TIP 134: Creating Pages from a Template

When your template page is complete, the next step is to build additional pages from it. Choose one of the following methods to create a new page based on your template:

• Choose File > New and then select Web > Templates to see all the templates for the active site. Choose the template you want to build off of and click OK (Figure 134a).
  
  

  Figure 134a. Create pages based on templates using the New dialog or directly from the Site window.

  

  
  
• Control-click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) in the Files tab of the Site window and choose New > Page from Template. From that submenu choose from the list of page templates already saved into your site.
  
  
• Double-click the template file in the Templates folder of the Extras tab of the Site window or in the Templates portion of the Library palette. A dialog box will ask if you want to modify the file or create a new file. Click Create, and a new page based on the template is created.
  
  

All the editable regions show in their normal color, whereas the locked regions (any area not designated as editable) are highlighted in purple. You can try to select or edit a highlighted area, but you won't be able to because those areas are protected and, hence, not editable. You can, however, modify any editable region. When you're done, save the page into your site.

Highlight Color

You can change both the color and the type of highlighting used to indicate editable regions in the Highlight section of the View palette. Move the sliders to make the editable region's highlight color more or less opaque or click the "Show Border Only" button on the right of the opacity slider to highlight only the region's border. To change the color entirely, click the color well and choose a new color from the Color or Swatches palette.

Applying Templates

What if you have an existing page that already has content on it and you want to drop that content into a template? Here's how.

One method is to open the page and then, from the document flyout menu, choose Template > Apply Template > yourtemplate.html, where yourtemplate.html is the name of the template you are applying. A dialog will ask you to specify the editable region where the page's content will go. Make your choice, and voila! The page assumes the look of the template page.

An optional method is to open the page to which you want to apply the template and then, from the Special menu, choose Template > Apply Template. The Open dialog box appears with the Templates folder for your site already loaded. Choose the template you want to use and click Open. Again, you're asked to choose the editable region where the pages' content should be placed. Select the region name and click OK (Figure 134b).

Figure 134b. When applying a template to an existing page, select the region where the page's content will be placed.