One of the goals of template system is to enable publishers to recycle page sections that need to appear consistently in various places or contexts across a site. The most common examples of this would be headers, footers, and side bars that include standard fare such as navigation tools, a search box, ads and a universal set of links to pages such as home, job opportunities, investor relations, etc. The design of a "master template" that includes these elements is the subject of a subsequent lesson.
This lesson illustrates the use of subtemplates to build a simple portal page. The system consists of a top-level structural template that defines the overall layout of the page, such as a two-column table. Distinct topic areas are self-contained in separate subtemplates, each associated with its own dynamic data specification. The topic areas can thus be easily be both reformatted and rearranged on the page in accord with publisher or user preference.
In this simple example the templates are static. A true portal would have a specification file for topic area to set up the appropriate dynamic content to suit each user's preferences.
The structural template for this lesson illustrates the use of the include tag.
The subtemplates are simply static HTML so they are not discussed here.
Tutorial Contents