Overview of the Template

Since 1997, ITECS has been committed to providing a solid web presence for the College of Engineering at NC State University. While the web was still quite young, ITECS and Engineering Communications formulated a template for creating web documents with a standard look so that groups in the college could have unified and professional looking sites.

Since then the web has evolved. The demand for more information on the web is being met with an abundant supply. Users of web sites expect up-to-date, accurate, aesthetically pleasing , and accessible information. The demand is such that creating web pages to meet these demands has become a complicated ordeal for most users who simply want to put information online.

Our goal in designing this template is to provide a quick platform from which to create simple or elaborate sites. Empowering users with the ability to update pages easily and making content accessible to all audiences are also major concerns. This template is designed for use in Dreamweaver or Contribute, but ITECS also supports the efforts of "power users" who still prefer to use text editors for HTML. This template is fairly straightforward, and the template markup that Dreamweaver uses can help manage the HTML inside a text editor.

New for Dreamweaver MX 2004

Building on the ENGR Template for Dreamweaver MX, this template uses Template Properties and CSS to make document management even simpler and more powerful. This version comes with an even more consice collection of templates, and is much simpler to customize.

Several new features of the template are made possible by CSS2. There are fewer templates in this set because it is now possible to change column widths and position, and navigation elements on each page that uses the template individually. Margins are also customizable. The template now expands to fill the browser window, so space efficiency is maximised.

Navigation areas have been redesigned to be more consistent and provide greater flexibility for sites with special needs. The HTML that makes up the template is cleaner thanks to CSS and has been tested in Mozilla, IE, Opera and Safari.

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This new template set is designed from the ground up to be accessible and compatible with Macromedia Contribute.

Recommended skills for various tasks involving the template:

• Create pages, enter content, update content in Macromedia Contribute:

  Basic knowledge of word processing and Contribute. For a basic guide, see Contribute Document Management. All of the tasks that could be done in Contribute can also be accomplished with Dreamweaver MX.

  Creating content that is accessible requires some knowledge of accessibility issues, but the framework of the template provides for basic accessibility needs.

• Administer the site, move pages to different templates, and update library items in Dreamweaver MX:
  
  Basic knowledge of word processing, HTML, CSS and Dreamweaver. This template uses some built in Javascript Actions for image roll overs, familiarity with how these work is helpful. For more information see Dreamweaver MX Document Management.
  
• Create pages, enter content, update content in most text editors

  Knowledge of HTML. Knowing your editor's features is also vital. Tips for working with the template in this environment are provided in Text-based Document Management.

• Customize graphics used by the template:

  Knowledge of CSS, Fireworks, and graphics software. It is possible to customize the graphics with any application capable of altering PNG, Gif, and Jpeg formats.

  Graphics packages that support Fireworks MX layers, transparencies, and web slicing will make customization easiest. Source images for all graphics are in png format. Instructions on using Fireworks to customize the look can be found in Basic Customization.

• Altering the template Layout:

  Knowledge of HTML and CSS, tables (used much less frequently in this version), accessibility issues, and how different browsers display CSS. The layout uses carefully controlled CSS to maximise a consistent experince between browsers. For more information on known browser issues see the Compatability section. For specific instructions on changing the layout see: Advanced Customization.

• Using the Template with PHP:

  Adding dynamic content to the template is easy and can be done by inserting PHP into files using the template, or by having PHP parse the template and insert content. Both methods are straightforward. At this only a few basic PHP tools are provided with the template. For more information see: Using PHP with the Template.

This template was created for use by units and departments in the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University. The HTML, Images, Code, and Documentation are provided by the Web Services group of ITECS.

For consultation using this template in applications directly relating to the College of Engineering, please see the Help section for contact information.

As an institution that supports the Open Source movement, we offer use of this template, as is, to the general public. There is no warranty (expressed or implied) to the fitness of the material included to be used for any specific application.

We welcome any feedback regarding the template, and it's features.

Open Source Statement :

This template, its documentation, associated media, and tools are open source and free to the general public to use and alter under the Academic Free License. Any site using this template should retain some acknowledgment of the source with one of the small banner image below or acknowledgment text with a link to this site. Any site that is not directly affiliated with North Carolina State University must include acknowledgment as explained in the Terms of Use.

Copyright Statement :

This template, associated media, and tools are © Copyright Troy Hurteau. North Carolina State University holds a non-exclusive, unlimited use license to this material.