Creating Reusable Assets and Forms - New Perspectives on Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Comprehensive - page 340

Understanding Templates
Professional designers sometimes plan and design Web sites based on templates. A
template is a special page that separates the look and layout of a page from its content
by “locking” the page layout. The designer designates what is locked in a page by creat-
ing editable regions and noneditable regions. Editable regions are areas that can be
changed in the pages created from a template. Noneditable regions are areas that can be
changed in the template, but not in the pages created from a template.
You use a template to create multiple Web pages that share the same layout, use the
same attached style sheet, and contain the same content, which is placed in the nonedit-
able regions of the template. The template should include editable regions for elements
that vary from page to page, such as the page heading and content sections of the pages.
For example, you can create a template for the NextBest Fest site that includes all the
elements that are used in every page—such as the page background, the logo, the navi-
gation text, and the footer—in noneditable regions. You attach the nbf_styles.css style
sheet to the template so that the style sheet is attached to all the pages created from the
template.
Decision Making: Understanding Your Options
In order to make a good decision regarding how you will create a site, it is important to
understand all of your options and to consider the effect that each option will have on
the site in the long run. Templates are one avenue for creating shared site formatting.
However, you can gain many of the same benefits through efficient use of CSS positioning
and styling; because of this, templates are not used as frequently now as they once were.
The main benefit that you gain from using templates is that they prevent the person who is
only allowed to update the content of the site from accidentally changing code in addition
to content.
If you have a large site, another option is to create a database to store the site content
and then add code to the pages that enables the pages to dynamically display the content
from the database in a format appropriate for the site design.
Adobe also provides InContext Editing , which is an online hosted service that allows
clients to make simple changes to page content from within a browser. You can create
pages that work with InContext Editing service by adding InContext editable and repeat-
ing regions to the pages you create. InContext Editing is a fee-based service that requires a
monthly or annual subscription.
Templates, like style sheets, reduce much of the redundant work that goes into creat-
ing and maintaining a Web site. You set up the page layout, including CSS styles, a
navigation bar, and a footer, only once in a template. Then, anyone can use that template
to quickly create new pages with that layout. The content added to the pages does not
affect the layout or design. If you decide to modify the layout, you need to make the
changes only in the template. All the template-based pages are connected to the tem-
plate and are updated to refl ect the changes. This saves you time and ensures consistency
across the pages.