Volume II, Issue 5
ISSN: 1547-7754
October 2004
printable version

Chris King, Editor
By subscription only, this monthly e-newsletter is loaded with short, "down and dirty" tips to help you with solving the everchanging and growing puzzle of the Internet. This e-zine serves as a place to ask your questions and find the answers. So, send me your burning questions.

If you have been using any of the Microsoft Office programs, you have already been introduced to templates. What is a template? It is a pre-designed/created document that will do the basic work for you. For example, there are templates for sending faxes, for financial planning, calendars, resumes, presentations, brochures, etc. If you have ever put together a PowerPoint presentation, or even attended several, you are familiar with the Microsoft Templates.

Website templates are pre-designed web pages created for you to use as a basis for fast web development, saving you lots of time on website designing. You simply add your content text and pictures to designs and you will have a functional website, ready for upload. If you search the Internet for website templates, you will be amazed by how many different companies offer free templates and also sell templates.

Following are my takes on templates:

TAKE #1. There are many pros to using a template:

• Templates save time and energy. Many suggest what content to add and where.
• You have the basic design for each page of your website.
• Because the design is the same throughout, you have the consistency that will hold your site together.
• Updating your website is straightforward.
• Templates cut out the chance of destroying layout, because they usually have un-editable and editable regions.

TAKE #2. There are, however, just as many cons to using templates.

• Many that are free on the Internet are database driven, so do not show up in search engines (for example, Tripod has many good looking templates, but all are database driven).
• You have little or no leeway in changing the pre-designed format.
• After looking at many of the templates offered, I found that very few offered a design that I would be proud to call my own.
• The better designs are used over and over again by many others, so your site is not unique – this will be obvious to those who surf the net often.
• You don’t have the advantage of working with a designer who will answer your website questions and help you with a custom-designed website.

TAKE #3. Rather than purchasing a pre-designed template, create your own.

• In most web-authoring programs (including Front Page 2003 and Dreamweaver MX and MX 2004), you and/or your designer can tweak and re-design the layout for your final template until it is exactly the way you want it. Then, you save it as a template to be used over and over again.
• The added beauty of this method is that if you have a change later to that template (and change is always happening on the Internet), you can update the template and the program will update every page that uses that template if you want it to.
• These templates also offer the same pros as I mentioned in TAKE #1.

TAKE #4. Where do I find templates?

• If you are using a web authoring program like Dreamweaver or Front Page (and I am sure that GoLive must have them also), you will find a variety of templates that serve as a beginning – these can be changed and tweaked easily.
• Contribute, the program that I mentioned in the last e-zine about maintenance also includes many templates that may be used as new pages.
• If you do a search for templates, you will find more sites than you can imagine. I thought that www.templateblowout.com and www.allwebco-templates.com looked better than most.
• If you are looking to send an HTML e-zine, www.constantcontact.com has clean designs and is easy and fun to use. I liked the fact that I had some control and could make changes to the HTML.

As with any other Internet topic, there is much more that can be written about templates. I have only scratched the surface. I do know, however, that since I started using templates that I have created, my website designing has become even more of a joy than ever before.

Attention! New Offer from Chris King. After visiting many websites, and talking with website owners, I realize that many have sites that are in need of a refurbishing, but the original designer(s) is no longer available. If this applies to you, I am now willing to help you update and freshen your website. Give me a call at (216) 991-8428 or e-mail me at chris@creativekeys.biz.

Remember, send your comments and questions to me at chris@creativekeys.biz. I love to receive feedback and will answer your questions in future e-zines.