Master Page Rendering Technology

Each Web Management Studio web site provides one or more Master Page(s) to wrap and present the content that you have defined when it renders the page to your visitor's browser.

When you define an Html Page you specify the Master Page that you want to use to render that page.

 Specifying the Master Page in the Web Management Studio Html Page Editor

Each Master Page is 'handcrafted' by Web Management Studio's design team and is unique to the style and layout of the pages on your web site.

A Simple Analogy

A good, if somewhat abstract, analogy of the Master Page concept is to liken the Master Page itself to a Christmas Tree ...

The fir tree provides the basic structure and form of this seasonal centrepiece, whilst the decorations (baubles, tinsel etc.) provide the detail and the interest.

Similarly, the Master Page provides the page structure and we 'decorate' that structure with content - where our baubles and tinsel are defined by fragments of XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language and CSSCascading Style Sheet scripts - all conveniently created from within the Web Management Studio application.

Preparing the Page Blueprint

The first stage in the development of any Master Page is to develop an accurate graphical representation of the page.  This usually involves taking the artwork from your web designer and creating a 'pixel perfect' representation of the page (we use Adobe Illustrator™ for this exercise).  This document is then used as a blueprint for the Master Page itself.

Developing the Master Page

Once the Page Blueprint is complete, it is analysed in detail:

• Identify the elements and features of the page that are fixed/consistent
• Identify any areas on the page that may require 'secondary content', such as advertisements, information panels, supplementary/additional menu/navigation features
• Identify the location and properties of any Anchor Points that are to be provided by the Master Page
• Define the physical/layout constraints that need to be applied to the Master Page (e.g. column widths, font-sizes etc.) in order to achieve a smooth and consistent presentation of the content.

This analysis often results in the reworking of the Page Blueprint.  For example, greater page rendering performance may be achieved by moving a feature one or two pixels up or down, left or right.  In these situations, the Web Management Studio design team will always seek the approval of the customer/original designer.

Once the analysis is complete, the following development plan will be followed:

1. The Developer will develop the code that, in turn, generates the appropriate XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language script to render the structure of the Master Page.  In line with good practice, no styling (colours, images, fonts etc.)  are applied to the XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language- styling will be achieved by referencing a corresponding Cascading Style Sheet (see #3).  The Developer will also define any Anchor Points that are to be provided by the Master Page.
2. At this point the Master Page will be checked and validated against the relevant web standards to ensure compliance.  A simple test page will be created (using the new Master Page) to ensure that the Page provides both a flexible and efficient framework for its intended content.
3. Once the Developer is happy with the Master Page's XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language output, a corresponding Cascading Style Sheet (CSSCascading Style Sheet) is developed to apply the appropriate styling to the page layout.  As with the XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language, the CSSCascading Style Sheet is checked and validated against the relevant standard(s).
4. The test page is now loaded into a number of popular browsers and the output compared against the original blueprint drawing.  Any significant discrepancies will then be 'tuned out' by adjusting the XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language/CSSCascading Style Sheet as necessary.

The new Master Page is now ready for use and will be installed and registered on the customer's web site.