Dreamweaver CS 5.5 Template not updating child pages

First make sure that the changes within the template are actually being made OUTSIDE of an editable region. This is one common mistake.

Next, try opening the template, File > Save as a Template, and save it with a different name. Duplicate the current template for safety and then rename it to ENRMD_old.dwt and choose not to update the child pages with the name change. Now rename the template you just saved as ENRMD.dwt.

"Error accessing file "Y:\Templates\ENRMD.dwt": file not found (error code 2).

Also check the child pages to make sure the path to the template is not actually Y:\Templates\ENRMD.dwt but rather a relative path.

Hi,

The changes I'm trying to make just to get it to update are being made outside of an editable region.

When I opened it and chose Save as Template, a dialog box came up. It has the following:

Site:
Existing templates:
Description:
Save as:

In the Site drop down, the only available options are "web draft and root", and "wwwroot". And these existing templates are for our main site. This site I'm working with is actually a sub site. It has it's own folder, called EC, in our web draft and production folders. And in the EC folder there is a Templates folder specifically for their site. I don't want to save it in our web draft or root Templates folder.

I tried doing the rename with the Save As option instead of Save as Template, and that didn't work. When I make changes it still just saves without asking to update child pages. I hope what I'm saying makes sense. I'm probably not explaining it well at all.

Oh, and this is the path on the child pages:

<!-- InstanceBegin template="/Templates/ENRMD.dwt" codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false" -->

What happens if you create a new page based on this template? When you change the template, does the new child page update?

This site I'm working with is actually a sub site. It has it's own folder, called EC, in our web draft and production folders.

So this Site Definition is nested within another DW Site?

If I create a new page and save it in the EC folder, and then go try to apply the template, the only option I get in the dialog box under Site is my "web draft and root" folder for the main site.

Same thing if I go to Page from Template. Well, actually I get both "web draft and root" and "wwwroot".

jason1178, I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure. I haven't been doing this very long. We basically have a web draft server. I take care of the main site. Each unit has their own site that lies on the web draft server. They make changes to their site, and then I upload them to our production server. There are times when I will have to go into one of their sites and make a change for them. Should I try to get her to create a new page based on the template and see what response she gets?

Yes, try that.

The reason I ask about nesting Site Definitions in Dreamweaver is that it will screw up anything that relies on the DW cache.  Each site has to be in a separate folder and the folders cannot be nested.

root
  site 1
  site 2

is okay.

root
  site 1
     site 2

is not.

Well, it's like this:

Root
  Site 1
  Site 2
  Site 3
  etc
  Templates
  index.html
  geninfo.html
 
That's just an example. But what I'm saying is...we have an index and other pages, as well as a Templates and Images folder directly under the Root, which is our main site. All other sites would just be like you said...in their own folder...Site1, Site2, etc.

But DW expects to see this:

Root
 Site 1
   Templates
 Site 2
   Templates

I'm sorry, each site has it's own Templates folder. The Templates folder that is in the root is to the main site only.

Would that still cause problems...if all sites have their own Templates folder within the site folder?

I haven't gotten any warning beyond trying to deal with this template issue. I can make changes on without any problem. I can make changes to that particular template, it just won't update the child pages. But it won't do it from her local copy either. I'm going to follow your suggestion and see if she can create a new page based on the template from her local as well as the web draft server.

Turns out that she couldn't update the child pages because she did not have the site mapped in Dreamweaver. Once I had her do that and make a change to the template they all updated. Apparently she was just opening the pages in DW and editing them.

I'm curious if anyone knows if I would need to map the site separately from the root in order to work with the template. I can edit templates as long as they are in the main Templates folder...like the one we use for our main index.html in the root. But if it's say...Site1, Site2, etc...then I cannot update child pages by editing the template. Same goes with trying to create a new template in one of the Site template folders. I don't have the option to apply it to the pages within the Site folder, or anywhere else actually.

See my answers above.  Nesting site definitions is a Bad Idea.

Okay, I guess I'm confused because you said that this is what DW expects to see:

Root
 Site 1
   Templates
 Site 2
   Templates

Which is what we have, but also within the root is an index.html as well as some other pages that belong to the root...along with a Templates folder in the root. I can't really make changes to how this is stored. I didn't set it up. So if that is what is keeping me from say...working on Site1 and using the Site1 template on the pages within the Site1 folder could I just map Site1 separately and then upload it to the root? Do you think that would work. I apologize for asking what I'm sure is a stupid question. I'm just clearly not knowledgeable about it.

But do you see that I have no site defined in the root?  Otherwise, the tree looks like this:

Root
Site 1
  Templates
  Site 2
    Templates
  Site 3
    Templates

and that will generate the errors.  My initial example has Site 1 and Site 2 standing at an equal directory level but there are no site definitions above them.

The takeaway is you should NOT define a second site within the directory structure of an existing site.  Instead, that is all one Site for DW purposes.  You can have as many templates as you wish but don't nest the sites.

Okay, but why then, when I'm working in say Site1 folder, and make an update to the Site1 template will it not give me an option to update the child pages? And as I said before, if I try to apply it to a new page within that folder it only gives me the option of using the main Templates folder from the root. And the only template I have saved there is our main template. That's why I was asking if I needed to just map Site1 as a separate site and make the changes, and then upload those changes to the root. I apologize if you've already answered this and I'm just not understanding it.

Thanks for all your help. I mapped it separately and it works now.