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GDS 214 WEB DESIGN II
Dreamweaver Templates - Page 8
Instructor: Rob Higgins

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Template - Based Document

Creating a template-based document

Once you set the template design, you apply a template to either a blank document or a document that already contains content.

To create a new document based on a template, you can use the Assets panel or the New Document dialog box. The Assets panel lists templates in your current Dreamweaver site. You can right-click in the Templates category of the Assets panel to create a new template, and to create new documents from a template.

In the New Document dialog box, you can select a template from any of your currently defined Dreamweaver sites to create a new document from.

When you create a new document based on a template, you can choose whether the document remains attached to the template. By default, when you change a template, all attached documents update to reflect the template changes.

If you deselect the Update Page When Template Changes option when creating a new document, the new document is created as stationery: an independent HTML file, with no template regions. Updates to the template do not change the document.

To create a template-based document in the New Document dialog box:

1. Choose File > New to open the New Document dialog box.
   
   
2. In the New Document dialog box, select the Templates tab.
   
   
3. In the Templates For list, select the site which contains the template you want to use.
   
   The site templates list updates to display templates in the selected site.
   
   
4. In the list, select the template you want to use.
   
   
5. Click Create to create a new template-based page.
   
   The document opens in the Document window.
   

To create a new document from a template in the Assets panel:

1. Open the Assets panel (F11), if it is not already open.
   
   
2. In the Assets panel, click the Templates icon to view your site templates.
   
   Tip: If you just created the template you want to apply, you may need to click the Refresh button to see it.
   
3. Right-click the template you want to apply, then select New From Template.
   
   The document opens in the Document window.

Editing content in a template-based page

You can easily identify and select template regions in both the template document and in template-based documents. Editable template regions are listed at the bottom of the Modify > Templates submenu.

Editable regions that are inside a repeated region do not appear in the menu. You must locate these regions by looking for tabbed borders in the Document window.

For information about locating and modifying editable tags in a template-based document, see Modifying template properties.

To find an editable region and select it in the document:
Choose Modify > Templates, and choose the name of the region from the list at the bottom of that submenu.

The editable region is selected in the document.

Modifying template properties

When you create parameters in a template, documents based on the template automatically inherit the parameters and their initial value settings. A template user can update editable tag attributes and other template parameters (such as optional region settings) in the Template Properties dialog box.

To modify an editable tag attribute:

1. Open the template-based document, then choose Modify > Template Properties.
   
   The Template Properties dialog box opens. The following example shows two template properties. One is an optional region, the other an editable tag attribute for the template’s background color.
   
2. In the Name list, select a the property.
   
   The bottom area of the dialog box updates to show the selected property’s label and its assigned value.
   
3. In the field to the right of the property label, edit the value to modify the property in the document.
   
   Note: The field name and updateable values are defined in the template. Attributes which do not appear in the Name list are not updateable in the document.
   
   
4. If you are defining an editable tag attribute in a nested template, do one of the following to set whether the parameter is passed through to documents based on the nested template:
   • Check the Allow Nested Templates to Control This checkbox, to pass the editable property to documents based on the nested template; the parameter will appear in the Templates Properties dialog box for documents based on that nested template.
   • To prevent the parameter from passing through do not check this option.
     

Modifying optional region template parameters

1. Open the template-based document, then choose Modify > Template Properties.
   
   The Template Properties dialog box opens.
   
   
2. In the Name list, select a property.
   
   The dialog box updates to show the selected property’s label and its assigned value.
   
   
3. Select the Show checkbox, to show the optional region in the document, or deselect the checkbox to hide it.
   
   Note: The field name and default setting are defined in the template.
   
   
4. Check the Allow Nested Templates to Control This checkbox, to pass the editable property along to a documents based on the nested template.
   

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Last updated: 6/28/02 • Webmaster: Paul Young

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