Dreamweaver Templates and CMSs

Can DWT files be integrated later into a CMS or weblog?

[Maynard]

Hi,

Our organisation cannot afford, at present, both a site redesign and a CMS, but in a year or two we will consider a CMS. At this moment our redesigned site is based on Dreamweaver templates. Will these templates be able to integrate with a CMS or weblog at a later stage? Are there any CMSs etc that would NOT integrate these templates easily?

Thanks,
Maynard.

[rogerd]

Most CMS software lets you create templates by adding your own HTML. To convert a DW template, you'd copy the necessary HTML and paste it into your CMS template. You might have to do a bit of tweaking, but the concept should work. As far as individual CMSs, you'd have to see how each one handles templates. You should be able to find one that works fine. Note that you may WANT to change templates. For instance, your DW template may have a static nav menu built into the template or an include file, while your CMS may have a dynamic nav list that changes as you move about.

[bunltd]

Maynard, yes you can. It takes a little conversion, how you do it will depend on the CMS you end up going with. We use WebGUI for CMS and I usually design in DW, then convert that template and it's elements (html, style sheet, images, etc.) into the CMS framework (in WebGUI it's called a style and you add the special tags for the dynamic stuff in the appropriate places (like nav, content, etc.), the images are handled by a collateral system, so you have to adjust those paths) The up-side is you only do this once, the CMS handles the merging of the content with the design. Other CMS systems would be similar.

Hope that helps.

LisaB

[Maynard]

Thanks rogerd and bunltd - I never thought about simply copy and pasting .DWT code to CMS templates. Thanks!

Maynard.