Welcome>Step1

Step 1: Obtaining the template of your choice

This step depicts how to find a template suitable for your website, as well as how to purchase download that template. You are not required to complete these actions, as you will be offered to download a sample .zip archive instead.

You can handle the sample .zip file using WinZip from www.winzip.com. Mac users may need to visit StuffIt.com instead.

In order to obtain the template of your choice you need to complete the following steps:

1. Click on the 'Templates' link in the menu at the top of the MyWebsiteTemplates.com website.


2. From here, you have two options:
   • Select a category from the drop down box, and click 'View Templates Now!'. You can then use the numbers above the template thumbnails to view additional templates
   • Click on the 'Select by Author' link. This will take you to a new page, where you can select templates as described in the option above.
   
   
3. Click on a template thumbnail (image) to preview the template.


4. The 'Add to Cart' and 'Buy' buttons at the top and bottom of the preview page are used for buying the template. In this tutorial we will skip the purchasing procedure. You will need to use your Credit Card or Paypal account in order to make a purchase. If making a real purchase you will receive an email 2-20 minutes after your credit card or paypal account is charged. Following a link in this email will allow you to download the zipped files for the template of your choice. For now, just download the sample template.


5. Unzip the archive. You can do this using WinZip or similar software. If you do not have the required software on your computer, you may wish to visit WinZip.com, HotScripts.com, or StuffIT.com to download a copy.


6. Browse the unzipped files to find the following:
   • 'FONTS' folder - contains the fonts that you might not have installed on your system but will need to edit the .psd source file;
   • 'HTML' folder - contains an "index.htm" file and 'IMG' folder, which allows you to preview the page in a browser. You can use this folder if you wish to just customize the HTML. Advanced users prefer to customize the Photoshop file and make the HTML this way. The HTML version of your template contains buttons and other elements without text. This allows you to add custom text to empty images;
   • 'JPEG' folder - contains a "TEMPLATE.jpg" file, which is a compressed image of your template;
   • 'PSD' folder - contains a "TEMPLATE.PSD" file that allows you to make ANY modifications to the design of your web site. You can customize fonts, colors etc to make your website truly unique. Later you will need to make HTML out of this file
   • 'RESOURCE' folder - contains files that you will use in course of this tutorial.

After you have the template files unzipped and saved to your hard drive you can proceed to Step 2: Editing your template in order to customize the template by editing text and graphics.