This command allows you to rapidly build pages
with differing content but the same outer formatting (like a template).
Create a single table in a blank html file, use the
first row for the names of the special tags you want to use, then all
subsequent rows as the html data. Each row will feed into a new "page"
merged from the template. In the template file, insert placeholder tags
matching the names you used in the data file. (example: gorf in the data
page becomes <gorf></gorf>). "Include placeholder tags
in output" means that the tag used as a placeholder in the template
stays in the outputted html, otherwise it is removed (to alleviate errors
in older browsers). This command is very much like a "mail merge"
tool in a word processor. Three special tagnames:1) wmsavefilepath - if included the URL in
that table cell below will the the filename the command saves that row to; 2)
wminclude_XXX - [where XXX is anything you specify (wminclude_joe) ] will include the contents
of the file pointed to in the URL instead of the URL itself. (For large HTML stuff you dont want in
the table or .txt files for external info) 3) wmdate - place this tag in the prototype file only,
NOT the data table. If included, it will be replaced by the current date and time.
If you want to change the template, just
edit it in DW then re-run this command. Always run this command
from a fresh, blank page (the command) and NEVER have either the
prototype file or the template file open in another window of Dreamweaver
while it runs!!!! |