Templates

Templates provide a powerful layout facility that lets you quickly create custom pages that bring out the best in your material. Through simple drag-and-drop operations you can quickly add a photo, or an advertisement, to an article. Similarly, you can create a pages with two, or three, columns of information. Once you're happy with the layout of the page, you can drop the results onto your site for publishing.

Columns

Creating two, or three, column pages is easily done using the column templates. To create a two-column page, for example, you use the 2-column.htmg template, and drop one page into the Left Column folder, and another page into the Right Column folder. The resulting page, 2-column.html, can then be dropped into any page within your site. (You can even drag it back to your library for reuse, if you like. (See the example below for step-by-step instructions.)

Float

The float templates provide a facility for combining two pages with the content of one page flowing around the content of the other page. The name identifies where the floating element is placed on the page: right, left, or both sides with two floating elements.

While floating pictures are probably the most common use of this template, you can include any content you want. You can, for example, insert a teaser with an excerpt from the flowing content.

Slideshow

The slideshow templates provide a facility for linking pages together to create a slideshow. Slideshows consist of a starting page (called slideshow.html) and a set of slides (called slide-1.html, slide-2.html...) that are linked together.

Synthesis provides two kinds of slideshows: Manual slideshows where the viewer must select the next/prev links to move between the slides, and Preview slideshows which pre-load the next slide and advance automatically.

While picture slideshows are probably the most common use of this template, you can create slideshows that include any content you like.

Move to Site

When you're happy with the results in the Template window, you can drag the file into the Site window for publishing. The links, and everything else, will be maintained automatically. Alternatively, you can drag the results back to the Library for archiving.

Note that the dragged page will be removed from the Template window. Dragged files are always removed from the Template window unless you explicitly copy them.

For more information about moving files to the Site window, see the Content Management section.

Example

Synthesis comes configured with an example site that you can experiment with while you learn the tool. Click the Generator tab and you're ready to go. (If the example site is not shown when you select the Generator tab, make sure that View>Example is checked.) Once you're comfortable with Synthesis, you can turn off the example, as well as this introduction tab, through the View menu.

Creating a custom page layout for the Adventures page. Try this example yourself!

With a selection of basic templates to choose from, you'll be able to create the look you want. Quick and easy. And, since you can do what you want, you won't end up with tacky 'fill in the template' pages. Plus, building your own templates is a snap. So you'll never be stuck with something you don't like.

Adding new content takes the following simple steps:

1. Select a page from the Library window.
2. Drag it to the Template window and drop it in the ' Left Column' folder.
   (Folders expand automatically during drag-and-drop.)
3. Select another page from the Library window.
4. Drag it to the Template window and drop it in the ' Right Column' folder.
   (Folders expand automatically during drag-and-drop.)
5. Select the 'dualcolumn.html' file from the Template window, and drop it in the ' Adventures' folder.
6. Double-click on home.html and mouse over the 'Adventures' link to display that section of the page.
   (Note that you may need to tell Synthesis what browser to use. If the browser doesn't start, go to Tools>Options>Misc and select your browser.)

Only three drag-and-drop operations are required to create this custom page. Using similar actions, you can quickly create just the look you want.

As with the Generator window, if you don't like what you see in the new template (or you just want to try something else) you can return the entire page to it's original state by right-clicking on the dualcolumn.htmg folder and selecting Reset. Or, you can reset part of the page by right-clicking on one of the sub-folders and, again, select Reset.

You can bring a page back to its original state with just the click of a button. This also works for subsections, making updates a breeze!

Unlike other page-based editors (such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage) Synthesis can create and update multiple pages at once. Slide shows, for example, and multi-page articles can be built in a matter of minutes. And, given Synthesis' easy customization, the results are the just the way you want them.

Notice that the dragged page is removed from the Template window. Dragged files are always removed from the Template window unless you explicitly copy them.

Setup

No additional setup is required beyond what is specified in the Content Management section.