simplify design
How long does it take you to implement a redesign across 10,000 pages?
If you didn't say "exactly as long as it takes for 1 page" then keep reading.
The simple cms requires two items to create a web page: content and a template. The content is the text on the page, while the template tells the system how to transform that block of content into a finished page. The simple templating system allows your web designers focus on creating the design without worrying about the feasability of implementing that design across the site incrementally.
The typical template creation workflow is very similar to that of designing a new site.
- Create your pencil sketches and photoshop mock-ups. Use your existing creative process to come up with the look you want. Just remember to make a space for the page content block and some sort of menu.
- Start building a single HTML page that represents a typical page on the site.
- Replace your example elements on the page with simple tags and functions to insert content and menus on the page.
- Upload the template files onto the server.
- Change the template entry in the simple templates interface.
- Click on "update all pages" to update every page employing that template simultaneously, whether it's 1 page or 10,000 pages.
Satisfy even the most timid executive.
Because template changes are so easy to implement in simple, they're also just as easy to roll back. So when your graphic designer comes up with a design that satisfies almost everybody, but the outcry from the vocal minority proves troublesome, you'll be able to implement the old template just as quickly as you implemented the new one.
Change the entry in the templates administration tab, click on "update all pages," and set your sights on mending your group's political fences.