LO1 - Understand the benefits of using a template to create a website
LO2 - Be able to create a series of web pages using a template
In today's lesson we will be looking at how we can use templates to make the process of creating a website more effective. You will be working with a template of your choice to create a website about a topic of your choice
Task 1 - Dreamweaver Templates
- Go to www.justdreamweaver.com
- Preview the free templates (they're at the bottom of the template page)
- Choose one that you think would be suitable for a website aimed at teachers and examiners?
- Download it into to your Sites folder (you will need to sign up with your school email to be able to do this
Task 2 - Creating Webpages from a Template
1. Make yourself a folder in your Sites folder (if this ends up being the template you use then you can rename the folder) - Call it Test Web
2. Click on download - this ask you to save as a will give you a ZIP file (yellow folder)
3. Right Click on the Zip file and 'extract' to your new folder (Unit 3 Take It Away)
(If you get this next stage wrong you'll have to delete everything and start again)
4. Open Dreamweaver (All programs, Adobe Master Collection)
5. Click on Manage Sites (blue writing bottom left corner)
Give your Site a name (Take It Away) for example. Then browse to find the folder you saved your tempate / extracted files in.
6. All the contents of the Zip File (ie - what you downloaded) should appear bottom right corner - where it says local files - and all the folders should be bright green
7. Click on Index.html to see your template - .html is an example file of what your pages could look like
8. To make your own new pages - Go to File, New, Page from Template - choose the template you want to use. Click Create and save in the Test Web folder- call one index.html (save over the one that exists)
Create 3 other pages for your chosen topic, save them with suitable names
Any areas in blue boxes are editable - any areas which display the "no entry" sign are uneditable.
TO EDIT / UPDATE
To edit your template - ie: change text or image so that it updates on every page, you need to edit the .dwt file. Try this out just with text to start with. Save and view the other pages. They should all look the same.
To replace the header image with a new one - create an image in Fireworks or Photoshop which is the same size. Replace the image which is in the .dwt file - save the template and all other pages should update
Task3 - Post about your choice
- Write a post on your blog explaining:
- Which template did you choose? Why did you choose it?
- What are the advantages of using a template to make a website?
- Are there any disadvantages of using templates?
