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Log into Dispatch and select "Template Manager" from the opening screen. From the Template Manager main page, you will be able to import or update your templates, view and edit your existing template sets, and test templates without affecting your live site. You can also go to the Tag Tester, where you can work with your database and Dispatch tags without the overhead of a full template.
Upload your new or edited templates by FTPing them to your "templates" folder. Then select Import Templates on the Template Manager main page. If you forget to upload files, the Template Manager will remind you. When the Template Manager finds new templates, you can assign them to an existing template set or create a new template set.
 To import templates into an existing set, click on the radio button and select the appropriate set from the dropdown list. To create a new template set, click on the radio button and provide a name for the new set. You must also associate each template with a column, section, or interstitial page. The Template Manager will provide a suggested association based on the name of the file. Conforming to the file naming convention for templates will assure that this automatic association is correct.
You can select the template set and the issues you wish to use for the test build. Only published issues are available for testing. By default, the ten most recent issues are shown in the initial screen. A full listing is available through the "Full Listing" hyperlink. If you select the "Show Build Details" checkbox, the build will provide additional information that can be used for troubleshooting. Click the "Next" icon at the bottom of the page to begin the test build.
From the Template Manager main page, click on the name of the Template Set you wish to edit. A listing of all templates in the selected set will be displayed on a new page. The templates are grouped according to purpose, with section templates at the top, followed by column templates and spawn templates, if applicable. The file naming convention for each template is also displayed for reference. The hyperlinked template name will open a new browser window with the template displayed and Dispatch tags highlighted in red with direct reference links to the Dispatch Reference Guide. The "edit" hyperlink will take you to a screen from which you can directly edit the contents of a template. You can delete a template by clicking the "Delete" icon. You can also rename a template set by replacing the name in the text box and pressing "Save Name Change".
This tutorial walks you through creating your first template, uploading and importing your template, and building an issue with your template.
Using your preferred ASCII text editor, create a new text document.
Type the following code (shown in red) exactly as it appears, and save the file as section_default.html.
<dpHeadline>
<dpStory>
<a href="<dpPageForwardUrl>">Page Forward</a>
The code you just typed in contained a combination of HTML and Dispatch tags. The Dispatch tags are <dpHeadline> which represents the headline of the story, <dpStory> which represents the story itself, and <dpPageForwardUrl> which represents the URL of the next page in the issue. Everything else was standard HTML. Note: This tutorial does not cover Dispatch tags in depth. Please view the Dispatch Reference Guide for additional information on Dispatch tags.
Using your preferred FTP client, connect to your Dispatch FTP host. When you connect to your account, you should see a number of folders, including "public_html" and "templates". The "templates" folder is where you will upload your templates for importing by the Template Manager. Go to your "templates" folder and upload the template you created above (section_default.html).
From the main page of the Template Manager, select "Import Templates." If your template has been properly uploaded, Dispatch will find it and give you the opportunity to assign it to a Template Set and associate it with a particular column or section within your publication. If the template was not uploaded correctly, Dispatch will tell you that no new templates were found.
To import your templates into an existing template set, choose "Existing Set" and select an existing set from the drop-down menu. To create a new set, choose "New Set" and type the name of the set in the text box provided. Dispatch allows you to create as many template sets as you want. This is often used for making special holiday sets, or for working out new designs. For this tutorial, choose "New Set" and name the template set "Tutorial".
On the same page, you will be able to associate your new template with a complete section or individual column. From the dropdown list next to the template filename, select "Sect: Default Template". Then press "next" to import the template. If Dispatch is able to import the template successfully, the next page will let you know. From here, you can return to the Template Manager main page, go on to Test Templates, or log out.
From the end of the Import Templates process or the main Template Manager page, select "Test Templates." Choose the "Tutorial" template set and select a single issue to build from the issues listed. Note: By default, the Template Tester lists the ten most recent issues. To select from all of your issues, choose "Full Listing" below the recent issues. Click "next" to begin the build.
You should be able to see the output of your template as it is being built. If you see any messages in red that say "warning", please read the warning to see what needs to be fixed.
When your issue has completed building, you should see a link to the issue you just built. Click the link to browse the issue. Page through the issue and observe how it was dynamically built based on the single template you uploaded.
That's it. Give yourself a hand, this is the hardest Template Manager tutorial to complete! Learning all of the steps such as uploading files, working with text editors, and multiple programs at once takes some time. Once you go through these steps a few times, this process will become much easier. The following tutorials all build upon this template. Thank you for taking the "Creating Your First Template" tutorial!
This tutorial focuses on modifying and editing your first template by
adding style with HTML formatting and additional Dispatch tags.
For additional information on Dispatch tags, please see the
Dispatch Reference Guide.
Open the template we created in the previous tutorial in your preferred ASCII text editor. This template should be named "section_default.html" and should contain the following code:
<dpHeadline>
<dpStory>
<a href="<dpPageForwardUrl>">Page Forward</a>
Templates can be edited and enhanced at any time. For this tutorial we are going to add some HTML formatting and a few additional Dispatch tags. Please type in all of the new additions below (shown in red), so your template looks exactly like the following code. Save your file after you are done. <blockquote>
<font size="6"><dpHeadline></font><br>
<dpStory>
<div align="right"><a href="<dpPageForwardUrl>">Page Forward</a></div> </blockquote>
The code you just typed in contained a combination of HTML and Dispatch tags. The HTML will provide some general formatting, such as font type, font size, bolding, and right alignment. The new Dispatch tags are <dpSubHeadline> which represents the subheadline of the story, and <dpAuthor> which represents the author of the story. Please view the Dispatch Reference Guide for additional information on Dispatch tags.
Using your preferred FTP client, connect to your Dispatch FTP host. Upload your new template into the "templates" folder. Tip: While working on templates, we recommend keeping your FTP client open and logged in. This way you can make edits on your templates, upload, import and build again until everything is exactly how you want it.
Login to the Template Manager and select "Import Templates".
Choose "Existing Set" and select "Tutorial" from the drop-down menu.
The "New Templates Found" section should be visible. You will notice the template you uploaded in this list with a drop-down menu beside it. The drop-down menu should be set to "Sect: Default Template", based on how you named your template. If it isn't, please make that change now. Press "next" to continue.
From the end of the Import Templates process or the main Template Manager page, select "Test Templates." Choose the "Tutorial" template set and select a single issue to build from the issues listed. Press "next" to continue.
You should be able to see the output of your template as it is being built. If you see any messages in red that say "warning", please read the warning to see what needs to be fixed and go back to the beginning of this tutorial to double check what you typed in.
When your issue is completed building, you should see a link to the issue you just built on the bottom of the page. Click the link to browse the issue. Page through the issue and notice all of the refinements and changes that you made to your template. Thank you for taking the "Modifying Your First Template" tutorial!
This tutorial enhances your first template by
adding a Dispatch query, as well as introducing building multiple
issues using a single template.
For additional information on Dispatch tags, please see the
Dispatch Reference Guide.
Open the template we created in the previous tutorial in your preferred ASCII text editor. This template should be named "section_default.html" and should contain the following code: <blockquote>
<font size="6"><dpHeadline></font><br>
<dpStory>
<div align="right"><a href="<dpPageForwardUrl>">Page Forward</a></div> </blockquote>
For this tutorial, we are going to build multiple issues from a single template. To demonstrate this, we are going to introduce the <dpQuery> tag. Please type in all of the new additions below (shown in red), so your template looks exactly like the following code. Save your file after you are done. <blockquote>
<font size="6"><dpHeadline></font><br>
<dpStory>
<dpQuery issue="archives" column="this" max="5">
</blockquote>
One of the Dispatch tags we are adding to this template is <dpQuery> which is used to query your publication database. In this case it will search through all of the publication archives looking for matching columns. If it finds matches, it will display their headlines and create links to the archived stories. The query tag is one of the more powerful tags in the Dispatch tag language. Please view the Dispatch Reference Guide for additional information on Dispatch tags.
Using your preferred FTP client, connect to your Dispatch FTP host. Upload your new template into the "templates" folder.
Once you are logged in to the Template Manager, select choose "Import Templates".
Make sure "Existing Set" is chosen, and select "Tutorial" from the drop-down menu.
The "New Templates Found" section should be visible. You will notice the template you uploaded in this list with a drop-down menu beside it. The drop-down menu should be set to "Sect: Default Template", based on how you named your template. If it isn't, please make that change now. Press "next" to continue.
From the end of the Import Templates process or the main Template Manager page, select "Test Templates." Choose the "Tutorial" template set and select 3-5 consecutive issues to build. This will demonstrate how a single template can be used to construct an entire site, as well as demonstrate the power of the <dpQuery> tag.
Uncheck "Show Debugging" if it is checked, and press "Next" to continue.
You should be able to see the output of your template as the issues are being built. The issues will be constructed from oldest to most recent. If you see any messages in red that say "warning", please read the warning to see what needs to be fixed and go back to the beginning of this tutorial to double check what you typed in.
When your issue is completed building, you should see a number of links and the "Build Complete" header. Click on the most recent of the issues you just built. Page through the issue and click on the links we added with the <dpQuery> tag. Notice how you can move backwards in time throughout the issues. For additional information on Dispatch tags and more elaborate examples of templates, view the Dispatch reference guide and site examples. Thank you for taking the "Building Multiple Issues" tutorial!
This tutorial introduces working with multiple templates. This tutorial goes under the assumption that you have already taken the previous tutorials and have created your first template which is named "section_default.html".
Using your preferred ASCII text editor, create a new text document.
For our second template, we are going to make a basic homepage. Type the following code (shown in red) exactly as it appears, and save the file as "column_index.html".
<blockquote>
<b>Our Publication</b><br>
<dpQuery issue="this">
</blockquote>
This template will display "Our Publication" with the issue date below it. The query will query the entire issue and list each story from front to back with a linked headline, story summary and author. Please view the Dispatch Reference Guide for additional information on Dispatch tags.
Using your preferred FTP client, connect to your Dispatch FTP host. Upload your new template into the "templates" folder. You do not need to re-upload your first template since it is already in the database, but you still can if you'd like to.
Login to the Template Manager and choose "Import Templates".
Make sure "Existing Set" is chosen, and select "Tutorial" from the drop-down menu.
The "New Templates Found" section should be visible. You will notice the template you uploaded in this list with a drop-down menu beside it. The drop-down menu should be set to your homepage, which is probably "Int: Homepage". If it isn't set on your homepage, please make that change now. Press "next" to continue.
From the end of the Import Templates process or the main Template Manager page, select "Test Templates." Choose the "Tutorial" template set and select a single issue to build from the issues listed.
Uncheck "Show Debugging" if it is checked, and press "Next" to continue.
You should be able to see the output of your templates as the issue is being built. If you see any messages in red that say "warning", please read the warning to see what needs to be fixed and go back to the beginning of this tutorial to double check what you typed in.
When your issue is completed building, click on the provided link. You should see your new "second" template right away. This is the publication homepage. For additional information on Dispatch tags and more elaborate examples of templates, view the Dispatch Reference Guide and site examples. Thank you for taking the "Working With Multiple Templates" tutorial!
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The Template Manager provides tools for importing, editing and testing your templates and template sets.
Test Templates allows you to test your new templates without affecting your published site. Test Templates is an excellent tool for working out new designs and debugging templates.
Edit Template Sets allows you to view, edit and delete your existing templates. You may also rename your template sets and delete entire template sets from here as well.
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