The use of templates will be most effective if you can build them to suit your own product packages and price-points. This generally allows you to make sure that for the lower price-points, you can keep your production time efficient, while still keeping the quality of the websites up.
Where to find the template library
Click the Templates tab in the main navigation. As a default, you will land on your local template library. From there, you can modify templates that you are working with locally, filter by scope and browse Mono's global templates, or create a new template from scratch.
Global vs. local templates
There are two kinds of templates - global and local. Both types are found under the Templates tab. All templates have a unique template ID.
So, what are the differences between global and local templates?
Global templates
- Are templates built by Mono and pushed out to all reseller accounts in RAI.
- Are completely free to use.
- Are business specific and help resellers get a quick start building new sites.
- Cannot be edited by anyone else but Mono - but it is possible to copy them into your local template library and edit them from there.
Local templates
- Are templates built by you (Mono reseller) - either from scratch or based on a copy of a global Mono template.
- A reseller may build as many templates as needed until the library contains a sufficient diversity of templates for each business category.
- You will not be charged by Mono for having templates in your account. You can have as many templates as you want, for free. Mono only charges for sites with paid subscriptions added to them.
- Building a library of templates is an investment that pays off. It secures a much faster production flow and smoother fulfillment processes.
Mono's global templates
As a rule of thumb, we recommend our partners to use Mono's global templates. The global templates have been created by our in-house Design team and are fully optimized for all viewports, marked up with Global Data nodes, and make full use of Global Styling.
To view the global templates, select Overview, filter by Scope, select Global, and click Apply.
Navigating the template library
Whether you're browsing the local or global library, you will see the following navigation items:
- Create new template: To create a new template from scratch (i.e. not using any existing, global templates but starting on a "blank canvas"), click on the Create New Template button.
- Scope: In this section it is possible to define whether you want to search local, global or any type of template.
- Version: Choose whether you want to search for templates for our old version, V3, or the current editor version, V5.
- Language: In this field you can filter by the language of the template.
- Heading: In this section it is possible to filter the list and search for templates specific to a heading/business category.
- Termplate ID: In this section it is possible to look for a specific template ID.
- Radio label: Activate the radio button if you want to either delete or copy a template, or assign the site to a user.
- Template ID: In this section you will find the template ID, a unique and searchable ID number for that particular template, as well as a thumbnail of the front page of the template.
- Version: This column will identify which version of the editor was that template built for - V3 or V5.
- Heading: The heading describes what sort of business category the template was built for.
- Language: This indicates the language used when creating the template.
- Title: The Title is a descriptive text/headline for the template.
- Description: The Description is a longer descriptive text, which contains details about the content of the template.
- Scope: Scope indicates whether the template is a local or global template.
- Assigned to: This section will indicate the RAI user to whom that template is assigned to. If blank it means that the template is unassigned.
- URL: Clicking the eye icon opens the URL of the template in a new tab.
- Editor: Clicking the tool icon will open the editor so you can make changes in the template. Please note that only local templates can be edited.
- Delete template: To delete a template, check the radio label to the left of the template you want to delete, followed by clicking on the Delete Template button.
- Copy template: To copy a template from the global to your local library (or duplicating a template within your local library), check the radio label to the left of the template you want to copy, followed by clicking on the Copy Template button.
- Assign to user: To assign a template to a RAI user within your account, check the radio label to the left of the template you wish to assign, followed by selecting the assignee from the dropdown menu on the bottom of the page. Click Assign to complete the action.
Naming templates
Whether you're copying Mono's global templates (see item 19 on the list above) or building your own templates from scratch, you need to decide on a good and sufficiently descriptive naming structure to help organize your library logically as it grows larger.
Naming conventions depends on your specific needs and fulfillment flows, but below are a few guidelines to help you along.
When creating or copying a template, you will see this menu:
- Title: In this field you should add the title of your template. A descriptive title should contain the following syntax: [Business Category], [Look/Feel], [Layout Type], e.g. Menu & Accommodation, Bright, Full-width.
- Heading: In this section you can define the heading / business category that matches your template theme. Leave blank if you don't want a heading attached to your template.
- Language: Choose the language used on the template.
- Description: Add a thorough description to the template. See best practice example below.
Example of description for a template
A best practice template description would look something like this:
a) General: Romantic style template - good for florists
b) # Pages: 3
c) Design: Boxed style
d) Special Feature: Emphasis on contact module
e) Channels: desktop, mobile
f) Images: Front page image is free to use
g) Disclaimer: This template may contain images that are subject to copyright and may not be used on live production sites