Web Development Blog http://www.austincc.edu/webdev ACC's Web Developement Blog Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:55:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Fooling Contribute CS3 With PHP Include Based Templates http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/06/05/fooling-contribute-cs3-with-php-include-based-templates/ http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/06/05/fooling-contribute-cs3-with-php-include-based-templates/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:17:07 +0000 eterry http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/?p=52 The distribution of web templates across a higher education website seems to be quite an issue. In my search for the perfect way to do this i have found many examples of what i call “stabbings” or folks just trying to work within their systems to try and maintain some semblance of control outside of a totally locked down CMS.

I have seen templates distributed with the full CSS files, includes, images and so on. But I thought  “What’s the point of doing that if you can’t utilize the power of CSS from the root down?” I have seen include based templates that are program specific. Such as Get the Dreamweaver Template, Get the Contribute template,  and so on. I think this is fine but I would like to see a template that is independent of a specific program that works in all environments.

One of my favorite attempts to distribute a template but still offer options and control form the top down is over as Oregon State. Their template builder is fantastic, but in my opinion needs to be even simpler in order to really maintain a choke hold on the template itself. Check it out here:

Oregon State University Template Builder

ACC’s Include Based Template: (Beta)

Here is the markup for the include based template. As you can see its as simple as it gets with 4 editable areas: Title, SiteName, PageName, and the content area itself. I split the body tag out so that developers could use onLoad statements and other tags that may need to go here.

<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/1.php”); ?>
<title>Include Page edited with Contribute</title>
<!– Attach Scripts and extra CSS below –>
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/2.php”); ?>
<body>
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/3.php”); ?>
<!– Title of webite –>
SiteName
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/4.php”); ?>
<!– Relative link to local menu –>
<?php include(”menu.php”); ?>
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/5.php”); ?>
<!– Title of page –>
PageName
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/6.php”); ?>
Your Content Goes here.
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/7.php”); ?>
<? echo “Last modified: “.date( “F d Y \@ \ g:i a”, filemtime($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']) ); ?>
<?php include(”http://www.austincc.edu/modules/template/external/8.php”); ?>

Adobe Contribute at ACC

Adobe’s contribute software has been very helpful for content managers around the college. It helps them do simple edits and so forth while allowing web admins and developers worry about the installation and maintenance of template code. Doing this in conjunction with an include-based template that I control from the root has been difficult though. Contribute looks for Dreamweaver specific comment tags in the code and then allows users to edit only those areas. I figured that if the included files were not actually in the website that the user was editing that it would simply edit the content area and everything would be fine.

I was wrong, Contribute wanted to insert code above the include statements and so on , breaking the template. So then as a simple fix i tried actually including the editable region Dreamweaver statements in the includes themselves.

6.php (reference the above template code):

<!– TemplateEndEditable –>
</div>
<div id=”contentarea”>
<!– TemplateBeginEditable name=”SiteContent” –>

7.php (reference the above template code):

<!– TemplateEndEditable –>
</div>
</div>
</div>…

When Contribute went to edit the page, the editable regions were highlighted and everything worked as it should. The interesting thing is that Contribute did not look for for the main template hook up statement in the head of the document which is often in this format:

<!– InstanceBegin template=”/Templates/template.dwt.php” codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked=”false” –>

Simple editing has been fine, I will continue to test other functions of Adobe Contribute using these templates. I think that folks editing an include-based template with software like Adobe’s Contribute is an almost ideal situation. The only way I think I could take this further is to somehow have a Contribute be web-based app so that a local client would not be necessary.

Include Based Template in the Adobe Contribute Environment

Include Based Template Updated Without Destruction of Template Code

]]> http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/06/05/fooling-contribute-cs3-with-php-include-based-templates/feed/ 0 ACC Homepage Update Preview http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/02/17/acc-homepage-update-preview/ http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/02/17/acc-homepage-update-preview/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:52:43 +0000 eterry http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/?p=48 Welcome!

Welcome to the ACC Homepage Preview Area!
Here you can check out some of the new features the ACC Homepage has to offer and voice your opinion on what you like and don’t like, all right here!

New Features!

Spotlight Story

Spotlight Story

An eye-pleasing “Spotlight” that draws readers in to learn about ACC and showcase events and stories that make ACC so special.

Menu Drop Downs

Menu Drop Downs

Main audience links drop down to show commonly used areas of the ACC website. Don’t see what you need? Hit the “more…” link to go our standard audience pages with all the links that you need. These menus snap open and shut at your command. When you come back to the ACC homepage, they will remember your preference!

News and Announcements

News and Announcements

Stories and notifications about important news items appear right here in an easy to read format. Our Newsroom stories let you view, comment, and share with others, right from the story itself.

Subscriptions and Social Networking

Subscribe and Social Network

Have ACC Newsroom content delivered right to your email inbox and connect with ACC via our social networking pages.

What’s Happening at ACC

Calendar Listings

Check out “What’s Happening at ACC” with our updated calendar listings. Images and reformatted information make reading our calendar easier than ever.

Calendar Quickjump Menu

Calendar Quickjump Menu
Just want to see the Academic Calendar or want to find out whats happening at your campus? Use the Calendar Quickjump Menu to pull up the calendar that fits the bill right from the ACC Homepage.

eServices

Common eServices are presented with tooltip descriptions where you can quickly access the service that you need now.

Let me see it already!

View the ACC Homepage Preview (new window) and don’t forget to leave us a comment right here about what you like, don’t like, and what you’d want to see on the ACC Homepage!

]]> http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2009/02/17/acc-homepage-update-preview/feed/ 28 ACC Homepage Update http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2008/12/19/acc-homepage-update/ http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2008/12/19/acc-homepage-update/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:41:48 +0000 eterry http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/?p=46 Currently we are in the process of “updating” the ACC home page. A preview of the proposed page can be found here.

One of the added features are drop down menus that contain links to common informational areas. This information was derived from the following statistics that were generated from our Google Analytics account to highlight some of the most accessed content from our top level.

Analytics_www.austincc.edu_TopContentReport.pdf

The following is a table of current and proposed drop down menus.

Current Proposed
  • Future Students
    • Why ACC Is The Smart Choice
    • Begin Taking Credit Classes
    • Continue Your Education
    • Talk To Somebody
    • About ACC
    • more…
  • Current Students
    • Course Schedule
    • College Catalog
    • Student Support
    • Scholarships
    • Student Life
    • more…
  • Parents and Visitors
    • About ACC
    • Giving to ACC
    • Early College Start
    • College Connection
    • GED Testing
    • more…
  • Community and Business
    • Continuing Education
    • Joining the ACC District
    • Doing Business with ACC
    • Open Records Requests
    • Testing Center
    • more…
  • Faculty and Staff
    • Administrative Departments
    • Helpdesk
    • Board Policies
    • Organizational Reference
    • Forms
    • more…
  • Future Students
    • Why ACC
    • Apply
    • Courses and Programs
    • Paying for College
    • Student Life
    • more…
  • Current Students
    • Student Support
    • Course Schedule
    • Student Support
    • Scholarships
    • Student Life
    • more…
  • Parents and Visitors
    • About ACC
    • Giving to ACC
    • Early College Start
    • College Connection
    • Continuing Education
    • more…
  • Community and Business
    • About ACC
    • Giving to ACC
    • ISD Relations
    • Continuing Education
    • Joining the ACC District
    • more…
  • Faculty and Staff
    • Administrative Departments
    • Helpdesk
    • Human Resources
    • Board Policies
    • Instructional Resources
    • more…

Please review the document, the current links, and the proposed links and leave a comment below or email me your suggestions. Thank you.

]]> http://www.austincc.edu/webdev/index.php/2008/12/19/acc-homepage-update/feed/ 5