It is quite tempting to use templates rather than setting up Cascading Style Sheets especially if one is short of time. Is there a drawback to functioning as such?

Hi Raphael,

Thanks for the question.

I think you may be confusing the technology a little bit.

CSS gives you control over how pages are displayed, allowing you to define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear. These style sheets can then be applied to any web page.

Dreamweaver Templates allows you to design a layout (using any technology: CSS, tables etc.) and allows you to specify editable regions. The rest of the layout is 'locked out' so that any page that uses the template cannot edit that part of the design. This allows for consistency across all pages of the web site, and makes it easier to make a global design change.

So really, the two are not comparable as they do different things.

My recommendation is to make a template using CSS.

If you are talking about using HTML table layout, rather than using CSS, then there are no major drawbacks, except that your page may load a little slower and you have less control over your layout. Different browsers may also produce table layouts differently, but then again, the same can be true for CSS layouts.

If time is a factor, then table layout should be fine, especially if the site is not too complicated.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Rich