tips and tricks for movable type

how to work with templates when making changes
November 09, 2003

Just something I posted on the MT Support Forum that I thought I'd put here as well, regarding how I use link this template to a file when making changes to my templates that I may not want to keep.

I have a templates folder in each of my blog directories. I use the Link this template to a file field to save a copy of every template. For example, my Main Index template is linked to a file named templates/mainindex.tmpl.

When I want to make changes to a template that I'm not sure I want to keep, I modify the linked filename by adding a number to the name (templates/mainindex2.tmpl) and press SAVE.

If I decide I don't like the changes, I delete everything in the template body window, modify the linked file name back to the original (i.e., remove the number) and press SAVE again. The original template then appears in the body window, and I'm back to where I started.

If I decide I do like the changes, I just modify the linked file name back to the original and press SAVE to copy over the original linked file, and now my changes have been permanently retained.

Every now and then, I FTP to my site and remove any of the testing templates by deleting those with numbers.

Related Links:

• back up templates with "link this template"
• link this template to a file