Wrapping-up Templates

Some confusion inevitably arises regarding the use of templates. One of the most common is how to edit areas that are locked by a template. The proper way to edit these areas is to open the template in Dreamweaver and make the necessary edits. This will insure that documents designed from the template will display the updates as well. In a pinch, you can overide the HTML comments that Dreamweaver uses to mark editable areas by using another editor such as notepad. Realize that doing this will negate the benefits of being linked to a template, but works if necessary.

The second item that commonly causes confusion, is that a template is a barebones structure. It contains the minimal material that is applicable to every page. Users, new to templates, tend to want to populate the template with images, text, or other items that will not be on each page of the Web site. Remember, only place items in a template that apply to each page (i.e. banner, navigation, footer, etc.).

Today’s Objectives:

• Construct a simple Web site plan (mission statement, target audience, topics & features, organizational diagram)
• Incorporate the Web site plan features into an HTML template

Classwork: Lesson 4 quiz & finishing the critical thinking project.

Prep Questions:

• This panel organizes media, links, colors, etc.
• List the extension for a Dreamweaver template.

Note: Great job on the quiz! The average score was 85%.