A template is the web page that wraps around your tools. PoppyDog provides a simple template which allows you to specify a logo, title, simple description and some links at the top of all the web pages for your tools. However your tool web pages would look much better if you provided a template which matched the rest of your site. For example, lets say that all the web pages on your web site had a menu bar on the left side of the page. Lets also say that you have created some forum boards for your web site using PoppyDog's ForumBoard Builder tool. Ideally when a visitor views your forum boards, you would want the forum board web pages to have the same structure as the rest of your web site i.e. with a menu bar at the left of the page. We will now describe the different template options available and how to use them. The template options are available on the 'Members Area' | 'Colors/Template/CSS' | 'Define Template' page.

Template Option III : Using the PoppyDog template

Select this option if you wish to use the simple pre-built PoppyDog template. When you select this option you can provide a title or logo to appear at the top of each page, a short description and some menu links (see diagram below).

Template Option II : Providing your own web page that 'wraps' around the tools

Lets say that you have a home page that is structured like the one shown below

This means that for all the web pages used by the PoppyDog tools, you would want the web pages to have the same structure (see below)

Step by step guide to creating your own template

Step 1
Create a web page that has the required structure, and in the area on the web page where you want the tool content to go, you must insert the word $TOOL_CONTENT

Step 2
Make sure that you've selected Template Option II (see images below)

Step 3
Either: save the web page you've just created and then upload the file:

Or: paste the HTML code into the box provided:

Step 4
Click the 'Save' button at the bottom of the page

The End Result: Lets say that you have created some forum boards using ForumBoard Builder. When your forum boards are displayed you will see that the web page that surrounds the forum boards now has the same structure as the other web pages on your site e.g.:

Template Option I : Using a frameset

If you are using framesets in your web site then this is the option you should select. By selecting this option, the template is blank i.e. nothing wraps around the tool web page. This is because anything which does wrap around the web page is provided by you in your other frames. Understanding framesets is beyond the scope of this tutorial, however if you are using frameset or are considering using a frameset the following is illustrates how a frameset might be used:

Pages in this help section

Making the tool web pages match your web site
- Setting the color scheme for your tools
- Creating a web page template for your tools

Related Help Pages

Advanced: Providing a template which is different for each tool