XML Flash Slideshow v4 Help    |    Support Home    |    DWUser.com Home  Download Help PDF (29MB)    |    Search:

The Templates Menu / Using Templates

Templates are a powerful feature which allows you to save, reuse and share configuration settings from a slideshow.    They save all aspects of a slideshow's configuration - its layout, styles, appearance settings, playback settings, general configuration settings, as well as any special slideshow HTML parameters.    When leveraged properly, this feature can save you immense amounts of time when creating multiple slideshow.  This topic, along with its subtopics, details how to use this tool.

The template options can be accessed from the Templates menu.  The Templates menu appears as follows:

  • Manage Saved Templates - This option launches the Manage Templates dialog (described below).  This is where you will manage all of your templates, add new ones, import/export archives, etc.
  • Apply Saved Template - This option launches the Manage Templates dialog, where you can apply an existing template to your slideshow.
  • Apply Template from URL - This option provides a shortcut to the Load Template from URL button in the Manage Templates dialog.  It allows you to load a template directly from a URL, applying it to your slideshow and/or adding it to your template library.
  • Save Current Configuration as Template - This option as well is a shortcut to an option in the main template management dialog.      It allows you to save the current slideshow configuration as a template for later reuse.
  • Import Template Archive - This shortcut option allows you to import a .xst template archive file, and add the templates contained in it to your library.  See the Template Archives subtopic for more information.
  • Export Template Archive - This shortcut option allows you to export your current templates to a .xst template archive file.  See the Template Archives subtopic for more information.

Manage Templates Dialog

The Manage Templates dialog (accessed by Templates > Manage Saved Templates...) offers access to all of the template managment options:

All of the options in this dialog are covered in the following subtopics.    To close the dialog, click the 'X' in the upper-right corner.

Note: The screenshots in this section don't include the latest preview feature.  When you select a starter template in the Current Templates list, a preview image will be shown to the right of the list.