What is a Template?

Overview

Each page of your BPD website is based on a template, and each template is broken up into sections called 'zones'.  This design gives the site its structure and allows page content to be shrunk, expanded and customised depending on the look and feel desired and device used. 
 

There are 5 template types:

1. Theme Layout - site header and footer content, as well as overall look and feel. See What is the Theme Layout? for more detail.
2. Standard Pages - core pages common to all sites, such as the Cart, Product Detail, and Order History. 
3. Custom Pages - content pages unique to your site. This might be your FAQs, About Us, or Terms & Conditions.
4. Emails - customisable email templates for communications such as Order Confirmation, Order Shipped, or New User Registration.
5. Articles - customisable templates for newsletters and other suitable content such as blogs and FAQs.  

Example of Output

Standard and Custom page templates are rendered within the 'Content' zone of the Theme Layout (meaning they are wrapped by the theme's header and footer zones).  

You can see an example of this in the image below. The highlighted area is the Product Detail Template. The dimmed area at the top is the Theme Layout's Top Bar, Header, and Navigation zones.

Where to find a Template

You can find any of your site's templates via the Content menu in the CMS. Select Pages & Templates to access all standard and custom page templates. Select Emails for templates that structure the different emails sent, Select Articles for article templates. 

Once you select one of the sub-menu items, you can find the page template you're after. Let's select 'Pages & Templates' here.

The Edit Template page is divided into 2 panels:   

1. The Widget Layout panel - where you can add, edit, enable/disable, move, and delete widgets.
2. The Template Layout panel - a visual representation of the zone placement on the page, shown at right in the image below. 

In addition to customising the widgets on a template, you can also change the template's overall layout. 

Simply click 'Change' in the layout preview panel, then select 'Add Custom Layout' on the next page.

See our guide to the CMS Custom Layout Creator for further instruction on creating your own layouts.

Additional Information

It's good practice to test changes on your Stage site first, before overhauling layouts in your live environment!

Related help

• Page:
  What is the Theme Layout?
• Page:
  What is a Template?
• Page:
  What is File Manager in the CMS?
• Page:
  Getting Started with the CMS
• Page:
  Assign Products in Category Maintenance