using php in a template

Templates do make your life much easier. I use the following scheme....

First, I mentally separate the page layout into three sections:

1. Stuff that will not change for the life of the site (i.e., the basic
structural elements)
2. Stuff that *could* change from time to time (e.g., navigation elements,
burst advertisements, section-specific navigation, etc.)
3. Stuff that *will* change from one page to the next

Then I create a template containing all class1 elements. Next I create
server-side include files containing all class 2 elements and place them on
the template as needed. Note - some of the class 2 elements may be
"section-specific elements", and their placement on the template will be
subject to the next item. Finally, I insert editable regions to cover the
class 3 items, INCLUDING the section-specific navigation.

This allows me to just cookie-cut the rest of the site. I estimate that
even for fairly large sites, about 80% of my work goes into planning and
creating this template file.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"PeteTheBloke" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:gfur2n$gv5$1@forums.macromedia.com...
>I pretty much stop using templates in DW once I start using php. The reason
>is
> that you
> can do all the things templates do by using includes. That doesn't really
> answer your question but I hope it helps.
>

I pretty much stop using templates in DW once I start using php. The reason is that you
can do all the things templates do by using includes. That doesn't really answer your question but I hope it helps.

kevhan999 wrote:
> I am a new to dreamweaver cs4. My problem is i am trying to add php code to a
> template (template.dwt) and the php code is not recognized as php code meaning
> it seems that dreamweaver is interpreting as regular text and not recognizing
> it as php.

Change the name of the template in Dreamweaver from mypage.dwt to
mypage.dwt.php.

--
David Powers, Adobe Community Expert
Author, "The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3" (friends of ED)
Author, "PHP Solutions" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/