Introductory Notes
Get a copy of the HTML code
to use for your department's site and save this text onto your
local computer, using the "save" feature in your browser to save
the HTML code of the template to your local system. When saving
the file, replace the extension "txt" with "shtml".
IMPORTANT! Do not save the page you are currently
reading. This template uses special "include files"
(see below) that build the page from pieces and sends it to your
browser. You browser see the final result, not the pieces needed
to build the page. Save the HTML code from the text
file instead and open that in your web editor.
Use this template page for your own department's web site. Simply
delete this text and replace with your own.
Please make use of both the comments you see displayed as you
look at this page in your browser and the comments interspersed
in the actual HTML to make best use of this template. All web
pages that are directly related to the university are strongly
urged use this template.
Column Layout Options
This template uses a one column layout for content.
If you would like a two column layout for your pages, please use
the two column
template.
Technologies used in the Template
This template takes advantage of some web technologies that you
might not be familiar with. These technologies are designed to
make web pages easier to change and maintain and make it easier
to make all pages within a web site share the same appearance.
For the most part, these technologies have been implemented in
such a way that they require no intervention on your part for
them to work. In fact, about the only time you might have a problem
is if you don't understand what the technologies used in the template
are doing.
Style Sheets
"Style sheets" are files containing a list of formatting
rules for parts of a web page. For example, a paragraph style
might specify a particular font, font size, color and text alignment.
All parts of a web page may have their own styles.
The cool thing about style sheets is that once the styles are
defined, you never have to format anything! All
formatting is done automatically by the style sheet.
This new template uses the following style sheets (stored on
the Chico State web server):
So, what does this mean to you?
It means don't worry about formatting text; it's already handled
by the style sheets we've created. Just use the built in paragraph
and heading tags.
It means don't remove references to these style sheets in the
template's HTML code. Without the link to the style sheet, the
styles can't be applied to the page).
Include Files
One
very cool web technology is the ability to assemble a web page
from pieces on demand. That means that you can keep pieces of
web pages separate from the main part of the page and use them
over and over on each page without having to copy all that HTML
code.
For example, certain parts of your department's web pages are
the same on every page, like the page header, the left hand navigation
bar and the page footer. Since these are used over and over, why
copy all that code on every page?
To use include files, you copy the parts of the page you want
into a separate "include" file and put a link to that
file where you want it to appear on your page (like at the top
for the header). When someone accesses the page, the web server
grabs all the include files, includes them in
the request for the web page and assembles all the pieces into
a single complete page that it sends to your browser.
This template uses include files for the page header, left hand
navigation and the page footer. The page header is static and can not
be changed by departments. However, you can (and should) edit the
left hand navigation column and footer include files yourself
to customize them for your own department.
So, what does this mean to you?
Since the header include resides on the Chico State web server,
you won't see it when editing the template in
Dreamweaver.
You can create your own departmental footer and left hand navigation
bar by modifying the "template" include files. The department template
include files are:
Save both these files and modify them to suit your needs. See
the comments included in both files for additional help.
Tips on Using this Template
Change the Page Title
In order for users to know what page they are on, you should
change the title of this page to match the content that will be
on the page.
Replace the text "ONE COLUMN TEMPLATE (replace with your
page title)" at the top of this page with your page title.
Replace the HTML page title with the title of your page (in Dreamweaver,
go to the "Modify" menu, select "Page Properties..."
and edit the "Title".
Don't Use Font Tags
Although this page may appear unformatted when you look at it
within Dreamweaver (or any other web page editor), the text, links
and page colors are all controlled by an external "style
sheet" that resides on the Chico State web server. This style
sheet automatically applies the template formatting
to any template page uploaded onto the Chico State web server.
This means that if you simply use the paragraph and heading tags
that appear in the formatting toolbar your page will match the
template perfectly when uploaded to the Chico State web server.
If you apply text formatting (font, font size, color, etc.) directly
to your page, you will override the formatting used in the global
style sheet. Applying formatting on each page is more work for
you, makes it harder to update and maintain your department's
pages and makes every page look different and inconsistent. Bottom
line: save yourself a lot of unnecessary work and limit your formatting
to using the paragraph and heading formats provided by Dreamweaver.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't my page appear formatted when I
edit it?
Dreamweaver doesn't have access to the formatting used in the
"style sheet" that is stored on the Chico State web
server, so when you edit your pages on your desktop computer,
none of the template formatting appears.
However, once you upload the page to the server, the "style
sheet" formatting is automatically applied
to your page. Try it and see.
What do the built in styles look like?
This is an <H1> heading.
This is an <H2> heading.
This is an <H3> heading.
This is an <H4> heading.
This is an <H5> heading.
This is paragraph <p> text.
Why doesn't the Chico banner appear at the top
of my page in Dreamweaver?
The banner (or header) is part of an include file that resides
on the Chico State web server. It is automatically included with
the rest of your page when people view it in their browsers.
Why does the photo on the right side of the
page appear as a broken link?
The photo used in the template resides in the template web site.
You will need to replace the photo with one of your own. The best
size for such a photo is approximately 180 pixels wide by 220
pixels tall.
How can I get rotating photos like some of
main Chico State pages?
This template uses a static photo as a placeholder, as described
in the previous section. However, if you want to use rotating
images, you can make use of the rotating photo script that is
housed on the web server. See the rotating
photo instruction page for details.
Who can I talk to if I have problems using the
template?
To get help using the template, contact TLP at 898-6167.
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