Using a HTML template for a big site help (noob question)

[pokerworx]

Hey all im wondering if you could help me out. I’ve made sites in the past that are not big and the ones that are big I’ve made using the PAS system. I’m starting a new one that I hope will end up big so I want to do this correctly.

Imagine that this is my template

The ones I have made in the past are mini sites no more than 10 pages so I get all my links and all on the 1st page then just edit it for a new page and so on. Now say I wanted to add links to the side nav or to or footer I would have to change every page which is not bad when you have to change 5 pages but I can see a problem if there are lots and I want to learn this correctly.

So how do I split a bought or downloaded html template up into

Header
Top nav
Side nav L
Side nave R
Footer

So if I want to edit the side nav or footer I just have to change one file rather than every page on the site?

Ive always used NVU for editing pages I have Dreamweaver which im starting to use, its a lot different will take me time to get used to it. I know the way I have been doing it is wrong and ive searched but haven’t found anything yet to answer my question so your help even link to a site or video to help me learn this would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

[sirtiner]

change your pages to .php instead of .html and then use includes for header,menus etc.

PHP Tutorial - Include File

[Unknown Webmaster]

If you don't use a CMS, all you need is a little bit of PHP.

I'm pretty sure there are a thread about it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.

1) Change the extension on your index.html file to .php (so it is called index.php)
2) Create a folder called include
3) Inside the include folder, create an empty file called footer.php
4) Copy the "footer code" from index.php to footer.php
5) Delete the footer code from index.php and insert the following in its place:

<?php
include ('../include/footer.php');
?>

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Consider creating an extra file called "tracking.php" for your Google Analytics code.

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I start each of the files I include with <!-- Start filename --> and end them with <!-- End filename -->.

<!-- --> is a HTML comment, which doesn't do anything, but using them to mark the beginning/end of each file will make it much easier for you to locate the source of any problems.

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You don't have to use a folder called "include", but I think it is a really good idea, since the root directory tends to get messy over time, and having the included files in their own folder makes them easier to find.

[pokerworx]

Brilliant guys thanks a million.