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4.1 Themes & Templates
ShutterBug's Theme Library offers 45 customizable themes to select from (more
customizable themes will be available soon for free download), and include 5
templates in each theme. But you do not have to stick with any of these themes, you
can create your very own design if you like. The "in's" and "out's" of creating your own
themes and templates, and creating your very own design are discussed later in
Chapters 6 and 7. This page discusses how to apply themes to your site and how to
apply different templates to individual pages from within the Preview window.
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What is the Difference Between Themes and Templates?
A theme contains the design and color scheme for your website. A template contains a
specific layout for an individual web page in your site. You can think of themes as the
framework for your entire site and templates as the layout of your content for individual
pages. Themes are applied to the entire website whereas templates are applied to
individual pages.
Themes dictate where the masthead, navigation menu, page title, and footer are
positioned on every page, as well as the color scheme and other design traits that are
common to every page in your site. Templates dictate where the text contents, photo
albums, and slideshow are positioned within the framework. Templates are handy for
publishing a variety of different pages in your site such as, a welcome page, a group
page, a photo album or portfolio page, a text page, and contact page. Alternatively, if
you wanted to keep every page the same, such as the same group or photo album
layout for every page, then you would only use one template in your web site.
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Working With Themes
Themes get applied to your entire website and provide the general color scheme,
position, and layout of the elements that remain constant on each page (i.e. masthead,
footer, navigation, page title). You cannot apply different themes to different pages,
the theme is applied across all of your pages.
Select & Apply a Theme to Your Website:
1. Click the Preview tab to open the Preview window containing the built-in web
browser.
2. To select a theme, click the Select Theme button. This will open ShutterBug's theme
library in a window that slides out from the top of the main application window.
3. The theme library contains five main categories of built-in themes: Photo Albums,
Classic 1.0, Back in Black, Journals, and Geometric. Each category contains nine
different themes. The library will open with the first category, Photo Albums
selected.
4. Click on any of the category buttons to view the enclosed themes.
5. Choose the theme that best suits your taste and type of website - some are
designed for photo albums, others for text and photo albums, while others are set
up for photo journals, travel logs, and news stories.
6. To apply the desired theme to your website, select the theme thumbnail with your
mouse and hit the Apply button. The theme will instantly be applied to all pages in
your website.
7. Click through your navigation menu to review your site with the new theme.
Where & How to Get More Themes:
The More button on the interface of the theme library window is not currently
connected to anything. But it will soon be linked to ShutterBugLand.com, a place to
browse and download many more available themes. Once downloaded, you will have
to import the theme into an open ShutterBug file in order to apply it to your website.
• ShutterBugLand.com: ShutterBugLand is a website for registered users to browse
and download more themes. These themes are all customizable and free. These
themes are currently being updated for the template changes in Version 1.1 and
should be ready very soon. We will notify you of availability at xtralean.com as well as
at the support forums.
• ShutterBug Theme Exchange: This is a user forum that will be available at the
XtraLean support forum to facilitate the sharing of user themes and posting website
links.
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Working with Templates
Each ShutterBug theme contains 5 different template styles to choose from to quickly
customize different pages in your site. Templates get applied to specified pages in your
site without affecting the other pages. They provide the general layout for your text
content, photo albums, and in some cases, the slideshow. Templates are a faster
alternative for customizing pages for people who don't want to alter the design or don't
have time to move things around in the Layout window. However, if you like the
website with the chosen theme exactly the way it is and do not want to customize any
of the pages, then do not apply any of the templates. Further customization is available
from the layout window, discussed later in Chapter 6.
Select & Apply Templates to Your Web Pages:
1. Click the Preview tab to open the Preview window.
2. To select a template for a page, first select the page you wish to change from the
page list drop down menu located at the top left corner of the interface.
3. Click the Select Template > button to reveal the template drawer. The template
drawer will slide open from the side of the main application window, displaying a
list of template thumbnails. By default all of your pages will have the first template
applied to them, called "Default Album."
4. Click one of the template thumbnails to apply it to the current page open in your
preview window. Don't worry, this action will not change any of your content or
affect the other pages in your site. The template will only be applied to the selected
page, leaving your other pages untouched.
5. To view the other templates, simply click on each one to see what it looks like on
your page until you have found one you are satisfied with.
6. To give different pages a different template, select the next page from the page list
drop down menu and choose a template. Repeat these steps for each page that
you want to change.
7. Navigate through your entire site to review the layout for each page.
8. You can easily change the template on any page at any time by simply selecting a
different template from the template drawer.
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