Constructing a template

[culinarykingdom]

I joined this forum just to ask a stupid question.

Most of our site was done by hand coding with the assistance of Namo WebEditor 5.5 and is basically self-taught. We did not like the templates that came with the program.

I have combed this forum for how to make a template so changes in the menu/nav bar, etc. will be reflected on all 68 pages without having to do it manually.

Since almost everyone seems to do this, I must be overlooking something OBVIOUS!

I thought it was CSS, but its battle cry is design, not "content."

Is it a script? Why can't I just refer to another document and change the one document?

We are in the middle of a major design change of the home page, inclusing top nav bar drop down menu instead of the side nav bar. We intend to eventually convert to CSS versus table design, etc.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Dawn

[leonievs]

The HTML editor (WYSIWYG) Dreamweaver has a template option in it...
Other sites also sometimes use for example PHP to have the template effect.

Leonie

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[paulhiles]

Originally Posted by culinarykingdom

I have combed this forum for how to make a template so changes in the menu/nav bar, etc. will be reflected on all 68 pages without having to do it manually.

<snip!>

Is it a script? Why can't I just refer to another document and change the one document?

We are in the middle of a major design change of the home page, inclusing top nav bar drop down menu instead of the side nav bar. We intend to eventually convert to CSS versus table design, etc

Hi Dawn,

templates can certainly help when it comes to creating new pages from scratch, and you also have the facility to control (in Dreamweaver) which areas are going to be editable OR non-editable.

However, when it comes to updating common elements such as menu bars, footers, etc... the best bet is to use server-side includes (SSI). Most commonly used in PHP and ASP, but you can use SSI on standard HTML sites if your hosting server permits.

What sort of platform are you running, does your hosting allow for server-side scripting?

Paul

[lyas]

I do alot of making my own html scripts too, and find changing the same line on numberous pages easy by using a little program called editpadlite.
http://www.editpadlite.com/
open all your pages.. tell it what to find and what to change it to.

[culinarykingdom]

Thanks for all your input. Learning this material without a programming background is tedious, but worthwhile. I looked up http://www.editpadlite.com/ and the features are attractive - can open 100 pages at once and search and replace, highlight alterations in documents, etc. While Namo WebEditor 5.5 (what we use) also has global search and replace, opening all the files on the site is time consuming.

My problem is, as Paul indicated, "updating common elements such as menu bars, footers, etc..." ie. I was hoping to construct my own template. (Checked out DreamweaverMX trial version and ran into its steep learning curve). Are you saying making one from scratch is worse?

"..the best bet is to use server-side includes (SSI). Most commonly used in PHP and ASP..."

After researching this issue for a couple months, I had a nasty feeling that was the road I was heading down, just from reading the scripts I found for drop down menu.

"...you can use SSI on standard HTML sites if your hosting server permits." Ok, but this means I need to learn PHP or ASP? What about DHTML (appears to be a combo of HTML and JavaScript)?

"What sort of platform are you running, does your hosting allow for server-side scripting? "

Windows 98, getting ready to upgrade to XP. Our hosting, GoDaddy.com says it does, we have an ASP account. Also leaving on vacation for two weeks Friday, so trying to get my "ducks in a row" or at least all in the same pond. (Like should I start reading ASP for Dummies on the beach!?)

Thanks,

Dawn

http://www.culinarykingdom.com/

[ChrisRC]

Originally Posted by culinarykingdom

After researching this issue for a couple months, I had a nasty feeling that was the road I was heading down

Don't think of it as a nasty feeling. Think of it as the butterflies of anticipation at the opportunity to learn something new:)

Originally Posted by culinarykingdom

Ok, but this means I need to learn PHP or ASP? What about DHTML (appears to be a combo of HTML and JavaScript)?

Forget about HTML and JavaScript. What you're doing is properly a server side function and should be handled on the server, not the client.

If your server supports SSI, you don't actually need to learn ASP or PHP. For what you're talking about here though, the ASP or PHP you need to learn is so simple I wouldn't worry about it much.

Originally Posted by culinarykingdom

we have an ASP account. Also leaving on vacation for two weeks Friday . . . should I start reading ASP for Dummies on the beach!?)

It's not a terrible idea if you're into that kind of thing. Personally, my vactions are vacations. No non-recreational reading. I enjoy my job, but I don't take it on vacation with me.

Learning a server side scripting language (or two) well is a good idea, but all you really need to know right now is how to do an include. In ASP, assuming normal configuration, all you have to do is rename the file with an ".asp" extension and include a line like the following where you want your included content to go:

and that file can simply be the html you want to include.

A little more info at W3Schools
Some more talking about it at hitmill

[drummin]

Hi Dawn,
I've used a modified version of this zip file on my latest project. (I changed it from tables to Div tags on the "main" file.)
This makes it easy to change layouts because all common elements can be loaded onto the "common" file.
Works well and pages load fast because those "common elements" are only loaded once. The only part that changes is the "content" of each page.

http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/kendall20001122.zip

Once you get the concept down it's easy to make different latouts by making a copy of the "prepend", "common", and "main" files and renaming them to "main2" etc... Then just change the "common2" layout.
Sounds complicated but it's not.
Hope this helps.
Robert

[jordanmcclements]

Re Namo Web Editor :-

I have been trying to use version 6.0 for the past 3 days now.

It features a really handy feature (in theory) called 'Shared Code Blocks' which means you can embed lumps of HTML code in each of your pages and then update this code from just one location and have all your pages automatically updated when you make a change.

I say 'In Theory' because it has had me tearing my hair out for the last three days trying to get it to work in a way that suits me.

This software has also corrupted most of my graphics files in my working directory, and crashed about 10 times, and required a complete uninstall and fresh install again - all within 3 days of starting to use it. This is a hardly a comprehensive test, but it does not bode well for the future as far as I can see...

(I was using first page 2000 before and had very few problems with it over the last 3 years)

NB I am using Windows XP SP2 (serves me right I can hear some people saying... :-)

[cotti47]

Hello everyone, my first post here.

By luck I came across this post on google, searching for a method to edit page elements (content, ad-images/text) on multiple web pages simultaneously.

I too thought CSS was the answer and found that a script was needed.

" Once you get the concept down it's easy to make different latouts by making a copy of the "prepend", "common", and "main" files and renaming them to "main2" etc... Then just change the "common2" layout.
Sounds complicated but it's not.
Hope this helps.
Robert "


I posted at Notetab-html, Yahoo group and was advised to learn php and SSI. Thanks to the posters here I'd like to learn enough php to edit multiple web pages at once.

Are there any Good, by example tutorials that you can recommend? on the net or via other media
TIA