Websites , Templates, PHP?

[jmoponfire]

Hi,

I'm developing web-site after web-site and keep encountering the same problem:

The graphic designers hand me a template, I html'ify it, create css styles, then copy the page once for each page on the website. I have been using include files for the top and side navigation and footer navigation. But when a change request comes in for the template, I'm getting tired of having to change it in twenty places.

I want a quick and dirty way, to use one template, and be able to quickly drop content into a number of pages. I could store each page's content in a database and create an interface to to display that code for editions. But maybe there is a widely accepted method already in use, like smarty templates or something. Anyone have any advice?

Jacob

 

[mdnky]

Maybe you should look into using some kind of management system for the site. Try looking through the options available on Hotscripts•com, there's quite a few out there. Some will be better than others, some are free and some are commercial.

A few might have a bunch of unneeded features, but nothing says that you have to use those features. Some blogging software also might be adaptable to what you're looking for too.

http://siteframe.org/

http://drupal.org/
http://www.typo3.com/
http://phpwebsite.appstate.edu/

 

[ksv]

You mentioned Smarty, and that might be a good choice. It's a very powerful and dynamic system, perfect for constructing sites from the ground up.
For article-based web sites, it could be more practical to use an existing content management system as mdnky mentions. I recommend textpattern - must be the most elegant CMS out there. The simple features are easy to use, but still it offers features that even its best competitors don't have.

 

[mdnky]

Textpattern is nice, but just remember it's still in pre-release stages. The latest should be RC3 as of right now. John Hicks runs his site off of it if you want to see a "custom" example of what can be done with it. Until all the bugs are worked out, I'm sticking with Wordpress.