items = $this->filterImages($items);
 
-        // if we got nothing back, display a message
         if ($items == []) {
-            $renderer->cdata('[n/a: ' . $this->getLang('error_nomatch') . ']');
+            $this->renderError($renderer, 'error_nomatch');
             return true;
         }