"Front Door" Templates

[2005-04-13]
Excellent presentation by Julie Linden. My choppy set of notes follows.Check PIC documentation page.

Type "/fdc" after yale library url to get to PIC home. Front Door Redesign Taskforce received headers and navigatrion bars and footers, i.e., templates, into which we need to put our content.

Some templates hgave subheads,s others don't. Need to pic the right kind. All templates have Yale U Library banner with one of 4 category imagies. Images for page names, e.g., "Research Tools"( in pea green) Template with subheads has second horizaontal line.

Every template has side graphics stacked on left. At bottom there is block of required elements. Copy right statement. COpyright year is also rolled forward dynamically through template. Also required is contact person, with possible backup person when you're on vacation. Generic libweb address goes to Sterling Reference. Doesn't courrently have javascript feature "high real email address from robots.

Templates can be used if forn non-public websites, or at least not for universal library use. E.g., Sterling Memorial Library" even though its specific. Also consider "Special COllections at Yale". These are standard templates rather than the customizable ones. No need to worry about coming up with one's own graphics, so much easier to use. What one needs to change would be content, of course, titles, etc. Check documentation on PIC site.

Need to use SSH, and get file from server. Not good enough to copy code, since then one loses server-side-includes. Operation go to foloder, type: "/usr/web/fdfiles". What appears is not just templates, but other legacy files that may be ignored. See on documentation file names, e.g., research tools template would be "rt_template_subheat.html" would be research tools template with subheadings. Opened in DreamWeaver, hard to read, since SS includes and images missing. So check "Code and Design" view. Note in code view "Do NOt Remove This Server Side Include". Note prompts for fields that need to be changed, e..g, what follows Yale University Library in "Page Title". Also "Change Title Image and ALT Text Below". Best thing is to get in touch with JHule Linden or Bonnie Turner. Bonnie is PIC's main resource person. Also she creates images for PIC members. Wed need to tell Bonnie whyat text of image would say. Also needs to know which of four templates it would go in. SHe'll make it the right size and the right color. Then code just needs to point to this new file. AI would also need to change alt tag. Alt allows blind person to hear text reader for image. Allows allows caption to appear when cursor hovers over image.

If using template with submenu link, need to put text in. Additioinal links would need to be separated by additional pairs of non-breaking spaces.

Continue to scroll down code page: "Insert Page Content Below": This is where we "go to down".

Last thing to do is change contact information, , ie.., email address. COuld use text rather than email address.

Then "save as" with a different name. Make sure to use "html" extension". Then re-upload to server.

Style Guidelines on Documentation page. Note "Standards for Images" , bhough non-PIC persons don't need to worry so much about this. Need Minion and photoshop., available in Arts Library Classroom,.

Standards for Pages "Genereal" things like not changing background color (which is white). Avoid using boxes, unless using form within page, since it can start to look cluttered. Horizontal rule, use line.gif (in /fdimages) instead of

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, since the former looks cleaner.

Editorial Standards (following the Chicago Manual of Style).

CUstomizable templates: Check Judiaca COllection site. Uses standard fonts and layout. Paragraph format rather than four squares format; and online exhibit link wher updating news could have been. Also note Cross Camps Library. Note completely different images. DIfferent color scheme. Went back to Design Firm, asked for template with simpler html less structure, wihtout all the server side includes, e.g., . For example, see Soical Science Libraries and Information Services, in this case Orbis search box was insderted.

Back to Documentation. Select third link. Notes instructions on where to find these. palette01home.html, for example. Note that content is already there, in this case for scoial science libraries, which would need to be stricppped out. THen also there are supage templates, just provides header futter and some sublinks. Just a shell. Note different color scheme optiions. Judaica Collection is one of these templates. To obtain from server. Inside fdfiles/newtemplates, organized by palettes.

Section on Forms ... we used to use a lot of these, but not so much at this point. Voyager handles much of this now.

These do not use server side includes, so it's possible to copy source from web browser, but subpage you'd deintiely want to get off of server, in order to avoid all the superfous content.

If doing a bunch of pages for my site, worth making my own templates. E.g., if I like Judaica COllection color scheme, talk to Bonnie about getting a header (which are images not characters) plus try to find unique image, not the same that Judaica has. Bar under hl is image So bonnie would ned to change. Anything standaradized could (should?) be put in server side include. COnsider dropping by Pedro's office for assistance, one-on-one tutorial.