Installation and Configuration Guide
To install the template, simply extract the .ZIP file with full directory structure. Then edit the fields discussed below, and upload to your web server.
This template utilizes Server Side Includes (SSI) on the menu, header, and footer portions of the web site. Please ensure your server supports this function.
Modifying the menu highlight system
This template comes with a feature that highlights a part of the menu corresponding to the page that the user is viewing.
This allows the user to quickly identify their location within your site.
For the menu to work, each content page in this template has a variable called "title". It is located at the very top of the page's source. Be sure to give each page a title by filling out this variable:
VALUE="page title here"
EXAMPLE: You are creating a page entitled "About the Department". The variable "title" VALUE="" should then read:
<!--#set var="title" VALUE="About the Department"-->
The page's title is then referenced by the menu system highlights code.
For the menu system to highlight the link that the visitor is viewing, a unique portion of the page's title (VALUE="") must match what is placed in-between the / / in the menu (com_menu.shtml) system:
<!--#if expr="${title} = / /"-->
Whatever text is placed between / / must also partly exist in the variable "title"'s VALUE=""
<!--#if expr="${title} = /About/"-->
This will cause the menu to highlight the "About the Department" link when a user visits that page because the menu code and the page's title match.
NOTE: text inside of / / is CASE SENSITIVE. Match the words you are looking for exactly as they appear in the document's VAR "TITLE" VALUE=""
The template comes with a working example of the menu highlight system using a primary and secondary level page.
Areas Requiring Web Master Input/Edits
com_head.shtml
LINE 9: <title>Short Department Title - <!--#echo var="title" --></title> Enter an abbreviated or shortened title to replace "Short Department Title"
LINE 11: <title>Long Department Title</title> Enter a verbose title to replace "Long Department Title". This appears on the front of the site when a user first visits.
com_foot.shtml
LINES 8-33: This area is reserved for a secondary menu area. Place top-level (primary) headings in this area just like those found in the menu. Take special note: only primary, NOT secondary menu headings belong here. Also of note: after each menu item, an aesthetic seperator, "::", is used to isolate each heading. Modify the SSI <!--#if expr --> according to the above rules used for the menu.
LINE 38: your_webmaster@somedomain.edu Replace with proper email address. Please see the section on WEB MASTER E-MAIL ADDRESS
com_menu.shtml
The entire menu system requires modifications and proper links and titles/headings to pages.
index.shtml/primary.shtml/secondary.shtm
LINE 1: value="WEB SITE TITLE" Replace in accordance to the TITLE guide described in MENU SYSTEM AND PAGE TITLES
- index.shtml does not require a title -- it will use the "Long Title" variable instead
LINE 2: value="PAGE OR DEPT. DESCRIPTION" Replace with a proper verbose description (Optional)
AFTER <!-- BEGIN CONTENT --> Place all content after this point and before the <!--END CONTENT--!> comment.
Web Master Email Address
Edit the WEBMASTER address located at LINE 38 in the includes/com_foot.shtml document.
To help protect your email from spam, please use: http://medinfo.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/mailto.cgi?make=
This script will create a form so visitors can send email without viewing the destination's address.
Additional Notes
- When formatting or adding content inside of the designated <!--BEGIN CONTENT--!> areas, please encapsulate all content within container tags (<p></p>, <h1>, <UL>, etc.) so proper formatting can be applied to the text.
- Please add any new .CSS styles to the bottom of the com_all.css files.
- Random header images are available for use. The image randomly changes with each visit. To utilize this feature, replace all top-level header images with the following:
-
<img src="http://medinfo.ufl.edu/cgi/pix.cgi?new-com" alt="College of Medicine" />
