USING DREAMWEAVER TEMPLATES

Introduction | Creating a Template | Using Editable Regions
Creating New Pages | Converting Existing Pages | Updating Templates
Additional Resources

Converting Existing Pages

Applying a template to existing Web pages is a multi-step process. It is generally easier to create a new page and copy content from your old page than it is to use the built-in feature "Apply Template to Page." This feature will place your entire Web page inside an editable region, rather than just the content you want. Thus, it is important to follow the steps below.

1. Open your site in Dreamweaver. It should appear in the Site panel when the Files tab is selected. The image shown to the right illustrates a sample site called test template.
   

    

    

    

    

2. Rename an existing Web page file to another name. Try adding an "x" to the end of the file name, such as csusx.htm if your file name is csus.htm, as shown in the image.

   Important: If Dreamweaver asks you to "update links in the following files" be sure to click Don't Update to keep your existing links.

    

    

3. Open your renamed file in Dreamweaver.
4. Select File > New to create a new Web page from a template page.
5. Click the Templates tab to display the available template files.
6. Under the "Templates for" column, click the name of the site from which you want to create a new Web page.
7. In the second column click the name of the template page you want to use as your design for your new Web page.
8. Be sure there is a check in the box labeled "Update page when template changes" in the lower right of the pop-up window.
9. Click the Create button to start a new Web page from your chosen template.
10. Copy the appropriate content from your renamed file and paste it into the corresponding Editable Region in your newly created Web page.
11. Copy the title of your renamed page from the document toolbar and paste it into the title on the document toolbar of your new Web page.
12. If necessary, reformat the content in the Editable Region of your new Web page.
13. Repeat steps 10 through 12 above to copy additional content from your renamed page into a corresponding Editable Region in your new Web page.
14. Select File > Save As... and save your new Web page, giving it the name of your old file before it was renamed. In the example, you would save it as csus.htm.
15. Close both your renamed file and your new Web page file in Dreamweaver.
16. From your Site panel, delete the old file that was renamed, unless you want to keep it as an old copy. To delete it, simply click the file name and press the delete key.
17. To continue to convert existing Web pages, repeat steps 2 through 16 for each existing Web page.

Next page --> Updating Templates