When you link to other pages or insert elements (such as images)
on your page, Dreamweaver creates a path in the HTML source code
of your document so that a browser displaying your page can find
the appropriate files.
Paths can be in either editable or non-editable (locked) regions
of a template. A path placed in an editable region of a template
will not change when a page is created based on the template.
When Dreamweaver writes paths in non-editable regions of templates,
however, the links behave differently. The effect of using the
different kinds of paths in non-editable regions of templates is
discussed below:
1) Document-relative paths in
templates
If you allow Dreamweaver to create the document-relative path
in the template (by clicking the Browse for File icon on the
Property inspector, for instance), the path to the page or element
will be—in the template itself—relative to the template.
When you create a page based on the template, Dreamweaver will
alter the path in the new page to reflect the page's new location.
In other words, Dreamweaver is smart enough to know that your
page based on the template is in a folder different than the
one holding the template and so the document-relative path in
the new page will reflect this change.
Note: If you wish to type your document-relative path yourself,
remember to make the path relative to the template's location
and not to where you think the future page based on the template
will be. If you type a document-relative path that points to
a location outside of the Templates folder, the link will ultimately
not work in the browser or the element will not display in either
Dreamweaver or the browser.
2) Site root-relative paths in
templates
Dreamweaver does not adjust site root-relative paths in pages
based on a template, because the adjustment is not necessary.
Site root-relative paths work from any location within the same
site.
Important note: Use document-relative paths in templates, unless
you plan on using site root-relative paths site-wide. An extremely
rare error in Dreamweaver may rewrite your existing paths as
site root-relative throughout your site if even one site root-relative
path is found within your template. This change will not affect
the functionality of your site, but such a change would understandably
be surprising to some users.
3) Absolute paths in templates
Dreamweaver does not adjust an absolute path in a template when
a page is created based on the template. Absolute paths work
without regard to the source file's location.
