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Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor Apps
I wanted more (and possibly easier) customized iWeb templates than Suzanne described with her 11 Mystics method. Laying out a page in coding XML is a no-no. Using a GUI is what goes. This is about combining Suzanne's tutorial and building onto it.

After digging down in ~Library -> Application Support -> iWeb -> Domain.sites, I discovered that the saved site from iWeb contained all the XML, pictures, etc. as being used on the iWeb template itself. Only enriched with the stuff you did to it. In theory, iWeb _could_ be used to generate a template. The good news is: in practice it does, too!

Here's how it works:
  1. Use Suzanne's tutorial to create your own template first. Change things like navigation, fonts/sizes, etc. first if you like.

  2. Ensure your Domain.sites from ~Library/Application Support/iWeb/ is backed up (if you already have a site built with it).

  3. Delete your Domain.sites package in ~Library/Application Support/iWeb/

  4. Open "Your About Me .webtemplate from the iWeb package and ensure al graphics and other stuff you want to use are in there.

  5. With the package still open, start up iWeb.

  6. Choose "your template" and for example the "About Me" if you have this one open as the .webtemplate.

  7. Change the layout to your likings. Graphics and stuff you want in are dragged and dropped only from the .webtemplate package you have open. Forgot things? Put them in first, and then drag and drop.

  8. When finished, save and quit iWeb.

  9. Copy the Domain.sites from ~Library/Application Support/iWeb/ to a safe location.

  10. Open the Domain.sites package and unzip index.XML.gz. These are "the brains" of your modified template.

  11. Using a pure text editor such as BBEdit, open this file and ensure all tags are at one line at a time. Replacing >< with >carriage return< does the trick. The >carriage return< is between the first and second line of the XML file.

  12. Copy the "original" Index.XML.gz from the .webtemplate to a save location and unzip it. Open this file in BBedit too.

  13. Put the windows next to each other and start comparing.

    You'll find differences which prevent you from opening the output Index.XML file as a template. Things have to be changed back selectively to make it usable as a template file again. The hideous task here is to spot the relevant differences and change them back.

  14. Watch for changes in the following: kSFWPHyperlinksEnabledProperty, BLCreationLocaleProperty, BLPageGuidesEnabledProperty, BLNumberOfTimesSavedProperty is not in the template, so delete it, kSFWPGhostTextAuthoringEnabledProperty, etc. You have to scan some 50 lines in the first part to see what's changed/broken, or prevents editing.

    Exact guidelines can't be given, because what's in the XML is based on the XML in the original template you based your copied one on.
With some logic and starting to read, read thoroughly, compare, delete, modify etc., you can succeed. My first guesses did work out: the template created works like a charm. Although I was a bit afraid of deleting a whole block of code that wasn't in the original Index.XML.

How to get it back in? Just gzip the Index.XML file and copy it to your .webtemplate package folder. Next time you start iWeb and select your new page from your template, everything will be preset the way you layed it out. Cool!

Now I can add pages to my site (business, under construction), without first changing things like page width, header height, adding a logo, putting lines here and there, adding some pictures, changing the text attributes, deleting stuff I don't want in there anyway, etc. The Blog template, after my operation, is much easier. A new entry comes in "corporate style," with all bells and whistles added and in the right position. Just type in a few lines, and the latest news is there. Now if only ... there were ways to ad a contact form, shell a webshop through iWeb, etc.

[robg adds: I haven't tested this one...]
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Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: OceanCubed on Feb 21, '06 02:14:16PM

Also try:

http://web.mac.com/sboben/iWeb/11Mystics/iWeb%20Templates.html



[ Reply to This | # ]
Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: phfdehaan on Feb 21, '06 04:20:22PM

http://members.chello.nl/haan2

The whole lot and some experimental stuff on-line.
I can't promise daily updates -yet-.
I can promise I'm in the process of dssecting the navigation-bar further and will share the results.

Cheers,
Paul



[ Reply to This | # ]
Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: bnj on Feb 22, '06 12:42:44AM

Is there any place where one can download iWeb templates from? I'd like to give a try to what the other people did.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: Curlywee on Feb 22, '06 04:22:47AM

I can vouch for the combination of Suzanne and Paul's instructions, especially when using the updated information Paul provides at http://members.chello.nl/haan2. I used Suzanne's instructions to change some fundamentals and have since been digging into the XML files to add other changes I wanted to include in my customised template. Paul's approach provides the icing on the cake when it comes to simplifying this, at least until some adventurous developer does us all a good turn and comes up with an iWeb Template Editor.

I detail my experience at http://web.mac.com/curlytool/iWeb/MyLook.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: Snowy_River on Feb 24, '06 07:42:16PM

Well, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but the .xml files that I'm getting out of the Domain file are significantly different than the template files. No matter how much tweaking I try to do (and I've tried a lot), I cannot get iWeb to recognize the files as legit.

I have managed to get new graphics in, and I've changed the default page width on my theme by manually changing the occurrences of '700' in the .xml file, but this is a far cry from the level of customization that I'm after. I want to be able to add a logo, change some of the default fonts and text. After the headache that I've had from just changing the page width, I'm thinking that this is a losing battle, at least for the moment.

I'm just going to have to wait for a better template editing solution, I guess, and effect each page individually until then.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Build custom iWeb templates using iWeb as the editor
Authored by: hozey on Jul 30, '12 05:18:02AM

Does anyone know of an update to this issue? Suzanne's 11Mystic site is down due to the demise of MobileMe.



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