Templates questions

[TheJuice]

Hi,
I have some questions I'd like to ask about templates...

First, what it the best template library available?
There are basically four different, namely FastTemplate, PHPLib, Smarty and Pat Template...
They seem to have different advantages and disadvantages, so I'd like to know the one I should choose to begin coding my templates...

Second, if I am the coder AND the designer of the website, is it really usefull that I use templates? Because it needs a lot of thinking before actually making the pages.

Thanks for all your answers in advance!!!

[TheJuice]

Please anybody could help me?

[_SuperString]

If you are really keen to learn PHP then maybe you should take the bit you like from the templating systems and write one that suits your style and needs. The best teplating system is a personal choice, I always tend to write my own templating system, it maybe involves extra work but at least I get the results that are needed.
I tend to design pages first (with coding in mind), then design the way the code could fit, you really need to try and get the best of both worlds. It really depends on the requirments if you should use templates or not. Somethings to consider are: Is the content dynamic?, Are lots of the pages using same content ?, will there ever be considerable design changes ? and the list is endless.

Look at the requirements closely before making a decision.

hope this helps.

[TheJuice]

Ok thanks

I don't really want to go into designing my own template system right now, but maybe I'll find it more than useful in the future, who knows.
I think I'll begin by using PHPLib, because Smarty is too much hassle, and I don't see the point of using templates if you have to put Smarty's pseudo code in the HTML files... I've also read that FastTemplate is quite slow. So PHPLib has the advantage of being simple and quick 🙂