Can Contribute edit a DW template and allow it to propagate?

[TrentSC]

I've created a fairly straightforward html/css site in DW CS3 based around a
template and have uploaded both the site and template to the client's web
server.

There's a little set of static text on the template which cross-populates all
the html pages. If I edit the template in DW, it updates all the pages that
are based on that template. I'm hoping that if I set up the client with
Contribute, they can access the template, edit it, and see the changes
propagate to all the html pages that are based on that particular template.

Is this possible? If not, is there a breathtakingly simple approach I might
be able to give the client to use?

Many thanks.

[ThinkInk]

Users of Contribute cannot update templates.
The 'breathtakingly simple approach' could be to use an SSI (server side
include) in your template.
Example php: <?php include("inc.included-file.php"); ?>
You provide your user with an url to the include file, so he can edit the file
in Contribute.
NB: works also great with menu's (make an include file with just an unordered
list, style it with css, and provide your user with the url to the menu).

[TrentSC]

Thanks for the helpful and extremely prompt suggestion.

For the most part, these are fairly straightforward news story links - a short
para with a thumbnail image and a headline, linking to the main news page.

I think I need to go and do some research on SSIs and see if I can get my head
around them. Are they relatively straightforward?

Cheers

[ThinkInk]

Do you want more straightforward then this: <?php
include("inc.included-file.php"); ?> ?
That's all there is to it.
Your files need the extension .php, but can contain all the html you want, so
just renaming your pages from .html to .php is enough. Then you can call the
indluded files like I suggested: <?php include("inc.included-file.php"); ?>