Creating Region Definitions Creating Region Templates

4-8 Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Site Studio Designer also group the assets in the web server, but this would make the definitions less intuitive to manage if you use the same definitions for multiple Web sites.

4.6 Creating Region Definitions

You should create region definitions before you create region templates. A definition region definition, placeholder definition, element definition controls which data is displayed and how the contributor interacts with the data. The template region template, subtemplate control how the data is displayed. The region definition, specifically, controls which elements WYSIWYG, Image only, and so forth open in Contributor. The region template is used to arrange the placement of the elements and how that particular data is displayed on the web page. As you create a region template, you are asked to associate it with a region definition. If the definition is not already defined, the region template is not easily associated with the definition afterward. The typical region definition contains multiple elements, and various combinations of these elements are used on several different region templates. That is, the region definitions are as broad and encompassing as possible. This allows multiple region templates to access the same grouping of elements but it does not have to be the same data file and arranging them in different ways. If you add many element definitions to a region definition, however, you should be aware that all element definitions listed in the region definition open in Contributor, even if only a few are visible on the page. Because the region definitions limit the availability of elements in the contribution model, it is especially important to follow good naming conventions for region definitions. This helps you sort out which definitions are best suited for the different region templates you create.

4.7 Creating Region Templates

Region templates are the assets that format the data files into HTML. You use region templates to place the content, such as text, images, or other simple items, that would not be inside of an element, and the elements. The region templates are used to arrange the elements limited by the region definition into the layout desired to be reused as you see fit in the different places in your Web site. The region template has available to it only those elements that have element definitions listed in the region definition for the template. However, the region template does not have to use all elements listed in the definition. This allows for a great deal of variety in the different templates available. It is likely that region templates are the largest number of assets you create for the Web site. Because of this, the naming convention you use in creating the region templates is important. The name should help define what the template does, not where on the page it is used or where in the Web site. A name such as regtem_titlebodyview or rt_bodynoimage would likely be a more useful name when maintaining the site than would, say regiontemplate14 or RT_SupportForum. Since region templates can contain HTML and images and other assets for example, a region template-specific CSS that are not part of the data file that is passed through the elements, the templates can be used to incorporate some information and text that is not editable by the contributor. However, it is important to understand that any of that information is not part of the contributor data file that the contributor edits. This means that as you reuse a region template, the data associated with it displays in the same manner regardless of what data is associated with that region template. It also means that the designer is the only person who would be able to modify that Efficient Web Site Planning 4-9 particular data. The contributor would be able to create and edit any data that is assigned to the elements in the region template through the placeholder, but anything that is placed outside of the elements, but still within the region template, would be static.

4.8 Creating Subtemplates