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Templates & Layout
This page has a complete different layout and appearance than the
rest of this site. ExSite allows you to configure any number of
grpahic designs and layouts, and apply them where ever you like.
With many simple templating systems, all you can do is sandwich a block
of content between a header and a footer. With ExSite templates,
you can define any number of content objects and place them anywhere on
the page. For example, in addition to the main page body (which
you are currently reading), this page also defines several other
content objects:
- The site logo, which we have replaced on this page only with a cute dog.
- The sidebar, which we we have replaced on this page with some Lorem Ipsum text.
- Two special content boxes, shown below.
- A custom page footer, at the bottom.
Each of these content elements is completely separate from the others,
and can be updated independently. Depending on how the content is
configured, it can be shared with other pages, or even with other web
sites.
| Template Inheritance |
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Template inheritance allows the web designer to spin off numerous
templates based on a common design. Starting from a base
template, which incorporates various files such as images and
stylesheets, she can then create new templates, only specifiying the
elements that differ from the
original. For instance, you can substitute logos, or change
colors, or modify the layout slightly. The elements that do not
differ will be taken from the original template. If those
elements are updated in the original, then those updates are
automatically adopted by all derived templates.
Template inheritance is very useful when managing large websites that
require numerous page layouts and designs that all borrow from a common
root design. It is also useful when you need to manage numerous
websites that all have to follow a common style guide.
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| Compound Content |
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Compound content elements are content items that are built from
numerous sub-elements. For example, the boxes that surround this
text and the "Template Inheritance" text are made up of several graphic
and text elements each. In addition to templating whole pages,
you can also template sub-elements of pages, such as these boxes.
The advantage to templating these is that you can instantly update the
design of all such boxes on the site, simply by updating the template
element. Elements such as these boxes can be somewhat
complicated--this particular example is comprised of a table that
integrates two graphics (the head and foot of each box) and two text elements (the title and contents)--so that editing numerous
instances of them is tedious and prone to error. Templating
re-useable page elements can greatly simplify the work of maintaining your site.
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