About the Templates
Using the templates
After downloading the templates files, you should be able to edit them to meet your site’s needs. Comments to help you understand how things work have been included in both the XHTML and CSS files. In particular, you’ll need to specify which template you want to use by editing the CSS file name that is called from within the file named index.html.
The templates come with three stylesheet files (each has a .css suffix). Specify either uwBeige.css or uwRed.css in your html file, as indicated in the index.html file. We strongly recommend that you do not edit either of these two CSS files. The template package includes a customizable CSS file (named custom.css) for you to edit and add your own styles.
Working with Web standards
The templates adhere strictly to Web standards. The content in the templates validates to XHTML 1.0; the styling and layout of the content is controlled by the style definitions in the CSS files. Most notably, the templates do not rely upon HTML table tags to determine the layout areas of the page. Keeping the content separate from the style of a page allow you greater flexibility in designing and maintaining your sites.
By way of example, you can change the look of this page simply by changing the CSS file:
If you are new to designing with Web standards, you should still be able to use these templates. Just add your content in the areas designated within the template files. For best results, we encourage you to learn how to write valid XHTML.
If you want to learn more about designing with Web standards, we highly recommend reading the Style Guide for the Branch Libraries of the New York Public Library.
The following print books are also excellent sources of information:
- Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
- Eric Meyer on CSS by Eric Meyer
For continuing study of standards-based design (and Web design in general) we recommend visiting A List Apart.
Creating Accessible Web Pages
The templates comply with UW–Madison’s Web Accessibility Policy. Please familiarize yourself with this policy before creating your site. For additional information about how to make your web pages accessible, we encourage you to explore the UW–Madison Accessibility Resources and WebAIM sites.
Notes on using HTML Editors (e.g., Dreamweaver)
You can use any text or HTML editor to edit your HTML files. Some editors include a “WYSIWYG” or “preview” mode to allow to see how your pages might look in a web browser. While convenient, preview modes, such as the one found in Dreamweaver, are not as reliable as good web browser programs. They will sometimes display certain page elements, such as background images, incorrectly.
The only reliable way to preview web pages is to view them in a good web browser. And because even the best web browsers can sometimes interpret pages differently, we strongly recommend that you test your pages in the most popular web browsers for both the Windows and Macintosh platforms, such as Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer (versions 6 and 7).