comments interfiled On Fri, August 11, 2006 5:16 pm, Joshua Ferraro wrote: [snip]
Meaning that main.tmpl never changes with different templates, only the includes do? The problem I have with this it doesn't solve the biggest template problem I encounter. Many of my clients want to make minor label changes to various elements on a main page, or even remove elements. For instance, they want to change 'Catalog Search' to 'Search the Catalog'. Most of the other changes they want can be done with the new layout and color css files in rel_2_2 ... any ideas for solving this problem without having to maintain multiple tempaltes?
During devel week, Joshua suggested the possibility of variablising all labels. Whether particular template elements are used or not can also be controlled by a variable as well. This would certainly address the issue of small changes and provide a better scheme for localising content by both institution and language. The namespace can specify an institution then a language. This should simultaneously provide user easier facility for selecting different language interfaces for each user. CMS systems generally provide this localisation method. Chris Cormack had raised the concern that this would lead to increased CPU usage. One of the reasons that CMS systems tend to be slower than static pages is the provision for extensive variablisation in CMS systems. We should always have the provision for templates with significantly different content and static labels for the library that must have such customisation. Most libraries are liable to find that increasing the CPU speed of the server or adding load balancing servers is much less expensive than maintaining a local set of templates for attaining the same server response times. The most cost effective choice for a particular library would depend upon the extent of customisation required relative to the standard template in relation to the size of that library's user base for CPU usage. Thomas Dukleth Agogme 109 E 9th Street, 3D New York, NY 10003 USA http://www.agogme.com 212-674-3783