Adding content to a page template
Page templates contain both common and content areas. A common area is a shared area common to all of the pages that use the page template. A content area is an area where you would add information specific to the purpose of the page.
A common area contains page elements such as site banners, company logos, and navigation elements. A content area is an area specific to the particular pages that use the page template. A content area contains page elements such as text and images specific to the particular page.
The following illustrates the difference between the common area and the content area. The IBM® Web Site's page template contains both a common area and content area. The header and navigation panel are common to all of the pages in the Web site. The grey area is the content area that is specific to a particular page.
When the page
template is applied to a Web page, the content unique
to that page appears in the content area.
When you create a page template, the entire template is a common area by default. You must manually add content areas which will hold content that is unique to the pages that are based on the template. When you create a page based on a page template, the common area is read-only and the content area is editable.
To add content to a page template:
- Edit the
common area. For example, add text, navigation, or a logo.
- To add a content area, click the Page Template drawer
on
the Palette.
- Drag the Content area object
to the page template. The Insert
Content Area for Page Template dialog box opens.
- Enter
the name of the content area and click OK. When you
have finished adding content areas to the page template, press CTRL+S to
save your changes.
Note:
- If you are going to apply
several styles or paragraph types to a content
area, it is recommended to insert a content area inside the <BODY>
tags
of the page template or <TD> tags if the page template is using
tables
or free layout tables for layout. It is not recommended to insert
a content
area inside <P> or <SPAN> tags because you may have difficulty
formatting
text or adding styles to the content area from the page that uses
the template.
For example, if the content area is within the <P> tag in the page
template,
then in the Web page based on the page template, you will not be able
to do
anything that requires changing the <P> tag , such as changing
the text
in the content area to <H1>.
- If you are going to apply just one style or paragraph type to an entire content area, you should insert the content area inside <TD> or <DIV> tags for a block (which forces a line break), or you can insert the content area inside <P> or <SPAN> tags if you want the content area to appear inline.
- If you are going to apply
several styles or paragraph types to a content
area, it is recommended to insert a content area inside the <BODY>
tags
of the page template or <TD> tags if the page template is using
tables
or free layout tables for layout. It is not recommended to insert
a content
area inside <P> or <SPAN> tags because you may have difficulty
formatting
text or adding styles to the content area from the page that uses
the template.
For example, if the content area is within the <P> tag in the page
template,
then in the Web page based on the page template, you will not be able
to do
anything that requires changing the <P> tag , such as changing
the text
in the content area to <H1>.
Related concepts
Design-time page templates and dynamic page templates
Related tasks
Laying out a page template with tables
Generating Web pages from page templates
Applying or replacing page templates to Web pages
Applying a page template to a Web site
Creating a nested page template