| If you plan to build your own website you'll probably | | | | To make life easier you can use an include file (called |
| want to make your own website template. A | | | | a virtual include or server side include) to update |
| template will keep all your pages consistent, and it will | | | | pages easily. It's a separate file that you put content |
| save you a bucket load of time. | | | | into. Then you link to it on your web pages so that it |
| You set everything up once, and then you use that | | | | is automatically included in those pages when |
| webpage template as the basis for every page on | | | | someone looks at them on the internet. You should |
| your site. All you have to do is plug your content, | | | | have one each for your navigation bar and your |
| page title and so on into the template and save it | | | | footer, maybe one for your header, and it can be |
| with an appropriate filename. Then use the template | | | | nice to have one that can be used for that site-wide |
| again for your next page. | | | | ad. If you wanted to put "5 day sale, 25% off |
| There are different ways to make a web template | | | | everything" on every page of your site, an include file |
| though, and lots of conflicting advice. | | | | makes it easy. |
| You can code directly in HTML, or you can use a | | | | Using style sheets makes changing page styles easy. |
| wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) software | | | | You may not think that's so important, but wait until |
| program. You can lay out your pages using tables, or | | | | you're 50 pages into your website and you suddenly |
| you can use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). You can | | | | think "Oh my goodness, what have I done? Those |
| use the default styling, style everything with HTML, | | | | red headlines look so 1995", or "I didn't realize visitors |
| or use CSS for styling. You can paste your navigation | | | | couldn't read those fonts very well!" |
| bar and footer into each page, or build them in | | | | A style sheet is a separate file that contains all the |
| separate files and use includes or programming to | | | | instructions for the styling for your website. If you |
| integrate them seamlessly into your pages. | | | | want to make a change you just change one file and |
| For the average person who's new to websites, | | | | that will update every page on your website. It takes |
| using a wysiwyg program with tables for the layout | | | | minutes to change styles rather than days. |
| makes the project feasible. But you'll read that tables | | | | You can specify different styles for different |
| are not cool anymore and wysiwyg programs are | | | | headlines. Body text can be different to the headlines. |
| flawed and produce bad code. | | | | Colors and the text size of the navbar can be totally |
| So what is a newbie website builder to do? What is | | | | different to the body text. You can set page colors, |
| the best way for you to make a website template? | | | | table colors, you can even put a border around your |
| If you're building one or two websites for yourself I | | | | pages if you want to. If you decide you don't like the |
| believe you really don't need to know everything a | | | | styling it's easy to change. |
| professional programmer knows. You can build a | | | | Even the navbar can be built using style sheets and |
| hugely successful website with a wysiwyg program | | | | tables. You don't have to have fancy flyout menus |
| using tables for the layout. | | | | or beautifully crafted buttons. A simple text based |
| There are some "must haves" though. You must be | | | | navbar is quite adequate, and still used by thousands |
| able to update your navigation bar easily. You must | | | | of websites. You can make them quite nice looking |
| be able to update the styling easily. You must be able | | | | too. |
| to update your footer easily if you have one. And it | | | | And using a wysiwyg program to make a website |
| makes sense to be able to easily add an | | | | template is really not so bad. They may not produce |
| advertisement or notice on every page of your | | | | perfect coding, but that won't cause your website to |
| website. | | | | fail. You're much better off using the wysiwyg |
| Having to do those things a page at a time is no | | | | program and investing the time you save into learning |
| joke with a ten page website, and a special form of | | | | what really does cause 95% of websites to fail, and |
| torture with a hundred page website. | | | | what you can do to make yours a wild success. |