This package comes with the starter web site in .zip format. Unzip the package and start editing the pages. You may wish to keep a backup copy of the .zip in case you need to start over.

We have included a basic site structure with common pages that you may use to start with. You may rename the pages, add more pages, and add your content.

Features...

Important note for FrontPage Users

This template uses CSS-based layout, which means that the layout and columns are placed using CSS instead of in a table grid. Using CSS-based layout is W3C recommended and results in cleaner code, which means that your pages load faster and search engines may rank your pages better than they would if they were in a table format.

These benefits do come with a trade-off, however. Because the FrontPage "design view" is not as sophisticated at displaying CSS properly, the heading fonts will seem very large, and the content areas may "wrap" underneath other content areas. This can be frustrating if you are used to getting a good "preview" of what your site looks like, but you'll find that it is almost just as easy to keep previewing your site in a browser as you make changes. You will still be able to edit your text and add content as you normally would; after you save, go to File > Preview in Browser to view your site in a browser and make sure that it really looks as it should.

Also, occasionally FrontPage's Normal/Design view may "lose" the formatting. When this happens, just hit "F5" to refresh the view and the styles will return.

By offering you CSS-based layout instead of tables-based layout, we are helping to ensure that your web site is compliant with current web standards.

Image Licensing Information

The royalty free images used in this template are provided as a part of a licensing agreement between Corbis and Advantrics LLC. If you wish to purchase larger versions of the images for your own marketing use, please go to Corbis' web site and look for the following images:

If you are purchasing this template and intend to use it to build a site for someone else, you must disclose to your client that this template uses Corbis images.

Source Files Included

Source files are licensed for use with this template only. User is expected to know how to use Photoshop or Flash to modify the files; support not included.

Flash Detection Script

This template uses the FlashObject (v1.3) Flash detection and embed script provided by Geoff Stearns at http://blog.deconcept.com/flashobject/. This script detects whether or not the user has the Flash player, and if it does, it loads in the Flash movie for them to view. If they don't have the Flash player, it displays your alternate content. The alternate content is what you see in your web editor (a static image or text).

The FlashObject script also resolves the IE update issue where embedded Flash movies require an extra click for interaction; using the script will allow viewers to interact with the Flash movie directly. The FlashObject script also allows your web site to have fully validated HTML.

Please be aware that the script may be updated occasionally, and it is your responsibility to visit the FlashObject site to check for updates and implement them.

General Information Regarding this DWT Package

The Dynamic Web Templates in this package are Dynamic Web Template Interchange Guidelines (DWTIG) Compliant.  The Absolute Globe v3 DWT package consists of:

  1. page layouts, located in the absoluteglobev3_dwt/ folder:
    1. absoluteglobev3_2col.dwt - Two-column page layout.
    2. absoluteglobev3_1col.dwt - One-column page layout.
    3. absoluteglobev3_splash.dwt - Splash page layout.
  2. the Absolute Globe v3 DWT starter web site, which allows users to create a new web site from scratch that uses the DWTs. Predesigned pages are included with the site, which you may modify or delete.
Definition of Editable Regions for DWTs
doctitle The Title of the Page - this is what appears in the uppermost left status bar of the published page.  To edit this and the following two regions, right click over the body of the page and select Page Properties.  Fill in your own information for the Title, Page Description, and Keywords fields.  You will want to do this on each page.
keywords Keywords for your Page/Site; important for search engine spidering purposes.  To edit, see instructions above for "doctitle."
description Description of your Page/Site; important for search engine spidering purposes.  To edit, see instructions above for "doctitle."
scripting Location for any coding (asp, java script, etc.) which requires placement within the <HEAD> </HEAD> tags of the web page.
banner* Name of the Page Being Viewed - you may either use the "text" banner provided with FrontPage or type in the title manually.
sub_menu* Secondary Navigation - uses FrontPage navigation structure link bar; depending on the location of the page in the FrontPage navigation structure, this will be set to either "Child" or "Same" level.  Default is "Child" level  (see "Navigation Changes" below).
body1 Main Content - in a 2 or 3 column layout, this content will appear in the widest content column.  In a 1 column layout, this will appear first.
body2 Secondary Content - in a 3 column layout, this content will appear in the left column.  In a 2 column layout, this content will appear in the smaller of the two columns.  In a 1 column layout, this content will appear directly beneath the body1 editable region's content.
body3 Third Level Content - in a 3 column layout, this content will appear in the right column.  In a 2 column layout, this content will appear directly beneath the body1 editable region's content.  In a 1 column layout, this content will appear directly beneath the body2 editable region's content.
special1 Place for an applet or anything else
special2 Place for an applet or anything else

* Not used on splash page template

How to use Dynamic Web Templates

Starting from Scratch - Using the FrontPage Web Template

If you are starting from scratch, we encourage you to use the included FrontPage Web Template.

  1. Save the download (.zip format) to your computer (note the location so that you can find it!). Unzip the file to a folder. Open the folder.
  2. Look for the "absoluteglobev3_web" folder.
  3. Copy this folder to your "My Webs" directory.
  4. In FrontPage, go to File > Open Web or Open Site and browse to this folder to begin editing your site.
  5. You may then open pages from the Folder List and begin editing in the "editable regions." See the Template Specific Instructions below for more information about changing your logo and using the templates.

Applying a DWT to an Existing DWTIG Compliant Web Site

This template is DWTIG Compliant, which means that you can easily apply it to any web site built with a DWTIG Compliant template. You may attach the DWT one page at a time or to several pages at once. (Your first time, attach it to one page to test it out. If it doesn't work, you can undo it.) If your web site is not DWTIG Compliant, please see the instructions below.

  1. Save the download (.zip format) to your computer (note the location so that you can find it!). Unzip the file to a folder. Open the folder.
  2. Next, you must import the DWT package into your existing web site. Open your web site in FrontPage. In the package you received is a folder labeled "absoluteglobev3_dwt." Drag/drop this folder into the folder list in FrontPage. (Alternatively, go to FrontPage, then go to File > Import, click "Add Folder," and navigate to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder. Click Open, then OK.)
  3. In the _dwt package folder is a folder called moveme. Move the files from this folder into the root folder.
  4. Attach the DWT:
    1. One page: Open your DWTIG Compliant web site in FrontPage 2003. Open one of the pages in Design View. Select Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply. Click "Open." You should see your new design apply immediately! Repeat this to your other pages (or apply to Several Pages at once).
    2. Several pages: Open your Folder List, if not already open, by going to View > Folder List. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each file name that you want to convert. Let go of the Ctrl key when you're done. Go to Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply to all of these pages. Click "Open." You should see your new design apply immediately!
  5. You may now open your pages and begin editing in the "editable regions." Please see the Template Specific Instructions below for more information about changing your logo and using the templates.

Applying a DWT to an Existing Web Site that uses DWTs but is not DWTIG compliant

You may attach the DWT one page at a time or to several pages at once. (Your first time, attach it to one page to test it out. If it doesn't work, you can undo it.) Then, you'll assign the existing content to new regions.

  1. Save the download (.zip format) to your computer (note the location so that you can find it!). Unzip the file to a folder. Open the folder.
  2. Next, you must import the DWT package into your existing web site. Open your web site in FrontPage. In the package you received is a folder labeled "absoluteglobev3_dwt." Drag/drop this folder into the folder list in FrontPage. (Alternatively, go to FrontPage, then go to File > Import, click "Add Folder," and navigate to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder. Click Open, then OK.)
  3. In the _dwt package folder is a folder called moveme. Move the files from this folder into the root folder.
  4. Attach the DWT:
    1. One page: Open your web site in FrontPage 2003. Open one of the pages in Design View. Select Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply. Click "Open."
    2. Several pages: Open your Folder List, if not already open, by going to View > Folder List. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each file name that you want to convert. Let go of the Ctrl key when you're done. Go to Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply to all of these pages. Click "Open."
  5. A pop-up screen will come up to allow you to assign content to regions. It will list your existing regions from the "old" layout. You will have to double-click each region and assign it to the correct region in the "new" layout. Please see the table above for a description of the included regions. After assigning the regions, click OK. You should see the new design take effect!
  6. You may now open your pages and begin editing in the "editable regions." Please see the Template Specific Instructions below for more information about changing your logo and using the templates.

Applying a DWT to an Existing Web Site that does NOT use DWTs

After some prep work to "strip" your web site, you may attach the DWT one page at a time or to several pages at once. (Your first time, attach it to one page to test it out. If it doesn't work, you can undo it.)

  1. Prep work: You will have to do prep work to "strip down" your pages. You will want to end up with your "bare bones" content -- no navigation bars, no page banner, no "design elements" (the parts of the layout -- graphics, table structure, etc-- that are consistent across pages). Please see our web site at www.jgtemplates.com/learn to see more details about how to accomplish this. When you're done, move on...
  2. Save the download (.zip format) to your computer (note the location so that you can find it!). Unzip the file to a folder. Open the folder.
  3. Next, you must import the DWT package into your existing web site. Open your web site in FrontPage. In the package you received is a folder labeled "absoluteglobev3_dwt." Drag/drop this folder into the folder list in FrontPage. (Alternatively, go to FrontPage, then go to File > Import, click "Add Folder," and navigate to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder. Click Open, then OK.)
  4. In the _dwt package folder is a folder called moveme. Move the files from this folder into the root folder.
  5. Attach the DWT:
    1. One page: Open your DWTIG Compliant web site in FrontPage 2003. Open one of the pages in Design View. Select Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply. Click "Open."
    2. Several pages: Open your Folder List, if not already open, by going to View > Folder List. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each file name that you want to convert. Let go of the Ctrl key when you're done. Go to Format > Dynamic Web Template > Attach Dynamic Web Template. Browse to the absoluteglobev3_dwt folder and choose the template you want to apply to all of these pages. Click "Open."
  6. A pop-up screen will come up to allow you to assign content to regions. It will list your one "body" region from the "old" layout. Double-click the "body" region and change the "New Region" dropdown to "body1." Click OK. You should see the new design take effect!
  7. You may now open your pages and begin editing in the "editable regions." Please see the Template Specific Instructions below for more information about changing your logo and using the templates.

About Dynamic Web Templates and the DWTIG

  1. Dynamic Web Templates are identified by the extension ".dwt."
  2. The Dynamic Web Templates for this package are located in the "absoluteglobev3_dwt" folder.
  3. Dynamic Web Templates act as the "base" for all of your web site (.htm) pages. If you change the underlying .dwt, all the web pages based on that .dwt will change. This makes for easy site-wide changes to the underlying design.
  4. Dynamic Web Templates have "editable" and "non-editable" regions.
    1. Editable Regions can change from page to page -- your page content, for example. You can open the web site pages (.htm) and make changes in the Editable Regions.
    2. Non-editable Regions are areas defined by the base .dwt, and cannot be changed on the individual .htm pages.
    3. To change non-editable regions, you will have to open the base .dwt file. Changing this .dwt file will change every page associated with it across your web site.
      1. Open the "absoluteglobev3_dwt" folder.
      2. Open the DWT you want to change.
      3. Make your changes and save. The changes will propagate across all the pages that are associated with that DWT.
  5. This template package requires you to change the .dwt files in order to add your logo and change copyright information. Please see the Template-Specific Instructions below.
  6. The Dynamic Web Template Interchange Guidelines are a set of guidelines used by many developers to provide dynamic web templates that interchange seamlessly.
  7. This template follows the DWTIG. This means that you can apply any other DWTIG-compliant template to your web site and have it convert painlessly and easily. Or, you can apply this DWT package to any DWTIG-compliant site in a few steps.
  8. If you have a web site with scripting, there are some special considerations that you will have to make when using DWTs. Please refer to the DWT Interchange Guidelines website (www.dwtig.com) for current information regarding scripting (ASP, Javascript, etc.) located outside the <body> </body> tags of web pages.

Template-Specific Instructions

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Within these instructions, we provide directions on changing the logo, image, and copyright areas within the DWTs. We do NOT encourage that you change anything else about the DWTs, as this affects your entire web site. Please realize that if you change the DWT file(s), we may not be able to support the product. You should expect to keep the underlying design "as is."

When first applying a DWT

When you first apply the 1-column or 2-column DWTs, you won't see the page banner. There are a few steps you will need to take to get the page banner working properly.

  1. Look in the source code for this code:

    <style type="text/css">
    <!--
    #flashtitle { background: url("absoluteglobev3_dwt/images/bigpicture.jpg") no-repeat; }
    -->
    </style>

    Delete the bolded code and the image will show up. (You can change 'bigpicture.jpg' to be the picture of your choice - for example, bigpicture1.jpg, bigpicture2.jpg, etc.) This image is alternate content for people who don't have the Flash player.
  2. To fix the page banner for people who do have the Flash player, please read below ("Other Pages Flash Banner Area") for information on changing the page banner area for the Flash movie and alternate content. First you will need to decide if you want to use the generic banner or the colored page banners:

Include Pages

The logo, home page Flash menu system, text menu, submenu and footer are in "include pages." Editing the include pages will update the other pages across your web site. Open them, make your changes, and save.

The include pages will look like they have no formatting applied. This is okay! Simply make your changes, then preview the other website pages in a browser.

Your Logo Here top area

The "your logo here" area is a graphic in the absoluteglobev3 _dwt/includes/top.htm page. We've included the source Photoshop file for your convenience. Open the top.htm page to replace the logo with your own.

Home Page Flash Menu Area

The home page has six Flash menus that allow you to have a title and description. They then link to the appropriate page.

You can easily:

You must modify the Flash source files if you wish to:

Instructions for changing the Flash menu area:

Other Pages Flash Banner Area

The other pages have Flash banners that you can easily update. There are seven Flash banners -- six that match the colors on the home page and pull the page title automatically from the variables.txt file, and a seventh Flash banner that shows the original colored image and allows you to have different titles on different pages (more about that later).

Six colored Flash banners

The six colored Flash banners are called title1.swf, title2.swf, .... title6.swf, and correspond with the six colored menus on the home page.

You can easily...

You must modify the Flash source files if you wish to:

Generic Flash banner

This template comes with a "generic" Flash banner which allows you to have different page titles on different pages. You can see examples of these on the template pages (one column template, two column template, etc.).

You can easily...

You must modify the Flash source files if you wish to:

Menu

The menu is in the absoluteglobev3 _dwt/includes/menu.htm page. It is made up of text links in a bulleted list. Open the include page, edit or add to the links, and save to update the web site.

Vertical menu

The vertical menu is a bulleted list of links in the absoluteglobev3 _dwt/includes/submenu.htm page. Simply add your own links to the bulleted list and the style sheet will format it on your actual web page! If you want different submenus on different pages, open the absoluteglobev3 _dwt/includes/submenu.htm page, go to File > Save As, and change the links and link text. Then, open the page(s) that you want the new menu on, double-click on the menu to open the include page dialog box, and change the URL to point to the new include page.

Footer

The footer can be edited in the absoluteglobev3 _dwt/includes/footer.htm page. Modify the footer with your own company information and links.

Cascading Style Sheets

This template is a table-less layout. Positioning and layout is defined through CSS. You will need to be comfortable with advanced CSS positioning and formatting techniques if you want to make changes to the layout of this site. If you just want to add your content, you will need some basic CSS skills and HTML skills.

Note: Because FrontPage's Normal/Design view does not always display CSS properly, the right column may "wrap" beneath the main column in Design View and heading font may seem very large. This is fine -- if you preview the page in a browser, you'll see that the elements display properly.

Also, occasionally FrontPage's Normal/Design view may "lose" the formatting. When this happens, just hit "F5" to refresh the view and the styles will return.

CSS Resource Lists

Copyright and Licensing Information:

  1. Copyright:  The copyright for this DWT and accompanying design remains with the designer, John Galt's Templates.  You may not claim ownership of the design, nor may you use it for any purpose other than that explicitly set forth below in the Licensing section.
     
  2. Licensing:  The license fee for this design is a site license, not a user or computer license.  This DWT design is, therefore, licensed for use on ONE SITE ONLY.  If you wish to use this design on subsequent sites, you must purchase a license for each additional site.

Help and Problem Resolution:

  1. General instructions and DWT tutorials: visit our site at www.jgtemplates.com.
     
  2. Problems related to the design/use of this DWT Design: Please e-mail support@jgtemplates.com for help or to report problems with this specific design.