Information from help files that shipped with Expression web.

Dynamic Web Templates

A Dynamic Web Template is an HTML-based master copy of a web page that you can create to contain settings, formatting, and page elements such as text, graphics, page layout, styles, and regions of a web page that can be modified. You attach a Dynamic Web Template to the pages in a website, and that template defines the layout for those pages. You can use any number of Dynamic Web Templates in a website, and you can attach a Dynamic Web Template to as many pages as you like.

Important To use Dynamic Web Templates, you need to first enable site management using meta data. For more information, see Website Meta Data.

By using Dynamic Web Templates, you can create HTML pages that share the same layout. In addition to providing a shared layout, you can make some regions in a template available for editing while preventing changes to other regions in that template. This means that you can allow others to add and edit content, yet still preserve the layout of the pages and the template itself.

Because a Dynamic Web Template remains attached to the pages to which you have you attached it, changes you make to the Dynamic Web Template are reflected in the pages. When you update the content in a Dynamic Web Template, you can update the attached web pages simultaneously. 

If you choose to detach a Dynamic Web Template from your page, you do not lose any content in the page; however, any further changes you make to the Dynamic Web Template will not be reflected in your page.

Editable Regions

Editable regions are those areas that you specify in the Dynamic Web Template as being okay for other writers to edit.  When creating the Dynamic Web Template, you can enable other authors to add or remove event information in the regions you specify without having to worry that they will alter the page layout.

Editable region in Code view

<!-- #BeginEditable "Region1" --><p>(Region1)</p><!-- #EndEditable -->

Tip In Design view, you can identify editable regions by the boxed areas on the page that include a tab with the name of each region.

 

Website Meta Data

To use Dynamic Web Templates or to enable Microsoft® Expression® Web to maintain hyperlinks between pages in your site, you need to add meta data to your site. Expression Web uses meta data to store information about:

  • Pages which are attached to a Dynamic Web Template, and
  • Pages which link to other pages in your site.

Important Depending on the method you choose to publish your site, meta data could be viewed by users browsing the production site. You have several options to prevent this from happening. For more information, see Publishing Websites.

Meta data is stored in special folders which are hidden by default to prevent them from accidentally being deleted, changed, or moved. The folder _vti_cnf folder contains information about every file, such as which links are within the file. The _vti_pvt folder stores all of the configuration information for the site.

To add metadata to your site

  1. On the Site menu, click Site Settings.
  2. In the Site Settings dialog box, on the General tab, select Manage the website using hidden metadata files.

To remove metadata from your site

  1. On the Site menu, click Site Settings.
  2. In the Site Settings dialog box, on the General tab, clear Manage the Web site using hidden metadata files.

    Note You cannot remove metadata from a site stored under My Web Sites on your computer.