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Creating Compound Page Templates in Template Builder

Page Templates turn Pages into publishable Web pages. You need to add SmartTarget Template Building Blocks to Compound Page Templates to implement Promotion, Search, and Navigation functionality to your Web pages.

Before you begin

To create templates you must have Template Management rights and Write permissions for the Folder in which you intend to create the template.

Procedure

  1. Start Template Builder by selecting Start > SDL Tridion > Template Builder from the Windows menu.
  2. Click New Compound Template to create a new Compound Template:
    The New Page Template dialog opens.
  3. Select the location, name and type of your Compound Template in the New Compound Template dialog:
    • Under Content Manager, specify the Content Manager in which you want to create this Compound Template by selecting or typing the URL of the Content Manager Explorer Web site. Click Go to see the list of Publications in this Content Manager (Template Builder may prompt you for a user name and password at this point).
    • Under Select Location, select a Publication and navigate to a Folder in that Publication in which you intend to create the Compound Template and select the Folder.
    • Under Name, enter a name for your Compound Template, for example SmartTargetPageTemplate.
    • Under Type, select Page Template.
    • Click OK.
    The Template Builder creates and opens a New Compound Template of type Page Template.
  4. Drag SmartTarget Template Building Blocks into your Page Template. For example, add the following Template Building Blocks:
    1. A Dreamweaver Template in which Page Regions are implemented. The Template Building Blocks (TBBs) that implement Promotion, Search and Navigation functionality require that add the <tcdl:region> tag to the Dreamweaver Template you are using in your Compound Page Templates:
      <tcdl:region id="Sidebar" type="SmartTarget"> 
      
      </tcdl:region>
    2. Add SmartTarget Query
    3. Add Promotions
    4. Show SmartTarget Navigation
    5. Search SmartTarget and Show SmartTarget Items
    6. Apply SmartTarget Settings
  5. Select Debug > Run to run the template, or Debug > Run with Page if it is the first time you are running the Compound Template (you are prompted to select a Page).
    During and after the Compound Template run, Template Builder displays:
    • An item called Input above the first Template Building Block in the sequence.
    • Next to the Template Building Block it is now executing, a yellow bar next to it with the text Running... over it
    • If a Template Building Block was successfully executed, a green bar next to it
    • If a Template Building Block failed to execute successfully, a red bar next to it
    • The time spent executing each Template Building Block