Websites , Templates, PHP?

jmoponfire

Registered
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
 
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/
 
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.
 
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.
 
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