Dreamweaver template meta tags

randelld · #1 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 02:27 PM

Hi Everybody.
I need some help. I have a site at www.ruralserv.com
I designed it using dreamweaver and have a template for it. However, when I designed it I didn't realise the importance of SEO. I want to make it so that I can put individual meta tags on each page but when I put them in the template, they are all the same and greyed out when I check the source of the pages.
So basically, what I'd like to do is put some kind of editable tag in the template which is in the head and not in the visible part of the page. Does anyone know how I can do this?

Thanks

arvana · #2 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 03:22 PM

You need to create an editable region in the head of your template, like this:

Code:

<head>


<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta name="description" content="page description" />
<meta name="keywords" content="keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, etc." />

 
</head>

randelld · #3 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 03:31 PM

Arvana,
You've made my day. Thank you for that, a great help

davebarnes · #4 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 04:53 PM

Don't use DW templates.
Use Server Side Includes instead.
They are so much easier to maintain in the long run.

randelld · #5 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 05:01 PM

Hi Dave,
Yes, I'm inclined to agree with you. I'm just getting the hang of them. Don't pressure me!! Only kidding ;-))
Thanks for the tip.

arvana · #6 (**permalink**) 02-04-2007, 05:41 PM

Dave, I would say that SSI's are great for those parts of the page that are consistent throughout the site, but Randell was asking about putting unique metadata into each page, which an SSI wouldn't really help with, unless you know a technique that I don't ;-)

Personally I've gone away from building static sites at all -- I use Drupal or Joomla for just about everything now.

Dinghus · #7 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 04:56 PM

Templates can be good for the beginner or for a person who just needs to throw something up quick or a programmer who has no clue how to make a site look nice.

However, there are those little problems such as getting new editable regions.

Actually SSI is not much better when it comes to these types of things. Even dynamic has its draw backs. You just have to choose which problems you are willing to work with then go with it.

mykiesee · #8 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 04:57 PM

I've been hearing about Drupal and Joomla but don't really know whether I should consider changing from Dreamweaver or not. I've been seeing that more of my clients want a more interactive product lately. Would Drupal or Joomla be better for this than Dreamweaver? Where can I go to find out more about this?

MarcGrobman · #9 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:06 PM

Yea, Dreamweaver and templates used to be very important tools, but, especially with DW's poor handling of css i'm ready to move on.

You should be able to add metas without an editable region. Just put them under your title. That area is intented to be different on every page.

zi · #10 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:07 PM

You may consider MODx CMS http://modxcms.com/

krisidious · #11 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:16 PM

I use Frontpage which uses the same template file type as dreamweaver... the .DWT which is also an AutoCAD template file type... argh...

I digress, I use this template for my entire site... the key is changing the file not the file name, replace your template with new template any time you like... but keep the file name the same...

Arvana, gets the points...

arvana Posted: February 04 2007 Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You need to create an editable region in the head of your template, like this:

Code:
<head>

<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta name="description" content="page description" />
<meta name="keywords" content="keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, etc." />

</head>

add that to your template, then use find and replace, or windows explorer to change title and other tags... in the properties of each page you'll also find the areas to customize each page's meta tag... you don't have to edit the html for every page.

server side includes can accomplish metatag goals to an extent, but not for each individual page and then it's never really static, and stactic pages are more valuable.

I suggest going the route you are currently, using Arvana's suggestions...

good luck...

EditFast · #12 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:25 PM

DW MX automatically gives you an editable region for this purpose.

Place all the header tags, meta tags etc. inside the editable region on those pages you wish to have the unique tags appear.

jannmirch · #13 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:49 PM

I use DW and CSS. But rather than using templates, which become problematic if you have a couple of different "versions" I use library items. Same thing but more "target" specific. I can have one for the navigation on the top of the page, and another for the navigation on the left side and a separate one for the footer.

I'm going to have to look into Joomla and Drupal though. I keep hearing others singing their praises!

mykiesee · #14 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 05:55 PM

Yes, I guess I was a little off-topic as I never use templates. The snooty artist in me won't allow it, I guess. But I would like to know the learning curve that might be involved in switching from Dreamweaver8 to Drupla, Joomla, or even MODx. I'm really busy now and don't have time to delve into instruction booklets.

randelld · #15 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 06:10 PM

I used Arvanas suggestion and it works a dream. I've been using DW for a long time now and don't ever recall seeing it place these tags automatically???

CMS?? I'm not too sure, they feel a bit like painting by numbers to me. I haven't really delved into what I could do with them but suspect that I'd get little satisfaction from using one...

I may be wrong.

EditFast · #16 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randelld

I've been using DW for a long time now and don't ever recall seeing it place these tags automatically???

I think if you look in a template you will see the " head" editable region. From the DW MX manual:
"You can add a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), timeline, or behavior to a document that is based on a template, because Dreamweaver automatically inserts an editable region in the head section of a document."

texxs · #17 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

I use Frontpage which uses the same template file type as dreamweaver... the .DWT ...

FP uses .dwt's? You sure you don't mean the replacement for FP called "Expression" (another crappy application by the way, worse even then FP) it uses .dwt's. However for some resaon the .dwt's it creates or even if it edits exsisting ones, they can't be worked in DW ony more . . .

I've been evaluating Expression for an article and I'm just about done.

The articles isn't going to be very positive, but beleive it or not it does have some positive points.

astro · #18 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 07:12 PM

There is a lot to be said for learning basic html. It allows you to "see" how a page is built. Try looking at a frontpage page with a basic html editor the page is all over the place! and FP uses empty cells and tables for layout without you ever knowing.....text readers love those!!

The handy thing about templates is it is fast but none the less the lazy option. It is also recognisable and therefore not unique, and whilst I use elements from templates I still built each page. Most of the time I do not need to look at the source of other peoples pages to see what software built the site as Frontpage and DW templates are so obvious. The main problem is the template software dictates to me the designer as to what is or what is not possible. Learning basic HTML can help with templates when the template will not do exactly what you want layout wise so you end up with a dodgy compromise.

Try starting with a blank page but no one here has mentioned doc type declarations....still important. This will vary according to what the page is built with.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>your site title here</TITLE>
<META name="Description" content="your site description here">
<META name="Keywords" content="your keywords here">
<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META name="objecttype" content="your page name here or if homepage use....index">
<META name="Category" content="Travel">
<META name="Distribution" content="Global">
<META name="Robots" content="index, follow">
<META name="rating" content="General">
<META name="Language" content="EN">
<META name="Author" content="your name here">
<META name="Copyright" content="your copy right name here">
<META NAME="title" CONTENT="your page title here">
</HEAD>
If using a template put it here
..................and off you go with the document properties

Hope this is of help, by the way I used to panic about SEO, then with my hair line receding naturally pulling any more out no longer became an option! so I no longer care what my page rank is or if my site is in the top 20 on some search engines and directories or in the top ten in others. Because it means didley squat when it comes to being in the first page of results. I also no longer care what Google is doing to rank pages they change the rules so often they annoy me. (google who?)So I now ignore the search engines. Who are they to tell me how to build my website anyway?

Chill........relax.........stay cool.... LEARN HTML! your page will rise!!!!

</ASTRO>

jrb@w3f.com · #19 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astro

There is a lot to be said for learning basic html.
....
Learning basic HTML can help with templates when the template will not do exactly what you want layout wise so you end up with a dodgy compromise.

I have to agree emphatically with this.

Not quite off-topic:

Can someone tell me the effect and SEO insight behind the different usages of:

<TITLE>SiteTitle</TITLE>
vs
<META name="title" content="WebPageSubject" />

Should they be the same?
Should the <TITLE> be the same on all pages? (as insinuated by your note)

I would appreciate everyone's input on this. (Or point me to a current topic that delves into this thoroughly.

florabalance · #20 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 11:14 PM

I agree that learning html is empowering and I also agree that building a good site and ingnoring the SEs may be as good a strategy as worrying about SERPS but I am not sure that I see that I see a distinct connection between the two.

You can build a really good site with DW, maybe even with Frontpage, at least you can put a lot of great content out there which is consistent with the build it and they will come strategy. You don't really need to understand much html to manage metatags. Is there some connection that I am missing?

outletseason · #21 (**permalink**) 02-05-2007, 11:42 PM

I use DW plus PHP and MySQL for the backend ... it's easier to set up metatags because all pages are dynamic, so you can program it to add a keyboards related to your products ... by being dynamic each page can already have an include, so your description is dynamic as well ... is more complex than simple html and css but the flexibility you have allow you to customize your pages and enhance security, because SSL and other protocols are supported, you can also mix html and with php wherever you need it, although is much better to keep code neat and separated, move you html somewhere else and use pure php for the code. With MySQL as the database you can easily customize and create a template system easier to update, without resorting to SSI ...
As you can query your db from php ... so your pages will load faster because they are dynamically generated ... Please bear in mind it is better to use CSS whenever possible, as it is much lighter than HTML ...

Seminole386 · #22 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 02:28 AM

Yahoo and MSN seem to give a little weight to repeating the title under the meta title. I have seen no negative effect from Google. I recommend you always repeat and also use the words again unter keywords.

xinfo · #23 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 05:51 AM

hey

it's alway good to double check your site [your design] using lynx browser . this show how bot see you'r site . if you have problem installing the browser ping me .
usefull to see link ,menu,and content ,

btw dont forget to bring the side bar after content.

astro · #24 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "jrb@w3f.com

Can someone tell me the effect and SEO insight behind the different usages of:

<TITLE>SiteTitle</TITLE>
vs
<META name="title" content="WebPageSubject" />

Should they be the same?
Should the <TITLE> be the same on all pages? (as insinuated by your note)

I have no idea what the latest SE thinking is here! But these days I attempt to apply a certain logic to building a web page. (for what it is worth, I do confess to being totally self taught and still refer to folders as yellow briefcase thingies)My personal opinion is the site title is the website title and does not change but the page title to appear in the bottom of the browser should change with the respective content of the page.

It does bug me that SEs move the goal posts so often creating a whole industry just to keep pages returning a reasonable result in the rankings. Lets face it if it was easy why have and pay for AdSense and sponsored links? Does anyone actually click on those?

I agree totally with the DHTML principle by the way, and one day if bored enough I may sit down and study it......until that time there are too many good times to be had.

smiles to all
</ASTRO>

jtracking · #25 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Don't use DW templates.
Use Server Side Includes instead.
They are so much easier to maintain in the long run.

No no no, use Dreamweaver templates and if you want use SSI in your template OR use ColdFusion or PHP.

Just make sure each set of meta data is different. Obviously because each page should be at the very least slightly different.

jtracking · #26 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarcGrobman

Yea, Dreamweaver and templates used to be very important tools, but, especially with DW's poor handling of css i'm ready to move on.

I find that if you import the css rather than use it directly in the html doc DW handles css perfectly.

Are you using the CSS in your html doc?

jtracking · #27 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykiesee

Yes, I guess I was a little off-topic as I never use templates.

Well actually you do use templates, your whole site in your sig. is a template, each and every pages is different but artistically the same. You just don't design them the same way I would for instance.

Almost every site is a template.

jtracking · #28 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astro

The handy thing about templates is it is fast but none the less the lazy option.
It is also recognisable and therefore not unique.

Most of the time I do not need to look at the source of other peoples pages to see what software built the site as Frontpage and DW templates are so obvious.

The main problem is the template software dictates to me the designer as to what is or what is not possible.

Try starting with a blank page but no one here has mentioned doc type declarations

Well not lazy at all friend. What the HELL is wrong with creating nice websites quickly and easily. Anyone with half a brain can design a site using DW and templates and add all the neccessary SEO needed. Silly comment really.

And you cannot LOOK at a site and tell if it is written in FP or DW and really who cares if you could? What's the point of that comment?

And if I am using DW the software does NOT dictate what is possible. I the designer/developer tell DW what is possible via my knowledge of HTML. Gesh!

And no one mentioned doc type declarations because that isn't what the topic was about.

Dreamweaver and meta data is that is was about. GESH and good morning!

texxs · #29 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Lets face it if it was easy why have and pay for AdSense and sponsored links? Does anyone actually click on those?

You sir have hit the nail on the head! This is how search engines make their money. If they returned the right results they would make much, much less money (but still a lot of money, IMO)

Unfortunately, the famous not for profit search engine (DMOZ.org), is run so horribly that it's almost impossible to get into. Therefore narrowing the results for users making the SE less and less significant.

And yes people do click the adverts because, especially with google, often that's where the relevant content is. the search results themselves are often filled with link farms (directories) and/or gov sites.

incrediblehelp · #30 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb@w3f.com

Can someone tell me the effect and SEO insight behind the different usages of:

<TITLE>SiteTitle</TITLE>
vs
<META name="title" content="WebPageSubject" />

Don't worry about using the title meta tag. It doesn't do anything. Use the title attribute <TITLE> as it is the one that the SE's like.

nipplecharms1 · #31 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 07:30 PM

I use DW and embed my CSS in the non editable region of the template. Words ok for both our site.

Just a thought.

Michael

astro · #32 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb@w3f.com

Can someone tell me the effect and SEO insight behind the different usages of:

<TITLE>SiteTitle</TITLE>
vs
<META name="title" content="WebPageSubject" />

Don't worry about using the title meta tag. It doesn't do anything. Use the title attribute <TITLE> as it is the one that the SE's like.

Sorry, but it does do something, it places a title at the bottom of the page for the reader of that page. There does come a time when the technicalities and SE placement becomes so absorbing the tendency is to forget what you are doing in the first place. I.E. Providing information or a service to the Internet surfing public. To that end it does do something it tells the reader what that page is about. Or are you a bit too close to the techie bit to see the wood for the trees?
</ASTRO>

incrediblehelp · #33 (**permalink**) 02-06-2007, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astro

Quote:

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb@w3f.com

Can someone tell me the effect and SEO insight behind the different usages of:

<TITLE>SiteTitle</TITLE>
vs
<META name="title" content="WebPageSubject" />

Don't worry about using the title meta tag. It doesn't do anything. Use the title attribute <TITLE> as it is the one that the SE's like.

Sorry, but it does do something, it places a title at the bottom of the page for the reader of that page. There does come a time when the technicalities and SE placement becomes so absorbing the tendency is to forget what you are doing in the first place. I.E. Providing information or a service to the Internet surfing public. To that end it does do something it tells the reader what that page is about. Or are you a bit too close to the techie bit to see the wood for the trees?
</ASTRO>

I was obviously speaking as in comparing the two when SEO is involved. If you want to use that meta tag title feel free to, but it doesnt help at all with SEO.

JohneeMac · #34 (**permalink**) 02-07-2007, 08:24 AM

For the sake of a line of code and what it does id bin the meta title aswell.

Hulk is right it doesnt help with seo.

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