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Why
a Web template?
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The MCPS Web site is a decentralized
mega-site composed of more than 300 minisites
for 191 schools, 60 offices, and many special
programs and initiatives. All of these sites
are created and maintained by their own webmasters.
These webmasters work independently of the
Web Services Team and are responsible to their
school principal or office administrator, who
is ultimately responsible for content on the
Web site. Almost all webmasters are dedicated
volunteers who fill this role in addition to
their regular duties. A number of webmasters
depart each summer, bringing a new person to
the role in the new school year. Most of these
sites take different approaches to navigation,
page and site structure, and content presentation.
Web visitor surveys in 2001 revealed that many
visitors found the site confusing and inconsistent.
In March 2003, Web Services introduced a site
template on the home page, upper level pages,
and the few sites maintained by the team. The
objective of the template is twofold: 1) improve
the site visitors' experience and ability to
find information and 2) provide structure for
webmasters. Specifically, the Web template—
- creates consistency
across the site (fonts, navigation, etc.);
- structures pages in
a modular, industry-standard fashion familiar
to Web users;
- improves branding, navigation,
and search; and
- frees webmasters to
focus on site maintenance and content.
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What
is a Web template?
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The template is a modular
Web page structured with components that can
be modified independently of each other. These
components include a header, footer, global
navigation bar, local navigation bar, and content
well.
Learn
more from this deconstruction of a template
Web page.
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Who
should use the template?
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All non-school pages
and sites should use the template. Web Services
is in the process of moving pages it maintains
into the template.
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How
does the template work?
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The template is a more
advanced approach to Web page and site structure
and reflects Web Services efforts to embrace
universal Web standards such as XHTML. The
template's consistent structure and appearance
rely on these approaches to site construction:
- Cascading
Style Sheets (CSS): Style sheets
create enormous consistency in the use
of text. Rules for font sizes, colors,
etc., are established in one page — the
stylesheet — instead of in each
Web page, creating consistency across
the site.
Learn
more from Webmonkey.
- Server
Side Includes (SSI): Includes
enable the page to be divided into components
independent of each other. The use of
includes makes a webmaster's job much
easier. For example, instead of changing
every page to add an element to a navigation
bar, the webmaster need change it in
only one file.
Learn
more from SmartWebby.
- XHTML: This
new standard for HTML markup is related
to XML and has the potential to enable
users to view content on a variety of devices.
Learn
more from the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C).
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How
flexible is the template?
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Very. Visit the Template
Sample Site to see examples of different
approaches to structuring your site and presenting
content in the content well of the template.
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How
are other MCPS sites using the template?
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Quite a few office and
departmental sites have moved into the template.
Here's a sampling:
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What
tools and training do I need to use the template?
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Web Services
recommends that offices using the template
obtain a copy of the Dreamweaver HTML editor,
at least for their primary webmaster. Dreamweaver
makes it easier to use Server Side Includes
and cascading styles heets. FrontPage will
function, but is not as easy to use. Learn
more about Webmaster
Software. The Tech Consulting Team and
Web Services offer Dreamweaver training sessions.
See the Webmaster
Training Schedule for dates. BACK
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How
do I migrate my site to the template?
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Carefully, and after
much planning. The migration of non-school
sites to the new template involves editorial
as well as technical tasks. The process will
likely be gradual because most staff who volunteer
to publish their office's Web pages have many
responsibilities other than Web publishing.
Offices should see this migration as an opportunity
to assess their site's objectives, delete old
content, and improve their Web communications.
For details about how to upgrade your site
and for helpful worksheets, see Improving
an Existing Site.
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How
can staff who don't know HTML update pages
in the template?
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Web Services
strongly recommends that webmasters include
several of our publishing tools in their site
and page structure. We recommend that all offices
use the NewsBox and Calendar on their sites.
These tools are usually integrated into the
mini-site's home page. Example:
Adult Education home
page. These tools do not require staff
to have HTML or FTP knowledge, enabling the
webmaster to delegate updating content of certain
pages to less technical staffers. Learn more
about our Publishing
Tools. BACK
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How
can I get help with the template?
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Web Services is available
to consult with offices who need help structuring
their migration and site upgrade process. Phone
Supervisor Chris Noonan Sturm at 301-517-5954.
Webmasters also may contact us with questions
about the template. E-mail
your questions to Web Services.
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