streamlining site changes?

[krownstone]

I have a basic HTML page design that I've created in DreamweaverMX. It's used as a starting point for any new pages I need to make. It includes elements such as my banner, navigation column and colour set, but no content at all. I open this file, adjust it as I need and then save it under a new name, so not to overwrite the original file.

This has worked fine up to now.

Now, however, I'm finding that this process means far too much work when I want to make a change not only to that orignal document, but to the basic page design of my entire site.

For example, in one action, I'd like to be able to update a link on my home page and have it work so that all pages based on that same original layout and navagation design update simultaneously.

Can anyone offer me a few basic suggestions as to how I can improve this time consuming process and perhaps point me to where I can find more info? :wave:

[Wickham]

There are two aspects here.

1. If you want just one place to change styles like font colors, underlining of links, background colors, margins and padding and so on, use a separate stylesheet which is linked to in all the pages. See http://www.wickham43.supanet.com/tutorial/generaladvice.html

2. If you want the arrangement to be a standard by having divs or tables in certain places in each page you need a template. (2c is recommended.)
2a. You can have a basic page which just shows the header, navigation menu, content space and footer and save this as template.html. This seems to be what you are doing now. You then open the template, add content and save as content1.html , add different content to the template and save as content2.html but as you have discovered, if you want the change the framework you have to change the template and then change all the pages.

2b. You use a Frameset which has the header, footer and menu but also has a frame where you want content to change. This is fed from different html pages which only have the different content. This method is old and not recommended by experts but still simple and in common use.

2c. Use PHP scripting. This is similar to framesets in that it has a template with the header, footer and menu but has PHP code where you want different content inserted. This is in separate "include" files which don't have any html tags, head content, nothing except just the code for the content. This is inserted by your host's server before downloading by the viewer. You need to check that your host supports PHP as cheaper contracts do not. You also need to learn PHP and look at the server-side scripting board on this forum.
Or you do it the other way round by having the header, footer and menu as PHP includes on each content page; it's probably better like this.