What You Will Learn In this lesson, you will:
Approximate Time This lesson takes approximately one hour and 30 minutes to complete. Lesson Files Media Files: LessonFiles/Lesson_08/images/capital_fund_update.gif LessonFiles/Lesson_08/images/deans_desk.jpg Starting Files: LessonFiles/Lesson_08/css/bg_filter.css LessonFiles/Lesson_08/css/bg_news.css LessonFiles/Lesson_08/Templates/dean_letter_v2.dwt LessonFiles/Lesson_08/Templates/hr_newsletter.dwt Completed Files: FinalFiles/Lesson_08/css/bg_filter.css FinalFiles/Lesson_08/css/bg_news.css FinalFiles/Lesson_08/Templates/dean_letter_v2.dwt FinalFiles/Lesson_08/Templates/hr_newsletter.dwt The combination of a locked template with editable regions is a potent one, especially for Macromedia Contribute users. However, the sole use of editable regions leads to a certain rigidity in page layout: Content contributors can modify the page only in the precise areas that you designate. It's not uncommon for the page requirements to change from time to time; modest variations in design keep an audience interested and benefit special needs. For example, when an online product is reduced in price, an "On Sale Now!" banner is often appropriate. Naturally, as a designer, you want to control both the look of the banner and its placement on the page. Editable regions, by themselves, are rather limited in this regard. One goal to strive for in template design is to strike a balance between consistent design and flexible layout. Two advanced Dreamweaver template featuresoptional regions and repeating regionsgo a long way toward reaching that goal. An optional region is a template area that's conditionally inserted into or removed from a child page at design-time. You can even control whether the content within a specific optional region is used. The optional region is directly enabled through the Template Properties dialog box. Optional regions can also be controlled by the state of another optional region; for example, if the "On Sale Now!" banner is enabled, another area displaying the everyday discount could be disabled. Both of these methods for controlling optional regions are covered in this lesson; a more advanced technique using template expressions is discussed in Lesson 9. Multiple repeating regions are used to add flexibility to an Events calendar without sacrificing layout. Although optional regions work well to control diverse aspects of a page, repeating regions are best applied to more-structured page sections. A repeating region allows the Macromedia Dreamweaver or Contribute designer to add more copies of the enclosed content, which typically contains a mix of locked and editable regions. For example, you might apply a repeating region to a table row in a template that contains a store's catalog listing. Anyone working with a child page from that template could then easily add another product listing. The repeated areas can also be deleted or reordered at design-time. As you'll see in this lesson, repeating regions work great with table rows, lists, and even navigation bars. |