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Dreamweaver templates

J

John J Rambo

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
37
0
Belfast
Hi Guys, Im using dreamweaver to create a large website. I set a dreamweaver template for a lot of the pages. Ive since made the entire dwt editable and now of course my links wont update. Ive tried making making only the regions that I need editable again but this still sets everything as an exact replica of the template even the regions i have set as editable!

Any help would be great!:confused:
 
Is your stuff under version control?

If so, go back to a previous version. If not you would be well to learn the lesson now to always use version control - its a bit like always taking backups - but for developers.

If not I'd have to see a few pages.
 
I highly suggest you do not use templates from any program like that, as the best way I have found is to create a standard blank PHP file with the HTML set as variables, and simply echo them out on each page.
 
Hi guys, thanks for your replies, englishman, its not under version control:(
how can I show you a page?
thanks again.
 
John

To give me the files:-

Either zip them up and send me a private message via the forum with attachment

or

Attach the zip to a message

or

put the zip on a website url so I can download it

I would be happy to have a look to see if I can help.
 
thanks, how can I attach it in a private message?

Im only getting the attachments option in this thread reply!??

dont mean to be a pain!
 
You're not being a pain - I'm happy to see if I can help.

Just attach to a thread message and that should be fine.
 
Hi, thanks for taking a look at this for me, you will probably notice a lot of untidy code as this is my first large project.

I have attached the dwt as well as a page created from it.

I dont know why I made the entire dwt editable (it must have made sence to me at the time!)

the site will be updated every couple of days so I really cant update every page everytime I update the site, there will probably be around 130 pages.

thanks again for the help!
 

Attachments

  • Website Docs.zip
    4.2 KB · Views: 113
Here's my first attempt.

You've got your template and 2 pages with the pages having one editable regiion. Updating the template updates all pages and updating pages leaves template sections intact.

I basically just created a blank site and used your pages.

I then edited the pages in code view to move the begin editable region to the correct place.

To now update your site might be fiddly.

I am using DW v 8.0.2

I've made the same mistake several times myself so that's how I know about fixing it.

Hints

1) Always take backups of sites before any sitewide change.

2) Many others...

If you need more help let me know.

I've also attached the DW site definition (change suffix to .ste) - you'll need to edit to reflect your local folder structure.
 

Attachments

  • dwt.zip
    6.3 KB · Views: 133
  • Unnamed Site 2.txt
    1.7 KB · Views: 279
John J Rambo said:
the site will be updated every couple of days so I really cant update every page everytime I update the site, there will probably be around 130 pages.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be a little off your original question, but is there a reason you're not using a content management system (CMS)?

There a lot of free and powerful systems which would, it sounds, be very useful to you... Check out WordPress, or Drupal for example. Assuming you have some knowledge of HTML & CSS, you should find them pretty easy to bend to your will...

/Doug
 
Design-is (Doug) makes a good point - there are other ways apart from DW templates. Here is one idea of a hierarchy of sophistication of websites and their maintenance:-

1. Simple static HTML or generated
2. Templates using Dreamweaver or other
3. PHP includes.
4. CMS eg Drupal or DOTNETNUKE
5. Frameworks such as Java Spring, ASP MVC

2, 3 and 4 have been mentioned in this thread

** Nice designs Doug :)
 
thanks, you guys have been a great help, you're right, I havent use CMS before but I would like to know a little about where to get started?

thanks again!
 
John J Rambo said:
Could you tell me what the advantages are of a CMS over using dreamweaver templates?

thanks
Click to expand...

Using a CMS basically means that once you've set up the templates / theme for the site, you only have to worry about updating the content.

When set up correctly, a good CMS will take care of (depending on the CMS) creating all the pages, providing a blog, updating links and archives, and many other things like SEO, allowing visitors to engage via the use of the page / post comments & contact forms.

Most CMSs will also allow you to post content via any platform that has internet access, unbinding you from a piece of software on one machine in one location. Often, others are allowed to log on and contribute too (if that's what you want).

A lot of CMSs have a vibrant community around them too, which will be able to help you if you run into problems. This community often creates useful plugins which plug the gaps left in the original software - so if you want to do something but it seems impossible using the system, it's likely that someone else thought the same and created a plugin to perform the action.

WordPress also has a site dedicated to tutorial videos which will prove invaluable to those just starting out: http://wordpress.tv/

Let us know how you get on :)

/Doug
 
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