Web Templates
Existing Users - Introduction
If you have used the previous version of the University web templates, and have used Adobe Dreamweaver's templating technology (in other words, maintained the editable regions on all your web pages), then this tutorial is for you. If you have never created a webpage using an official University of Rhode Island template, have heavily modified official templates, then it might be more helpful to follow the tutorial for new users.
This tutorial is meant to convert your current website to the new web brand without starting from scratch. This is assuming you have not eliminated or changed any of the predefined editable regions on the dreamweaver template in the last version. Assuming all goes well, you should be able to complete this process in 30 minutes or even less! Following these simple steps will insure that your conversion goes smoothly without losing any important data.
A Few Things to Take Note
The new version of the template comes with new improvements while eliminating deprecated elements. Be aware of the following changes:
- There are no "three" layouts to choose from. There is only one version with two columns (three columns if you include the left navigation), where the right-most column is optional. Regardless of which template you used before, all three templates will convert into the new version of the template.
- The breadcrumb has been removed from the current template's specifications, nor does the branding guidelines want you to have breadcrumbs in your layout. When converting, that region of your web pages will be deleted.
- The photo spread is no longer an editable region. The new template urges webmasters to use one single photo spread for all their webpages in their website. Therefore, you will need to create a new photo since the dimensions of the old photo will not fit into the new template.
- The left navigation will no longer have flyout capabilities as defined in the new web branding specifications. You will not be able to see your links after the first level. Therefore, it is highly suggested that you create filler "table of content" pages to link to those pages in the second and third level flyout list.
Additionally, this tutorial will show demonstrations using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3. It is highly recommended that you have the version used in the examples in the following pages or later as version prior to Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 will not be supported.
