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HTML Tip: Make a Template
Make Your Own Template
Why go to the trouble of reinventing the wheel over and over again? When you've got a great page design, reuse the HTML framework over and over again by making your own template. Everytime you want to make a new page on your site, don't go through the hassle of retyping in all the arcane code that's needed to make your webpage.
COPY YOUR OLD PAGES! Copy the source code (what appears in the box in the freeform editor) of the page you'll be reworking and save it to a file on your own computer or a diskette. Label this as "template.html" or whatever name you choose. (Note: In Windows, I copy code the super-easy way, highlight all the HTML code, Hit CTRL+C for copy, then open my Notepad or Wordpad freeware program, hit CTRL+V and the copy is made. Then delete any content you don't want to carry over in your template, save the file and you're done!)
Now use this code to build a new page! Enter your new content in the appropriate blanks and save with a new file name (for example, newpage.html) and upload to your directory. Voila! A new page, using your old design as a basis, in minutes!
BONUS: This should save on HTML errors as you're reusing well-tested HTML in your new page. But always check to make sure your new page looks like it should. View the results online to see or run your page through an online HTML checking program like Dr. HTML.
Check out my Tip Archives for previous weeks' helpful ideas!
Created by Ancarett. Site Updated: 28 June, 2001.