This directory was created to house the images and cascading styles sheets of the new 2007 AU website template, as well as provide tips and tutorials on how best to implement the Auburn University templates for your campus organization or department.
To save these templates, right click on the following links and select "save target as..." or "save linked file..." from the option menu.
If you create your own template, be sure to still include the quicklinks.html file from this directory as OIT does update it.
full header with sidebar
-used for top to mid-level pages
-best for homepages and main pages
full header without sidebar
-used for top to mid-level pages
-also good for homepages and main pages
-has an open content area for homepage requiring more than two columns
medium header without sidebar
-used for mid to bottom-level pages where department or college identification
is still needed
-not recommended for homepage or main page
medium stretch header with sidebar
-used for mid to bottom-level pages where department or college identification
is still needed, but content can't fit with 770 pixels
-not recommended for homepage or main page
-use this template sparingly as we'd perfer most pages to use one of the non-stretch
templates
small header without sidebar
-used for bottom-level pages that are content only and must be easily printable
(ex: news article)
-department or college identification is not provided in header
small stretch header without sidebar
-used for bottom-level pages that are content only, must be easily printable
(ex: news article), and can't fit within 770 pixels
-department or college identification is not provided in header
-use this template sparingly as we'd perfer most pages to use one of the non-stretch
templates
To download the image files in .jpg and .psd format, please see the images information page.
To see these implemented as header and footer files for the general Auburn website, please see the global includes page.
There are three methods for using these templates. For actually putting content in a template, please refer to the guide provided in the content area of each template.
1) Use a new template for each new webpage. [ Easy ]
Simply download the template and change all text and links for your needs. To create a new webpage, save your changes under another name, delete the content area, and begin again. This is the easiest method, but will be the most time consuming if the AU template has to change because you'll have to change the code on every single page you create.
2) Use the Templates feature built into Macromedia Dreamweaver. [ Recommended ]
Dreamweaver allows you to setup a 'Site', which lets you manage all your website files (local and remote) from one program. You can also setup a template file with selected editable regions (i.e. the content area, title of page) for all your webpages in the Site to share. To do this, open one of the above templates in Dreamweaver, delete the guide from the content area, and then select File > Save as Template... and a wizard will open to help you their the process. When you make any changes to that template file, Dreamweaver can then update all webpages that share it.
PDF guide to creating templates from Bloomsberg University
3) Create a header and footer file from the template. [Advanced ]
If you're a little bit more Internet savy, you can split the code for the templates above into two files (header.php and footer.php), using the content area as the divider. Then on every webpage, use an include(filename.php); command at the top and bottom of your content. This option allows for the easiest updates and the most control.
Click here for a guide to creating header and footer files.
1) Webpage titles should be descriptive for search engines.
Make sure the title of the webpage that you're working on has a descriptive title for the <title> tag. When a search engine has indexed your site, the title is the first thing that a viewer sees and will usually determine if they were visit your page or not. In Dreamweaver, you can edit the title in the "Title" input box located at the top.
For example, every page on your website should not have the title "Sample AU Department". If it's your contact page, title it "Sample AU Department - Contact Us". If it's a page about your department, title it "Sample AU Department - About this Department".
Also, it's better if you can use an abbreviation of your department for sublevel pages. For example, "OIT" takes up less space in the descriptive title than "Office of Information Technology". Some search engines will cut off titles after 70-100 characters.
2) Use a breadcrumb to help your visitors navigate and prevent sidebar congestion.
Using a breadcrumb at the top of each webpage you create provides your visitors with an easy means for backtracking and not getting lost, as well as prevents your sidebar from becoming too congested with links. Each template has an example breadcrumb at the top of the content area. All large organization websites and search engines use breadcrumbs, so your visitors will be familar with them. A homepage would not need a breadcrumb.
Instead of filling the sidebar with links to every page in your web site, you could have the sidebar change based on the section a visitor is in. Then, just increment the breadcrumb for that section, allowing the visitor to move back when they need to.
If you need assistance with using the template please contact Matt Laney at laneyms@auburn.edu or 4-9135, or Lacey Updegraff at laceyu@auburn.edu or 4-9913.
The templates have been tested in Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 7, FireFox 1, and Safari 2 on Windows and Mac. Internet Explorer 5.2 on the Mac is not supported.