TechNote (Archived)

Benefits of using templates

Templates allow a Web designer to construct a site that can be flexible, easy to update, and provide consistency and continuity between HTML pages. Templates can enhance productivity, allowing some members of the team to focus on the format of the pages, while other members of the team create new pages and revise the content without changing the formatted layout.

Designers can make changes to the overall design of the site quickly by revising the DWT (Dreamweaver template) files directly. The pages that are linked to the template files are automatically updated allowing for site-wide modifications in minutes.

Creating templates

Any HTML page may be saved as a template. Simply create a new page (File > New) or open an existing one (File > Open) and make changes to the page properties, insert images, type text, generate layer and table layouts, and so forth. Once the design of your HTML page is complete, choose (File > Save as Template) to generate the DWT file. Dreamweaver creates a Templates folder for the template (DWT file) at the root level of the local site folder.

Note: Make sure not to move the DWT file from the Templates folder. Do not rename or move the Templates folder. As long as the DWT file remains inside the Templates folder, the links from the HTML pages to the template will not be broken.