Some new to the world of website hosting may find it easy 
to come across sites that offer the ultimate short cut to a 
"professional" website. Usually this shortcut will be a template. 
On screen the template will look great with its images, 
placeholder text, and unbranded graphics. The lure of the 
template for the novice user will be strong. Most template sites 
hit all the right buzzwords, "free", "customizable", "ready-to-
use." Unfortunately, to a novice, what they get when they take 
the bow off their new package may make little to no sense at all. 
This article will go over the common structure of templates and 
provide some insight into what skills and programs are needed 
before a template really can be considered "ready-to-use."


Basics- Text Editing

At a very basic level, template users will need a way to edit the 
text content of a template. More likely than not the new template 
will be brimming with paragraphs beginning with "Lorem ipsum 
dolor" or similarly incoherent gibberish. Replacing that with 
your business copy can be achieved in a number of ways. Anything 
from a simple text editor like Notepad in Windows to more 
advanced packages like FrontPage or Dreamweaver can be used to 
edit the text. Using simple editors like Notepad will require 
at least a rudimentary knowledge of HTML, if only to know what 
to avoid changing in the template while adding text. Advanced 
editors usually provide a more "word processor-like" feel with 
graphical onscreen display that attempts to mimic the output on 
the final product. Your choice of design software is generally 
a personal one and beyond the scope of this article. It is 
preferable to have a basic familiarity with the chosen software 
before jumping into template editing, as template HTML can be 
complex and intimidating to the novice.


Graphics

Things only become more complicated beyond text. Your website 
design software may allow you to change text and move graphics 
and images around on the page, but it will not allow you to 
modify the content of the graphics or images. In most cases 
templates have graphical headers or graphics over images and 
logos that will contain similar placeholder text. This kind of 
"text" cannot be edited via Notepad or any other web design 
software because it is actually an image. Virtually every 
template package available today will come with large, editable 
graphic files in a format called "PSD." These are "PhotoShop 
Documents", and may only be fully edited by the industry standard 
Adobe Photoshop program. PhotoShop is the 500 pound gorilla of 
graphic design, it can do just about anything with the humble 
pixel. This kind of power comes with a high price tag, though. 
Coming in around $500-$600 street price, that's just the first 
investment Photoshop requires. The second is the time and effort 
to learn the effective use of the program. Opening a template's 
PSD file will likely result in a cascade of "layers" and "slices" 
even an experienced Photoshop hand would take time to digest.

Few other options for editing the provided PSD files exist. Only 
using the native program will allow full advantage to be taken 
of the file's information. Some programs can open PSD files but 
cannot edit them. Some may be able to import the layers of a 
PSD file into their own native format for editing. A freeware 
alternative is "the GIMP". GIMP stands for "GNU Image 
Manipulation Program". The GIMP can import and read PSD files, 
though it may have trouble keeping text in an easily editable 
format. Other options are Macromedia Fireworks and PaintShop 
Pro. Though cheaper than Photoshop, Fireworks is still on the 
expensive side of the spectrum. Coming in around $100, PaintShop 
Pro is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop or Fireworks, but will 
also require some time and effort be devoted to learning its 
capabilities. Again, it's important to point out these programs 
will not replace Photoshop as the ideal editor for the native PSD 
format. They will likely not support advanced features of the 
original PSD files and may not even be able to open some PSD 
files.


Flash

Similar to PSD files and Photoshop, templates that advertise 
Flash elements also require their own editor. It is beyond the 
scope of this article to discuss the wisdom of using Flash in the 
first place, but as a general rule of thumb, keep Flash use to 
minimum. Unless the template is for a complete Flash site, it 
will likely contain a "non-Flash" version of the template. 
Generally Flash is used for navigation and headers in templates, 
so if don't wish to use the Flash elements, check to see if there 
is a "non-Flash" version that uses gif/jpeg graphics instead. 
Otherwise a Flash editor will be required as well as some more 
time and effort to learn the editor and Flash. Ironically, 
templates can be a useful learning tool for Flash, since seeing 
how they are laid out and scripted can provide an understanding 
of how the animations work.


SEO/Structure

A final note on templates in general. Those willing to buy the 
software, take the time to learn it, and use a template should be 
aware that many templates are not "well coded." For the most part 
this may not effect or even matter to the template buyer. They 
will have a website and it will "work". Anyone who is also 
attempting to optimize their site for search engine placement, or 
who wants to make their site more efficient and use less code, 
should pay attention to the structure of the HTML files provided 
in the template. Many, though by no means all, templates, use a 
"tables" based layout that could be improved upon to make it more 
code efficient and make search engine optimization easier.


Conclusions

Templates are "short cuts", but a short cut the novice user may 
not wish to take. Most templates require a particular, and 
generally expensive, set of tools to fully customize. Prospective 
template shoppers may want to consider hiring an outside design 
firm to actually do the work on their selected website template. 
Some designers recommend this method, as it provides a basic 
short-cut in terms of rudimentary layout and design that can be 
invaluable. Pay attention to the template site's terms of 
service, though, as many will require the end user directly 
purchase the template and deliver it to the designer themselves 
in lieu of the designers making the purchase. 

Mr. Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for 
ApolloHosting.com, http://www.apollohosting.com, and previously 
worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring 
knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. 
Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, 
vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of 
customers. Click for more hosting articles: 
http://articles.apollohosting.com/

Copyright (C) 2005, Eric Lester, Apollo Hosting, Inc.