Using the Template Library
The Template Library enables you to store your own templates so that whenever you create a new template you can base it on one from your Template Library.
The system/templates/ folder is where templates for your library are stored. Each template is a separate text file.
Adding Templates to Your Library
To add a template to your library create a plain text file containing your template data. Name it using this format:
template_name.tpl
So, if you wanted to make a "comments" type Template, you might name it comments.tpl.
The name you've given a file is is what will appear in the Template Library drop-down list when you create new templates.
Example
Let's say you wish to add a "comments" template to your library to make it easy to start new Templates based off of it. In order to do this, you would follow these basic steps:
- Create a new text file. Name it comments.tpl.
- Edit the text file. Copy the entire content from your current "comments" Template in the Control Panel and paste it into your new file. Save the file.
- Upload your comments.tpl file to system/templates/ so it would be located at system/templates/comments.tpl.
Now, when you go to create a new Template, you will see a "comments" entry populating the Template Library drop-down list. If you choose that option during Template creation then you will see that your Template begins with the code that you placed in the file.
Sub-folders
You may also organize your Template files into sub-folders under system/templates/. Using this method, you could end up with something like this:
- system/templates/index.tpl
- system/templates/weblog/archives.tpl
- system/templates/weblog/comments.tpl
- system/templates/includes/css.tpl