BrianP

My company has several websites and we are implementing PHP to create dynamic pages and simplify mass changes/updates. HTML templates are created with a {CONTENT} placeholder, and a separate content file is inserted there. (Note- we are not currently using Mambo, but are looking for a solution.)

We are using Dreamweaver to create/edit content, and the challenge is to be able to edit the content files within the template, so that all the styles are applied. (It is NOT a dwt template--and we do not want to use that method). This is almost like having an include on a DW page. The content shows up correctly styled. However, you can't edit an include in the layout.

The bottom line then is editing content in a WYSIWYG manner, but keeping the layout and content files separate.

Is there a way to do this (with or even without Mambo)?

Se7eN

Brian,

Maybe I didn't understand your question correctly, but let me have a try here :

Whn you talk about template, I suppose you mean the styling of the content rather than the layout our the screen build-up. Anyway, it seems to me that you need a template (for layout) and a style sheet (where you can define formatting etcetera).

Then, as a second independent part, you would want to just type content. This content you can format in two ways :
1 - directly (with our without wysiwyg editor) by using bold, italic, fonts, sizes, colors, ... [these will actually be present in your content as HTML tags]
2 - indirectly, by refering to the style sheet mentioned above, and by selecting a style type for every piece of content you use/create/edit.

This can be done in Mambo, as a matter of fact, this is how Mambo works with styles.

I hope this helps you out, if not, shoot!

Se7eN

BrianP

Thanks for the reply. I'll try to expand a bit on what our situation and needs are..

Right now we are using HTML with includes. While it works better than truly parsed, flat HTML, it isn't as practical as we'd like.

Like I said, we have a couple dozen sites. Some have hundreds of pages of content. The editors, as is their wont, often want to change the layout or whatever. As there are several sections of a site, it become a HUGE pain to make changes, even with includes.

In addition, because we are so short staffed, we would like the editors to be able to write and post their own copy rather than send docs to the web team to HTML-ize. But, we don't trust them enough to give them a full HTML page to edit, because some table cell will invariably get out of whack and then we have to fix the damage. It sounds harsh, but it's true.

So--we want to use a template system. We create a template that is the wrap. The wrap is the full HTML page, including CSS, with a reserved spot for content. This actual content is a separate file (say, contact_us.html) that is really only a some text with basic css markup. The editors can futz with this to their heart's content, with no chance of mucking up the page.

Also, at the drop of a hat, we can completely change the website look and feel with a simple template change. That's powerful stuff, and I'm sure you can appreciate the advantage over having to touch every page, even those with includes, because if the design changes in some fundamental way, the includes can become irrelevant.

Anyway, the challenge is getting Dreamweaver (or some other editor... GoLive?) to work in this environment--seeing the copy within the wrap, with the styles applied, but not editing the wrap. If anyone has any advice in this area, please let me know.