New SSI Template System
November 26, 2002
Today I just finished refining the SSI templates so that the content is completely separated from all markup— including doctype, html tags, head tags, etc. This is as exciting as when I first started using SSI because, well, just because it is. Here's the deal: when I first started using SSI I read a lot of warnings not to put <html> tags, <head> tags, and <body> tags within the included file, so I left a bit of that stuff in the content template. Site revisions became easier but if I needed to edit things like DOCTYPE it meant going through endless pages in order to make the changes. I wasn't taking full advantage of the 'template' concept.
With this new template system all of that 'non-content' stuff is removed from the content page to a separate file— it's in one place and only needs changing once whenever a change is made. I can go as far as making complete site redesigns without touching the content at all; and for those who don't know, this is cool stuff. You see, the dirty little secret of web design is that once a site is written it can be extremely tedious to make revisions, and so anything that makes that easier is exciting. The way my SSI templates are set up now completely separates the process of creating content from designing the site. I can write a page once and be done with it. I can redesign the site on a whim. I can have a different design for each day of the week even. Free at last!
Over the last few months I've done some other cool stuff too. Lots of content was added to EtToi.com— Links, Restaurants, Gatorbites, Music. It's just about complete except for the Recipes section. I also set up 3 CGI/Perl scripts: the one for the polls has been there since the spring but the guestbook and email form are new. I'm really proud of the email form— it's a thing of beauty. The form itself is a masterpiece (it's my first form); and I added a JavaScript validation along with some customized error pages. Overall the site (ettoi.com) is starting to look like a real website. It just needs the recipes added and then some band descriptions.
With EtToi.com close enough to being complete, my attention is turning away from site-building (assembling content) towards skill-study. CSS is the main focus but I might peruse the HTML specs too. Learning CSS is sort of like learning HTML all over again with lots of trial and error, and dealing with non-compliant browsers. I'm also making another attempt to learn JavaScript.
Thanks for tuning in!
