My Client keeps changing their mind on the look; redo every page?

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Guest

Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I have to
redo every page.

There has to be a better way!

Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and reuse.

If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one margin, I have
to reload every page!

How do I get control of this problem?
 
If using FP 2003 create a Dynamic Web Template and a CSS style sheet
- apply it to all your pages
- Just edit the DWT or CSS to change any appearance / layout

--

_____________________________________________
SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
"Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
http://www.frontpagemvps.com/FrontPageNewsGroups/tabid/53/Default.aspx
_____________________________________________


| Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I have to
| redo every page.
|
| There has to be a better way!
|
| Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and reuse.
|
| If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one margin, I have
| to reload every page!
|
| How do I get control of this problem?
|
|
 
And get control of your client. Tell them they need to decided on all these
things before you start working on the site and make sure they know you're
going to charge them for every hour you spend making changes.
 
Make sure you are charging them for this. Agree on the look before you
start and record every change....

--
Murray
--------------
MVP FrontPage


David Berry said:
And get control of your client. Tell them they need to decided on all
these things before you start working on the site and make sure they know
you're going to charge them for every hour you spend making changes.


Stefan B Rusynko said:
If using FP 2003 create a Dynamic Web Template and a CSS style sheet
- apply it to all your pages
- Just edit the DWT or CSS to change any appearance / layout

--

_____________________________________________
SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
"Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
http://www.frontpagemvps.com/FrontPageNewsGroups/tabid/53/Default.aspx
_____________________________________________


| Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I have
to
| redo every page.
|
| There has to be a better way!
|
| Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and reuse.
|
| If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one margin, I
have
| to reload every page!
|
| How do I get control of this problem?
|
|
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
And backup a few steps...create several color palettes to work from, maybe
two or three, create a dummy page for each color palette let them choose a
palette they like then go from there. Then if they say we want to change a
color ... you just say; it doesn't work with the palette you chose.


| Make sure you are charging them for this. Agree on the look before you
| start and record every change....
|
| --
| Murray
| --------------
| MVP FrontPage
|
|
| | > And get control of your client. Tell them they need to decided on all
| > these things before you start working on the site and make sure they
know
| > you're going to charge them for every hour you spend making changes.
| >
| >
| > | >> If using FP 2003 create a Dynamic Web Template and a CSS style sheet
| >> - apply it to all your pages
| >> - Just edit the DWT or CSS to change any appearance / layout
| >>
| >> --
| >>
| >> _____________________________________________
| >> SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
| >> "Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
| >> To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
| >> http://www.frontpagemvps.com/FrontPageNewsGroups/tabid/53/Default.aspx
| >> _____________________________________________
| >>
| >>
| >> | >> | Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I
have
| >> to
| >> | redo every page.
| >> |
| >> | There has to be a better way!
| >> |
| >> | Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and reuse.
| >> |
| >> | If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one margin, I
| >> have
| >> | to reload every page!
| >> |
| >> | How do I get control of this problem?
| >> |
| >> |
| >>
| >>
| >
| >
|
|
 
Good point Rob. I usually make a backup before I make a change because I've
had clients tell me "... I think I liked it better the other way ..."
 
You guys are funny!

Thank you for all the advice. In particular, thanks Stefan for the DWT and
CSS recommendations.

I'm going to focus on these.

Any thought about a Layer? Could I make a Layer that I can apply to all?
 
Any thought about a Layer? Could I make a Layer that I can apply to all?

What? If this is your understanding of layers, I recommend you not go
within 20 feet of one! 8)
 
I'll do a mock-up in Photoshop or Xara using my colorwheel schemer thingie
to create several color schemes first.
'Cept I'm taking a hiatus..."design by committee" has been taking a toll on
me the past 3 months.


| Good point Rob. I usually make a backup before I make a change because
I've
| had clients tell me "... I think I liked it better the other way ..."
|
|
| | > And backup a few steps...create several color palettes to work from,
maybe
| > two or three, create a dummy page for each color palette let them choose
a
| > palette they like then go from there. Then if they say we want to change
a
| > color ... you just say; it doesn't work with the palette you chose.
| >
| >
| > | > | Make sure you are charging them for this. Agree on the look before
you
| > | start and record every change....
| > |
| > | --
| > | Murray
| > | --------------
| > | MVP FrontPage
| > |
| > |
| > | | > | > And get control of your client. Tell them they need to decided on
all
| > | > these things before you start working on the site and make sure they
| > know
| > | > you're going to charge them for every hour you spend making changes.
| > | >
| > | >
| > | > | > | >> If using FP 2003 create a Dynamic Web Template and a CSS style
sheet
| > | >> - apply it to all your pages
| > | >> - Just edit the DWT or CSS to change any appearance / layout
| > | >>
| > | >> --
| > | >>
| > | >> _____________________________________________
| > | >> SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
| > | >> "Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
| > | >> To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
| > | >>
| > http://www.frontpagemvps.com/FrontPageNewsGroups/tabid/53/Default.aspx
| > | >> _____________________________________________
| > | >>
| > | >>
| > | >> | > | >> | Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I
| > have
| > | >> to
| > | >> | redo every page.
| > | >> |
| > | >> | There has to be a better way!
| > | >> |
| > | >> | Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and
| > reuse.
| > | >> |
| > | >> | If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one
margin,
| > I
| > | >> have
| > | >> | to reload every page!
| > | >> |
| > | >> | How do I get control of this problem?
| > | >> |
| > | >> |
| > | >>
| > | >>
| > | >
| > | >
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|
 
everything I read on Sytles shows HTML examples. I do not know HTML.

Is there any way to create and use Styles without programming directly into
HTML?

Second, when you say to "apply" DWT and/or CSS to all pages, how do I "apply"?

Do I need 'both' of these types of pages saved? What is the interaction
between them?
 
Open the page you're working on, then go to Format > Dynamic Web Template >
Attach Dynamic Web template.

Normally if you use an external CSS file and DWT's, then you'd link the CSS
file within the DWT file itself. which in turn, when attached to your site's
pages, will apply the CSS and the DWT to every page you attach it to.

So open the DWT file (those that have *.dwt extensions). Go to Format,
Stylesheet Links, then click "Add...", select the CSS file you want to link
from the file list (scroll down the list), select the CSS file or files.
Click OK back out of the dialogues. The page will change its appearance
according to your style sheet settings.

Then to alter the appearance you only need to edit the CSS file to get the
colours, fonts, backgrounds and whatever else you page features to change
them. More advanced CSS helps with layout as well as formatting of text.

As has already been mentioned in other replies to your question, HTML is the
most basic skill you can learn when doing web development - even though FP
might do much of the hard work of coding for you, it helps to know they how,
what and why of HTML coding. Learning the basics of CSS is helpful too.


core20 said:
everything I read on Sytles shows HTML examples. I do not know HTML.

Is there any way to create and use Styles without programming directly
into
HTML?

Second, when you say to "apply" DWT and/or CSS to all pages, how do I
"apply"?

Do I need 'both' of these types of pages saved? What is the interaction
between them?



Stefan B Rusynko said:
If using FP 2003 create a Dynamic Web Template and a CSS style sheet
- apply it to all your pages
- Just edit the DWT or CSS to change any appearance / layout

--

_____________________________________________
SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
"Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
http://www.frontpagemvps.com/FrontPageNewsGroups/tabid/53/Default.aspx
_____________________________________________


| Everytime my client changes their mind on the look of the site, I have
to
| redo every page.
|
| There has to be a better way!
|
| Let's say I set my Theme. I create a template that I save and reuse.
|
| If the client says, "I want to change the color of this one margin, I
have
| to reload every page!
|
| How do I get control of this problem?
|
|
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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