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Re: Please Help With New Page Update Strategy |
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| message from Didcot84 on 16 Jul 2004 |
Thank you very much for both of your posts Angela and Murray
We have plans for a SSI system that will be fully installed and operational in
January, which we clearly need as we have well over 100 pages.
However, we still have quite a few months before that system is introduced.
Would anybody know the best stop gap solution for our site? We are currently
using Dreamweaver MX 2004. For a consideration of two of the templates that we
use, please refer to the following pages.
http://www.ja.net/services/ - uses the services template
http://www.ja.net/conferences_training/calendar.html - uses the conferences
template
The problem comes when updating all of the pages that use, for example, the
services template.
Thank you for any assistance
Daniel
To consider two of the templates that our site uses
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| Murray *TMM* replied to Didcot84 on 16 Jul 2004 |
Are you two sharing a local site that is actually on a remote server? Are
you using checkin/checkout?
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| ~Angela, TMM replied to Didcot84 on 19 Jul 2004 |
As I understand it he has multiple sections of the site that have their own
navigation. There's a main navigation as well. Currently he has different
templates for each and every section (non-nested). If he has to make a
change to the main navigation that means updating the main navigation in
multiple templates and updating the entire site.
If he did a nested template, he'd only have to make the change to the main
navigation in one spot. Still he'd have to update the whole site, but at
least he's not making the same change in multiple files manually.
Let's say there's a category called foo in his site. The foo category alone
is updated often, and pages are added often too. The foo navigation is
special. I'd make this a nested template so new pages are created easily and
updates to foo's navigation will only affect files that use the foo nested
template.
I wouldn't make multiple if statements or a single template with parameters
to determine which section's navigation should be used. A single template
means Dreamweaver will try to always update every single page in the site.
His site appears to be very large and it wouldn't be very productive to wait
on Dreamweaver.
If I missed something from the original post, or drew a conclusion from the
little info we've been given that I shouldn't have, then please let me
know....
Thanks,
~Angela
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| Murray *TMM* replied to ~Angela, TMM on 19 Jul 2004 |
See below....
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| ~Angela, TMM replied to Murray *TMM* on 19 Jul 2004 |
Well that all depends on your level of patience and how many pages are in
the site... Starting from a nested template rather than setting a parameter
for every new file saves time too. Template parameters are a bit more
advanced than nested templates as well because of the hand-coding often
required.
Again, that's a matter of opinion :-) There's definitely different ways to
approach things.
I recently used nested templates for the new design of Cartweaver.com. I
set the sections with a parameter, but created a nested template for each
major section so that I don't have to set a parameter each time a new file
is generated. By doing so it prevents errors (typing incorrect values in
Modify> Template Properties), it lets me create a new page without having
to touch the template properties dialog, and update on a section by section
basis.
Even on a smaller site, I've found that Dreamweaver is a bit faster when it
does updates if it is looking for children of a nested template rather than
looking at an entire site that uses a single template.
I do agree that templates may not be the *only* tool that be should be used,
and that SSI are a must for a larger site. I tend to use templates with
SSI, to help be sure that all elements of a page (SSI included) are present
and accounted for.
~Angela
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| Murray *TMM* replied to ~Angela, TMM on 19 Jul 2004 |
Believe it or not, I have actually used and recommended nested templates. 8)
I just don't personally feel that they are of much value in this particular
scenario. But whatever works for you is OK with me!
Does your typlexia extend to these depths? 8)
There's no doubt that searcing through the site cache for 10 files is going
to be faster than searching through the site cache for 30 files. By at
least hundreds of milliseconds, and perhaps even a second or two.
Me too - even on smaller sites. http://www.midwestespresso.com is only
about 25/30 pages, and it's made from a single template and multiple
includes. But it's a simple layout, too....
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| ~Angela, TMM replied to Murray *TMM* on 19 Jul 2004 |
Nuh uh.... ;-) (LOL, you're too funny. Those who don't know it, Murray is a
co-author of Dreamweaver MX Templates)
My typlexia does not discriminate. :-)
Cool. I use templates for simple sites too, like
http://www.dwkillertips.com. In fact all my new sites use templates and SSI.
(Any site can benefit from SSI for navigation in my opinion.) I just can't
rely on my memory to put everything in a page that is needed, so templates
definitely help in that regard. Then by using the SSI, I can make super
speedy updates. :-) It's good stuff.
~Angela
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| Didcot84 replied to ~Angela, TMM on 22 Jul 2004 |
Hello and thanks again Murray and Angela for taking the time to help me with
your problem. I was very interesting to read your discussions.
Could I just ask one final question? If I were to have a main template that
contained the a-z bar at the top, what difference would it make if I had the
left hand side navigation bars as nested templates or library items?
Thank You
Daniel
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| ~Angela, TMM replied to Didcot84 on 22 Jul 2004 |
Hello Daniel,
I don't really have anything to add to Murray's reply. I think that given
that you don't have SSI as an option, nested templates will work well for
you in this situation. I agree that Library Items are not the way to go.
The good thing about doing this is when it comes time to change to SSI,
you'll be able to update the site the very first time for the change. Then
any future navigation changes will be handled by your include files, so
you'd only need to upload the changed includes. You're on the right track,
it is just a very long road. You'll get there!
Good luck,
~Angela
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| Murray *TMM* replied to Didcot84 on 22 Jul 2004 |
Library items can slow down your site updates. There is no reason to use a
Library item if the navigation element is being placed into a non-editable
part of the template *unless* you are also using the same Library item on
non-templated pages (I would use a server-side include instead, frankly).
Using nested templates in this scenario is OK. But nested templates can
become very complex quickly, particularly when you are creating NEW editable
regions in the child template.
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