A template is a device to co-ordinate the production of a collection of standard items. Template definitions from dictionaries include:
1. Any structural pattern which a set of forms fits or on the basis of which its members can be specified.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics, © Oxford University Press 1997
2. A pattern or model that is used as a starting point for an operation, with the user adding to it or modifying it as needed.
Compact American Dictionary of Computer Words © 1995, 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company
A web template standardises and constrains the common elements of a web page. These elements are peripheral to the focus of the page and are additional to the actual content. Examples of these elements are certain navigation conventions, corporate identity and administrative trappings such as the Webmaster email contact.