Editing product page.

[Simon Williams]

Lets say I have a page that is 'pots_and_pans.html' with my products on it.

Can I safely edit this page using DW from the 'SiteHTML' folder, and save it?

Simon

[dave_finlayson]

Simon,

What is it you are trying to do?

If you are looking to make changes to Actinic then no, you need to edit within Actinic.
If you are looking to change the page, without making changes to Actinic then yes, but these will get overwritten every time you upload. In fact, you would need to copy and paste the page out of your SiteHTML folder and upload it from somewhere else as it will get overwritten when you do the page generation.

If you go into a bit more detail on what you are trying to do we can give you some better advice

[Simon Williams]

Hi David,

I'm looking to change my individual product pages.

Can I define the table, text and images (copying the images to my images folder in Actinic) in DW, and then copy the code into Actinic?

Simon

[Simon Williams]

Sorry, just to expand...

I'm not looking to change the 'external' layout, just ADD to the inner.

[dave_finlayson]

You could yes, you just need to make sure you get the code in the right place within Actinic (making sure you don't overwrite any Actinic code like blocks etc)

Would it not be easier using the 'Edit in Dreanweaver' button (if you are running 8.5.0) once you have selected the correct template?

If you do want to use the SiteHTML files it should be ok but I would copy them somewhere else and work on them from there.

[Simon Williams]

What I initially tried was to select the 'pots and pans' page in the 'Content' tab, change to the design tab so the page was active, and then 'Edit in Dreamweaver', but it seemed to load the main template as opposed to the 'pots and pans' page.

I assumed that making chages to this would affect the whole site, as opposed to an individual page.

Am I right in thinking this?

[dave_finlayson]

Well yes, it would affect the whole site.

When you click on 'Edit In Dreamweaver' it does not open the page (in your example pots_and_pans.html), it opens a template, used to create a part of that page, dependant on where you have selected on the page. So yes, if you add a table into the template it will affect every page that uses that template.

What is it you are trying to add to that page? Is it something that is exclusive to the pots and pans page?

[Simon Williams]

Yes, it is exclusive to 'pots and pans', and I will need to do the same (kind of an information table) to the other product pages.

I think your advice about saving the pots_and_pans.html edited page in a different folder, the ftp'ing seperately would be my best option (?)

[dave_finlayson]

Simon,

I would not do that. Every time you upload it will get overwritten!

Could you not create the code in dreamweaver and copy it into the product description, wrapping it in !!<your code>!! so Actinic displays it as html? Depends where you are trying to place it.

There is probably a better way to do it using blocks of some sort but it's difficult to adivse without some example data.

[wjcampbe]

Design | Library, Layouts tab. Select the Layout currently in use. Right click - New Layout. Name the layout. Make the changes you need made, save.

Go to you pots and pans page, select (at page level) on the Layout tab, against Product Layout, the new layout you just created.

What could possibly be simpler?

If you really cannot do this without DreamWeaver, then as previously said, just copy the html code from DreamWeaver for the additional content [ONLY] and paste it into the correct part of your new layout.

[Simon Williams]

Design | Library, Layouts tab. Select the Layout currently in use. Right click - New Layout. Name the layout. Make the changes you need made, save.

Go to you pots and pans page, select (at page level) on the Layout tab, against Product Layout, the new layout you just created.

It's a custom design, which doesn't seem to appear in the library.

If you really cannot do this without DreamWeaver, then as previously said, just copy the html code from DreamWeaver for the additional content [ONLY] and paste it into the correct part of your new layout.

But wouldn't that as previously said change my inner layout for all pages?

I've gone with the make changes in DW, save the file in a different folder and ftp separately option. It seems to work a treat!

Thanks for your help guys..

[dave_finlayson]

Simon,

OK, here's a better way to to it:-

1. Go to Design | Library | Variables.
2. Create a new variable called 'TableInclude'.
3. Make the place of setting 'Product'. The type 'File Content' and select 'Allow Empty value' and 'Upload'.
4. Click OK and close the library.
5. Go to your product layout and insert <actinic:variable name="TableInclude" /> into the template wherever you want the table to be displayed.
6. Now create all your tables in dreamweaver (don't insert head or body information, just any code for the tables), and name them as you please.
7. Go to the a product and click on the 'Properties' tab.
8. Type in your html page name relevant to that product, i.e mytable1.html
9. Click appy.

With any luck the table should now be in your design and you will be able to specify within the products which table you want to display. Actinic should upload the html without any problems but you may need to add any images used to the additional files list.

This will mean you don't need to worry about overwriting anything you have uploaded via FTP.

[wjcampbe]

But wouldn't that as previously said change my inner layout for all pages?

No. Creating a new layout and selectively applying it affects only the places where it is applied.

It's a custom design, which doesn't seem to appear in the library.

Then Actinic is being abused rather than used. A skilled Actinic designer would have incorporated a customised layout.

[Simon Williams]

Thanks David, I'll give that a try tonight ...

[Simon Williams]

Then Actinic is being abused rather than used. A skilled Actinic designer would have incorporated a customised layout.

Not sure I like that paragraph! Not very helpful either ... Maybe you're having a bad day?

I have registered my outer design with Actinic...

What am I exactly abusing so I can learn from you?