Templates have two functions in KBPublisher--to standardize article design and to add boilerplate text.
To standardize design
Suppose you want each page in your knowledgebase to have three headings: 'Introduction', 'Steps' and 'Conclusion'. The 'Steps' section should be a simple bulleted list. You want all your authors to keep to the same format so you set up a template and ask them to create articles using that template
Or maybe you run a Help Desk. Rather than simply have users type their problem into a free-format article field, you can set up a form template and ask them to fill it in.
KBPublisher ships with four standard Article templates:
- The default template, which is a white background with standard formatting
- Page Content -- This is similar to the default template, but it includes headings and a numbered list
- Info Box -- a box with a yellow background, good for displaying information
- Info Box 2 -- similar to Info Box, but the box has a grey background.
The default template is the base template. You do not need to specify it.
If you do specify a template, you can:
- Choose to replace existing content, whereby everything you have written in the article to date is overwritten, or
- Simply add the new template where your cursor is currently placed, or
- Include the template in the article. If you choose this option, a special tag (e.g. [tmpl:include|<template_key>] ) is placed in the text to denote where the template is to be placed, and the content of the template is included at the rendering stage. This means that when you edit the article you do not see the contents that are being included; you just see the special tag.
Boilerplate text
If you find yourself continually typing the same content over and over again, you can use templates to simplify the work.
Maybe you need to add a disclaimer at the bottom of each page. The disclaimer is exactly the same on every page, and you don't want the bother of typing it in every time. A template saves time typing the disclaimer initially, but your legal people keep changing it. You don't want the hassle of changing every page. Not to worry. You can include a template. If the disclaimer changes, then all you have to do is change the template and the next time someone views the page they will see the correct disclaimer
