Why
use Item Templates
Item Templates are the essential underlying elements of your store design. If
you consider that the way each product item is displayed on the page is a fundamental
part of how your entire store appears to a user, then the importance of total
flexibility and design control over templates is paramount. EROL endeavours
to provide you with this control.
What is an Item Template
An Item Template is a pre-designed mould made up of 'Placeholders' (theoretical
item elements, such as an image, a description, a price and a buy button) that
can be applied to any item in the store at any time. Once applied, the item
will conform to the design of the template, by replacing the template's 'Placeholders'
with the actual content of that Item.
Selecting an existing Template for an Item
EROL comes pre-built with a series of simple to sophisticated templates. Each
Item type (i.e. Display Item, Link Item or Product Item) will have a series
of pre-built Templates that can applied to them.
To apply a template to an Item:
1. Insert all the details relevant to your Item
2. Flip across to the 'Template' tab
3. Using the Move Arrows below the preview field, scroll through the available templates until you find one that you like
Selecting default Templates for your store
To save you from having to select a Template for every new Item you add to your
store, you can set a default Template that will be applied automatically to
every new Product, Link or Display Item.
To do this:
1. Select Tools > OptionsÂ… from the main EROL toolbar
2. Click the 'Templates' button
3. From the relevant dropdown menus, select the default Templates for Product Items, Display Items and Link Items
4. Click 'Save and Close'
All new Items
you add will now be inserted with these Templates assigned to them.
You can change the Template for any individual Item once it has been added by
simply selecting a different one from the list of available Templates.
To create a new Display Item template:
1. Click the 'Edit' button on the Template tab.
2. This will launch the Template Editor Options popup
3. Select your option and click 'Next'
4. This will launch the Template Editor. It is here where you create your new or modified template by using a combination of 'Placeholders' and HTML.
5. Once you have designed your template, click 'Done'.
The Template Editor Options pop-up
When you click the 'Edit' button on the Template tab, the Template Editor Options
popup is launched.
This provides you with the option to:
1. Select your option for editing or creating a new template
2. Rename or Delete any existing templates
Selecting an option for editing or creating
a new template
The Edit Template options on the Template Editor Options popup provide you
with the ability to do the following:
a) Create a brand new Template that will only be applied to the current Item
and will not be made available for future use.
To do this:
1. Select any Template from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: ' Create New Template for this Item'.
4. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
5. Modify, remove or add any 'Placeholders' and/or HTML the building area until the preview displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
6. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.
b) Create a brand new Template that will be applied to the current Item, but also made available as a future Template for use with other Item.
To do this:
1. Select any Template from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: ' Create New Template for this Item'
4. Check 'Make available for future use'
5. Give the new Template a name
6. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
7. Modify, remove or add any 'Placeholders' and/or HTML the building area until the preview displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
8. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.
c) Make a modification to the current Template, which will affect all Items using that Template as well as all future Items using the Template.
To do this:
1. Select the Template you wish to modify from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: 'Modify Current Template'
4. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
5. Modify, remove or add any 'Placeholders' and/or HTML the building area until the preview displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
6. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.
To create a new Template:
1. Select any Template from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: 'Create New Template for this Item'
4. Check 'Make available for future use'
5. Give the new Template a name
6. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
7. Remove all existing placeholders (by toggling off all 'Placeholder' buttons that are depressed') and all HTML elements (by selecting the element then clicking the delete button).
8. Using the 'Placeholder' toggle buttons, the HTML buttons and the 'Insert Custom HTML' button, begin building your template until the preview on the right displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
9. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.
Modifying an existing template
To modify an existing Template:
1. Select the Template you wish to modify from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: 'Modify Current Template'
4. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
5. Modify, remove or add any 'Placeholders' and/or HTML the building area until the preview displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
6. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.
Modifying the template for one particular
item only
To modify a template once off, and not affect any other items using that template:
1. Select any Template from the list of Templates on the Template tab
2. Click 'Edit'
3. On the Template Editor Options popup, select: ' Create New Template for this Item'.
4. Click Next to launch the Template Editor
5. Modify, remove or add any 'Placeholders' and/or HTML the building area until the preview displays your Template Skeleton as you wish it to appear.
6. Click 'Next' to save and commit your changes, or 'Cancel' to exit the Template Editor.