FrontPage and Commission Junction Technology
The Tutorial - Part 2

Step 2: Creating a Template

If you remember the previous step we said that the key to success in all of this is in Creating a template-based Web site that uses SmartZones for Advertising.  Obviously, our first step in that take would be to learn how to create a template.

The first step design what I call the Perfect Page.  I'll call it that because this is the format that you are going to use throughout your Web site.  You better like it because you are going to be stuck with it for awhile.  Ever wondered why all the pages at FrontPage World look alike?

The Perfect Page will contain the layout, graphic, menu bars, etc. for your entire site with special sections designated for your advertising.  You'll notice this page (as well as the rest of FrontPage World) is laid out in the following matter:

Some people like this kind of approach:

There are obviously many themes on this one.  Choose one that works for you.  Use the Net for inspiration.  As Declan Dunn likes to constantly remind his audiences, instead of creating mediocrity, why not copy genius?

The beauty of FrontPage is that you can easily take these four elements (heck, add more if you want), into one page made up of sub or smaller pages.  This specific page commissionjunctiontutorial2.htm is actually a table with content and three other pages in it.  The Logo and Menu Bar is found at http://www.frontpageworld.com/newsite/newbanner.htm.  The Rotating Banner Ad is found at http://www.frontpageworld.com/engine/generator1.htm.  The Footer is found at http://www.frontpageworld.com/newsite/footer.htm.

Why did I go through all this effort?  Simple - the pages listed above are also the Menu Bar, Rotating Banner Ad and Footer for almost every page in this Web site.  Still don't get it?  Simple, if I need to make a change to my menu bar, I change the single Menu page and the entire site gets updated in the process.  Cool, eh?

FrontPage World is over a hundred pages of content.  I don't have any desire to update every single page every time we make a change to this site and I don't have to.

How did I do it?  I used the Insert | Include Page option in FrontPage within a series of tables to add these pages of content. 

So, back to the subject.

You create a template made up of the elements you want in your site.  For the time being, make The Ad section simply a piece that says Insert Ad Here.  We will do that later ...

So, create a template using your layout and elements.  We have one for FrontPage World.  It is called, get this http://www.frontpageworld.com/template.htm.

If you want to, you can go through the process of saving that page as a true FrontPage template.  Me, personally, I load the template, change it for my purposes and do a Save | Save As and give it a new file name.  It is your choice.

Remember, I called this the Perfect Page because it is going to have to be perfect for all of your needs.  If it isn't, you are going to hate yourself later.  Make sure you got it right.

So, make a template with a menu bar, a footer and an advertising section.  Add additional elements if you want, it is a free world.

Don't worry, I'll wait.

Now that you have, let's talk about what to do with that Advertising Page.

Click here for Part 3 (coming very very soon).