Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with template

How to Create a User-Friendly InDesign Template - Best Practices

Hello Darling — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:23:38 -0800

I need to create a user-friendly InDesign template for a client that they can re-use and customize slightly over and over. Normally I'm the one doing the customizing so I'm a little leery of my ability to produce an editable template document that will be easy for someone else to use with less InDesign knowledge. (I'm somewhere between being a beginner and an intermediate user.) Fellow designers, could you weigh in with tips, warnings, and resources? There will be about unique 10 page templates, each of which will have master elements that should be able to have their color changed en masse but not their position. 2-3 of the pages will need to be duplicated over and over as a set but I'm not sure how to make that easy to do. I Googled "how to make an InDesign template" and am attempting to sift through the morass of old tutorials. Tips and advice along the lines of, "Always do X, never do Y" are appreciated. Document will mostly be used in PDF form, though eventually I'll be working to help the client print and bind it. Thank you!

This is not for the boss I described in a previous AskMe last month, in case any one asks.

Help me move my blog from Blogger to WordPress.

The Girl Who Ate Boston — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:35:04 -0800

Should I try to move my custom-domain blog from Blogger to WordPress using the WordPress "import blog" feature, or is it worth hiring a professional to be sure I don't mess it up? Also, WordPress template questions. I understand there's a feature on WordPress that will allow me to import my blog from Blogger. Does anyone have experience using this feature? If it's relatively foolproof, I'd like to use it and save my money. On the other hand, if I did hire a professional to move my blog, how would I go about finding such a professional and about how much should I expect it to cost?

Details:
— I have a custom domain name.
— The blog has about 15 posts and fewer than 5 pages, so it's not currently a huge blog.
— I'm planning on using the WordPress.com hosting platform, not the self-hosting on WordPress.org (at least for now).

WordPress template questions:
(1) I don't mind paying for a premium theme, but I can't really experiment with the theme "preview." How do I go about deciding what theme to buy when I can't experiment with them?
(2) I can't play around with the template layout until my blog is already transferred, at which point I'll have traffic coming. (Right?) I don't want my readers to see my in-progress layout but I can't think of how to avoid/minimize this besides doing the Blogger/WordPress switch in the middle of the night. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Where to buy a website template?

pakora1 — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:04:27 -0800

Where can I buy a fully functional working website template for my business with all rights. I need a website for my business and would like to buy a ready made functional template for it. The website needs to be around 10 pages maximum and would display products etc. hence a business website.

Where can I buy a template with all rights? I do not want any later conflict around rights to this website. Looked at things like Wix etc. but they may have rights to the templates once I use them.
I will be hosting the website perhaps on a Godaddy or a Dreamhost. Is it possible to get this fully working website and plug it into my domain?

Thank you.

Where can I find a good family tree template online?

Wanderer7 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:43:55 -0800

I want to create a family tree that includes my grandparents, my parents and their siblings, and all their children (my cousins), and finally my siblings children. If possible I'd also like to include everyone's spouses as well. Ideally I want to be able to include photos, and contact information for each of them. I could certainly try to create this myself but realized someone else has probably done the same thing so I'm hoping I can spare myself the extra work. Can anyone help me with this request?

(Simple, Clean, Modern) Open Source Web Design Template?

tomwheeler — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:49:12 -0800

I occasionally contribute tutorials to open source projects and I'm looking for a standard Web page template I can use for these. Although I know HTML/CSS and could write one from scratch, I'd rather spend that time writing more (or better) documentation for the projects. Do you know of any simple, nice looking, open source templates I could use? The ideal template would be:

Free: no cost and either is in the public domain or has a very liberal license like Apache. Requiring attribution is OK, but it's better if it can be in the page source instead of visible to the end user (my name doesn't go on the tutorial either)

Modern: works 100% in all browsers common today and gracefully degrades for older ones

Simple: Doesn't use gratuitous Javascript or define a zillion CSS classes. Ideally, the CSS would be small enough to include directly in the page's <head> element so there's just one file.

Attractive: Github's Wiki markup wins here, but fails at simplicity

If there's support for code syntax highlighting (especially Java, UNIX Shell, Python and R), that would be a big plus.

Responsive Email Template Resources?

mgriffioen — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:21:14 -0800

Know of a good resource for mobile-friendly responsive email templates for html emails? I've been tasked with converting the (mostly) table-based html emails I've been developing to more mobile-friendly, responsive layouts. Any resources for templates and tutorials are greatly appreciated!

How to recreate the style of a document?

alice ayres — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 08:28:58 -0800

Two part question regarding a template and title for a document I am working on. I really like the look and feel of this document. The style of the document is neat and varied across pages, which I think will help highlight the different types of details and accomplishments in an accomplishments document that I am looking to put together.

I would like to create a document that has a similar layout and formatting. What is the best way to go about creating the template? Is this doable at all in Word? If Word is not an option, I probably don't have the skills to make this layout. Who can I look to provide the service of creating this layout, so that I could enter the text, details and photos?

The other part of this question is concerning the title. Is there a better title that I can use that does not involve accomplishments, reflections, or a "look back"?

Thank you for your help!

How can I create a photo collage without it breaking me?

tkerugger — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 09:09:58 -0800

How do I (easily) make a 12x36, 12 picture collage in Photoshop? Hi guys!

So, we took a picture of Hank every month for each of his first 12 months...the idea was to make a collage of the prints. (Original, no?)

What I'd like:

-one 12x36 .psd file, which I'd like to contain the 12 individual images that make up Hank's first year.

-white background, slight drop shadow behind each image of the collage.

Is there an automation within Photoshop that I can use? Or template that I can download? I'm familiar with PS CS2, but have recently downloaded (legally...a trial) of CS6. My skills have dulled as I spend far more time on Lightroom than Photoshop, and I'm worried that if I try to do it without automation or a template it is going to take 40 hours and not look right... Also, I;m somewhat of a perfectionist, so I really need you to save my sanity!

Thanks in advance!

Neil

Strategy for removing hardcoded links from a Wordpress theme?

radiocontrolled — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 03:36:32 -0800

Strategy for removing hardcoded links from a Wordpress theme? I have a Wordpress site installed in a subfolder: test.com/dev which I will soon be moving to live.

The problem I am having is that in my theme folder, in some of my templates there are hardcoded URLs (e.g. in my header and some other template files), so when I move the site those links will be broken.

What's a good strategy for fixing this issue before I move the site from dev to live? Should I recursively search and replace the theme directory to remove hardcoded links when my site move is imminent?

Is there another strategy I should try?

Many thanks

Step 1. ??? Step 2. ???? Step 3. Deliciousness!

lunasol — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:01:29 -0800

What are some good template recipes? Series of such recipes are especially appreciated! I've been expanding my cooking repertoire lately, and I've been finding that I really appreciate recipes that are more like templates. Some examples of what I'm talking about include this chili template and this stir fry technique guide.

I like these because I'm a fairly improvisational cook, and I like to be able to vary a recipe based on what I'm in the mood for or what I have on hand. But if there are important techniques, steps or ingredients, I want to be sure I know them - ie, I know that I can use whatever seasonings I want in a salad dressing, but it needs a base of an oil, an acidic liquid and an emulsifier first.

Either online or in books is ok.

What I am NOT looking for is straight-up recipes with a list of ingredients and steps. I'm also not necessarily looking for baking instructions (I looked at the oft-recommended Ratio, but it seems to be mostly baking), since I'm gluten-intolerant.

Bonus round: ideas on flavors that go well together for certain cuisines would be great!

Need a responsive webpage template

special-k — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 12:44:48 -0800

Where can I buy a responsive web template off the shelf? I need to redesign the website for my not-for-profit organization and have two requirements. The site should be minimalist and display code blocks in large, readable format.

I like bootstrap but it looks really bare bones and I haven't seen good examples and don't have a whole lot of time to customize it. I've looked at wrap bootstrap but dislike the cheesy SEO templates they've got there. I haven't found other great examples of sites that look great and were done with bootstrap. A Google search unfortunately only gets me mass market seo crap templates like theme forest.

I love the Golden Grid System but can't find any working examples or templates (especially since I do need a navbar up top and can't figure out how to turn off the grid overlay).

I love symbolset for the large, highly readable fonts and the overall minimalist feel (but this question isn't about fonts; I can find something great via typekit).

There are other grid systems, like the Skeleton grid system but again, can't find a template that I can easily customize.

I also really like Tilde.io (I love how responsive it is when resized but understand it was done by real professionals and not something I can get for cheap).

We are in the process of moving our site from wordpress to Jekyll and will only need 2 page templates - the index page, and a single page (which would work for blog posts and static pages).

Can anyone suggest websites where I can pay $50-$100 to grab a template based on one of these nice responsive frameworks? we have 0$ in funding at the moment so this will have to be cheap.

Can I convert a letterhead template from Word or pdf to Wordperfect?

dios — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:35:28 -0800

My firm has a letterhead template in a Word picture image and pdf format. I'd like to be able to use that with Wordperfect X4 so I can type directly on/into it. Is this possible? Alternatively, can I "print" a Wordperfect file onto a letterhead template in pdf? I love Wordperfect and hate Microsoft Word. The primary reason for this view is that Word does formatting things to me sometimes and I cannot figure it out. Like I might have a weird page break or something. But with Wordperfect, I work with reveal codes open and can see what the heck is the problem.

More and more of my practice is now becoming digital in what I send to opposing counsel and courts. That is, instead of printing out documents and mailing or faxing them, I am sending pdfs to opposing counsel and courts. This is easy for me when it comes to pleadings because I type them up in Wordperfect and click a button and it is converted to a nice, clean and professional looking pdf (I have Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard).

The problem is when it comes to letters that I want to put on letterhead and then digitally send as a pdf. I have two digital files: a pdf of the letterhead and a Word document. But the Word document is really a page size picture that has a logo at the top, a then color stripe down the side, and a footer with information. [Here is a rough example of the type of layout it is] Because the Word document is a page-size picture, there is no way to type into the body of the letter (it's not three separate images surrounding workable space). I think the general thought was this was created to what we currently do: have a company print out the letterhead on nice stock paper, and then we print our letters onto this pre-printed letterhead. Whoever designed it never considered editing a document within the letterhead.

So what I currently have to do if I want to to have a pdf of a letter is that I type up the letter in Wordperfect and print it out on these pre-printed sheets of letterhead that we have. I can then scan the resulting document and convert to a pdf. I don't like doing this method because the print then scan method causes degradation in quality of the letterhead image (not to mention color loss unless I want to make it a large file). I want it to have the clean, professional look of the digital file being converted directly to pdf.

Is there a way to take this letterhead template that I have in Word picture format or pdf format and use it in Wordperfect so that I can have a Wordperfect template of my letterhead to use in the future? That way I can type my letters in sweet, sweet wordperfect and then click a button and have a nice pretty pdf of that letter to send away. But every time I have tried to open those files in wordperfect, the image gets gorked.

Alternatively, can I type a letter in wordperfect and then "print" to a pdf file that "prints" the first page onto the pdf letterhead image? This might be the easier solution.

What is this template that I keep seeing?

dfriedman — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:33:20 -0800

I've seen a lot of new companies with landing pages whose layouts look exactly like Atlassian's. I don't mean that their logos/colors are the same, but rather, the organization of the information.

I'm guessing that this is a template of some kind. Does anyone have any information what the template is? Wordpress? Something else?

Sidenotes on a blog

glenngulia — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:43:53 -0800

Is there blog software that has a ready-made template that allows for sidenotes? I like the look of some of Grantland.com's articles with sidenotes. Does anyone know if any of the major blog sites (Blogger, Wordpress) that have templates that allow for an HTML- and CSS-illiterate person like me to utilize sitenotes?

WYSIWYG up my e-newsletter!

peanut_mcgillicuty — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:12:28 -0800

Looking for an e-newsletter template! I've been tasked with finding a better way of managing our weekly corporate newsletter, but nothing I've googled has met all my needs.

The current system involves three people, Word and text files, Dreamweaver and the backend of our outdated website, and takes up most of a day to complete. None of the people working on the newsletter have much coding experience and we have been told that the process takes too long (not to mention that if one of these people is out on newsletter day, the entire system gets thrown out of whack pretty badly). If this is the best way of doing it, let me know and I'll pass that back up the chain as well.

The newsletter consists of text, images, and links. No video. I'm not sure if I'm looking for a software package or what.

What I need:
- Professional looking template that can be updated with a new header and color scheme each week
- The template must have a left-hand sidebar
- WYSIWYG editor that spits out HTML code (ideally, pasting from Word would spit out HTML that needs minimal clean-up). Drag and drop would be awesome.

What I do NOT need:
- a full service solution. I don't need audience management, emailing service, or reporting and analytics. It's fine if they are included but only if I'm able to export the HTML and use it in the service my company already uses.

Budget is ideally less than $1,000. Thanks in advance!

Cheap or Free E-picturebook Template Sought

Muirwylde — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:54:37 -0800

Is there a quick and cheap template to make a simple but polished e-picturebook that I can offer as a free download / giveaway with a CD product? I’m looking for an e-picturebook template or format that works nicely with photographs. I want to plug in my own graphics and text into a ready-made format.

I need cross-compatibility for both Android and I-phones / I-pad / platforms. (I'm half-expecting you to tell me there is no such product.)

I’m looking for something simple, WYSIWYG, bulletproof and not glitchy.

I would like to offer the e-picture-book ( an e-book format with both color pictures and text) as a give-away with another product (an enhanced CD).

Ideally it would have some page-turning and other e-book functionality. In other words -- some nice e-book 'bells and whistles' Not possible? Simple and functional is good too. It’s about the content anyway.

What is the most rudimentary e-book format for this sort of e-book? What are my choices?

I don't have a budget for big upfront (or virtually any) production costs. I would like to plug in my own photos and text into a ready-made 'tried and proven' e-picturebook format.

I seem to recall from some time ago that there were e-books formatted as PDF's. Are there templates in the PDF format that in your experience, are good products that work cross-platform and would work with this concept?

Preference for recommendations for templates / formats / products you've actually had experience with rather than sources found with Google.

I'm planning to either include the e-picturebook on an 'enhanced CD' (embedded as data on disc), or as a free-standing download, retrieved with a supplied link.

Thoughts? Experiences?

What software should I use to make a sleek, professional report (with lots of different kinds of content)?

unknowncommand — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:25:06 -0800

I want to make a 70-100 page report look as sleek and professional as possible. It includes text, references, figures, and photos, as well as "call-out boxes" of various sizes (100-500 words, plus 1-2 figures/photos) that need to be set apart from the text in a non-ugly way. Almost like a high school science textbook. I know there are a ton of Word "report templates" online, but I haven't found any that handle this many types of content, and I don't know if Word is really the way to go here. What *is* the way to go? Is there an easily learned, cheap software you would recommend for this?

Help me learn the name of this web thing I like!

gakiko — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:12:02 -0800

Is there a name for this sort of website design/template? I find this sort of web design appealing: example one, two, three, four, five, six. I've seen it used for many new web applications and "web 2.0/3.0" sites. I am sooo not a designer, so I can't even tell what I'm seeing. Let me try to identify a few common points:
- header and footer (usually) with a different background color from the main content
- full blocks of color to separate different sections
- doesn't look layered (no separate visible background)
- lots of whitespace
- big font, not much text

My questions:

How would you describe this style?

Is there maybe a common name for it? (like "Oh, just google 'webbity splat template'!")

If I were looking to buy a premade template or hire someone to make a template like this, how would I describe what I want?

I can do HTML & CSS if I know exactly what I need to achieve (eg. "this certain shade of blue in the background and a 2 px border and 10 px margin"). Could you tell me how to achieve something similar to above examples? Or alternatively, can you give me more examples to study?

Please help me find the ideal off-the-shelf e-commerce template for an online store project.

heartofglass — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:38:20 -0800

Please help me find the ideal off-the-shelf e-commerce template for an online store project. I am looking to set up an online store where individual sellers can upload and manage their own content, something along the lines of Etsy.

While I would give sellers some guidelines regarding the content and would be able to edit images/text if necessary, I would like them to be able to manage most of it. Payment methods would be PayPal and credit/debit cards.

I would generate a lot of content for the website as well (image/video/audio/text).

My question is: I have found a lot of websites that sell off-the-shelf e-commerce templates, but could not find one that offers that capability, of letting third parties create a user/password and add content themselves (a bit like Wordpress group blooging would look like).

Suggestions of off-the-shelf solutions or ideas for customization (preferably simple and not too costly!) would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Trying to print a recipe IN a dl'ed template

femmme — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:48:02 -0800

I cannot figure out why printing recipe cards is so hard? I purchased the Avery 8386. to print 4x6 recipes for my box. Online, I found a random template for 4x6 recipe cards( I could not find any cool ones). Then I go and copy my recipe and go to paste it on the template and it doesn't paste *INTO* the template (on the lines would be my first choice), it pastes outside the boarders of the recipe card template. I'm hoping to create my new recipe box and print the recipes I use online right onto the cute card but maybe it is too perfect and easy. It is hilarious how difficult something so easy can be! Maybe I'm missing something super obvious but I have asked a bunch of people and....here I am! Help !

How do I open and fill out an .oft template in Entourage?

olinerd — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:13:09 -0800

An important, newly ISO-9001 standard form in my office is an Outlook template (*.oft) that we have to fill out. I use a Mac with Entourage. How do I fill out this form? I'm in a minority of non-Windows computer users in an office, but the other people using Linux or Macs are in departments that don't have to use this form. I need it but I can't seem to open it. I use Entourage 2008 on OSX Lion. I have also tried Windows Live Mail in the Windows partition I run in Parallels, but no dice there. Is my only option to purchase and install Outlook, or is there another way for me to do this that doesn't require an entire new Office license?

Note that I will need regular access to this template so a free trial of Outlook won't help me in the long-term.

How can I create my own laminated cheat sheets?

denverco — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:34:18 -0800

Is there a template or software to help create my own laminated cheat sheets for subjects I use commonly at work? I am thinking something along the lines of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Law-BarCharts-Inc/dp/142321496X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319322678&sr=8-2

I know that I could just use tables, but I would like something that is more professional and easier to work with. Are there blanks of these?

Where can I find a clean personal website template?

ptsampras14 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:41:02 -0800

Help me find a suitable web template for a high school student personal page... I am looking to create a website that will host a list of my activities, interests, in an informal resume style.

I also want to post my most recent on-goings in a blog style, so people can get a glimpse of who I am... specifically college admissions officers.

I'd like to find a template that is very clean austere, and HTML. My favorite is this one.

Would I be wrong in copying that template, and plugging my own information in?

If so, can you help me find one that is very similar, and on-the-cheap?
I use Frontpage 2003 to edit my websites.

Thank you in advance.

Help me turn these templates into a WordPress theme!

msk1985 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:31:42 -0800

How do I convert HTML/CSS templates into a WordPress theme? I am working as the web content manager for a non-profit organization in the area. For the past two months, I have been working with developers in India to create customized templates for the organization. They are in the process of creating the HTML/CSS templates based on their Photoshop mock-ups. The website will use five different templates (home page, content landing page, contact/form page, etc.) and will initially be about 15 pages total.

The original plan was to have the developers send us the HTML/CSS templates and have an organization member convert the templates into a WordPress theme. After dealing with this member for the past few months, both the Project Manager and I have realized that this guy is an idiot and not trustworthy, so now we are in a bind. The developers' contract does not include conversion (in fact, I'm not sure if they do that for any project), and finding someone else to take over this part is both out of budget and difficult due to the general attitude of this organization's members (they're not easy to work with).

I have done a little reading on WordPress Codex and found this site to help me figure out how to get the conversion done. I'm not sure whether the process will become more clear once I have bought the hosting account and gotten the templates, but from looking at that one page, I am completely lost past step 5 or so.

Are there more comprehensive/simpler resources on converting HTML/CSS templates into WordPress themes, particularly with screenshots of where to upload/copy files? I have a good working knowledge of WordPress and am certainly willing to use trial and error to make everything work! I just need a clear and visual example to walk me through the process.

In case it matters, I will be doing this work on a Mac and will be installing the WordPress script on a Bluehost hosting account.

Thanks!

Good tools for project proposal effort?

olinerd — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:33:38 -0800

Are there good third-party software packages or tools that can be used to manage labor and material estimates during a project proposal process? It's a little bit of project management and a little bit of sales. Specific needs include... (Rough) Inputs:
-- Labor rates by year by type of employee
-- Estimated labor hours by type of employee or by department
-- Labor hours spread by month
-- Tasks
-- Material costs
-- Other costs (travel, subcontractors, etc)

(Rough) Outputs:
-- Total cost
-- Price (based on a specified markup)
-- Staffing model by month
-- Spending model by month
-- Work breakdown structure

The strictest use case is a defense project that has specified a WBS with 150 tasks and needs BOEs and lots of other backup. The simplest use case is a project with 2-3 tasks involving maybe five people.

We currently have a beastly Excel spreadsheet that has no flexibility and can't quite do all of the above very well. If there's something a bit fancier that'll do the job I'd love to hear about it.

Please note that this is a hardware system so actual consideration for materials, manufacturing labor, etc is pretty important -- basically, anything that is software-project-centric probably won't help.