I want to copy the “Austere” skin and rename it to “mycustomskin”
And then make all my edits to “mycustomskin”
I am going to change the colors of the nav bars and stuff and resize it and stuff…
i am just not sure where to put it or copy it… or what not…
Here is what you have to do to copy or create your own skin in 2.0.8:
- Go into /var/skins_repository and create a clone of whatever skin you want to work off of there.
- Edit manifest.ini in your skin folder with the name of your skin. You can adjust the other values too but the description is more important.
- Add your own customer_screenshot.png if you want.
- Go into the admin into Design > Skin Selector and find your new skin in the list for the customer area. Select it and click Save and it will perform all the necessary actions to copy your new skin to the actual skins folder, register it, etc. And that will be where you will actually work on your skin, the css, images, etc.
I hope that helps!
- Jonah
[quote name=‘jonahcoyote’]Here is what you have to do to copy or create your own skin in 2.0.8:
- Go into /var/skins_repository and create a clone of whatever skin you want to work off of there.
- Edit manifest.ini in your skin folder with the name of your skin. You can adjust the other values too but the description is more important.
- Add your own customer_screenshot.png if you want.
- Go into the admin into Design > Skin Selector and find your new skin in the list for the customer area. Select it and click Save and it will perform all the necessary actions to copy your new skin to the actual skins folder, register it, etc. And that will be where you will actually work on your skin, the css, images, etc.
I hope that helps!
- Jonah[/QUOTE]
thanks for the tip… now I am rolling!
Thanks…
This looks like what I am after.
I figure that is I create my own from a base design… I can compare the future versions of the skin against my own … this way I can ensure I don’t miss any new features etc, but also by using hooks I can minimize the work in updating.
another up side… the paths seen by the browser will have my template name included.
there really should be a knowledge base article on this and hooks.
I followed your instructions and sit worked, with a slight additional step (it didn’t seem to create all the same files as what the original skin had).
I needed to download the new skin directory and the skin directory it was based on, then copy the contents (minus the .ini and thumbnail which are both in the skins root) from the original skin into the new skin, then upload the new folder.
This seemed to correct all the problems.
Is this normal, or did something go wrong during the skin install?
Note:, Avoid using capitals in your folder name. Even on my windoze test machine, “\skins_repository\mySKIN..” would not work, generating Smarty errors. I found I needed to use all lowercase, ie “\skins_repository\my_skin..” for it to work.
And even w 2014, I had same problem as RSW. You Need to :
- copy your working skin “my_skin” folder contents to the skins_repository folder.
- rename the “my_skin” folders to “my_new_skin_name” under bothe “skins” and “skins_repository” folders.
- Then select the skin in admin.
Note that when you upgrade, the files in your “my_new_skin_name” folder will still be overwritten anyway.
So Backup ! before upgrading.
Revisiting this for 2.1.2.
I had error in my manifest.ini file, …fixed … all good.
Probably need to adjust the var/skins_repository/base/new_skin/manifest.ini file. Make sure “Customer=Y”.
It is best to use addon to create the skins. It will enable you to use all the features of the software.
[quote name=‘RSW’]Thanks…
This looks like what I am after.
I figure that is I create my own from a base design… I can compare the future versions of the skin against my own … this way I can ensure I don’t miss any new features etc, but also by using hooks I can minimize the work in updating.
another up side… the paths seen by the browser will have my template name included.
there really should be a knowledge base article on this and hooks.[/QUOTE]
I am in 2 minds about renaming skin that I am using to ‘my_skin_name’, even after reading through all the threads related to this topic I am still searching & trying understand. ‘why do it…?’ apart from creating more housekeeping work especially during an upgrade.
- Can someone tell me if there are any benefits in doing this apart from the ‘up side’ highlighted here by RSW that it will show my path in the browser/firebug instead of the default.?
- Is there any security advantage in renaming a skin?
- As I understand it, when I do an upgrade my_skin_name folder will get overwritten anyway so what is the real benefit of renaming a skin name? Is this the case in 2.1.4 or does the current version work differently?
Not sure what you mean about seeing your skin name in the browser. Skin paths are not revealed via the template engine. Not even in firebug other that maybe the path to a css file.
When an upgrade runs it looks for filenames in common. If it finds them it backs up the original (yours) and overwrites it with the new (theirs). When you go to the upgrade center they will diff the two files and it shows very clearly what’s different and what you may want to change.
If the filenames are different (I.e. have added a prefix of ‘my_’ to every file then the upgrade will NOT overwrite your files but you will loose out on any new features and/or bug fixes releated to your skin.
[quote name=‘tbirnseth’]Not sure what you mean about seeing your skin name in the browser. Skin paths are not revealed via the template engine. Not even in firebug other that maybe the path to a css file.
If the filenames are different (I.e. have added a prefix of ‘my_’ to every file then the upgrade will NOT overwrite your files but you will loose out on any new features and/or bug fixes releated to your skin.[/QUOTE]
Hi tbirnseth,
That’s great, thanks for the details of what happens during upgrade.
What is your approach when you develop sites for your clients ? Do you just leave the default names as is?
The path to css file is what I meant, that can be seen in firebug and I guess it’s not a issue.
I was thinking of duplicating ‘default_blue’ and renaming it to ‘mysite_name’ and I am only making changes via hooks.
Thanks.
I have clients pick a skin that is closest to both the layout and coloring they want. Then I use hooks to customize as needed. I try to advise them on cost/benefit of some changes that some want. I.e. some are really hung up on some certain type of banner display but once you outline for them what it will cost to do the work, they many times compromise to something closer, but standard.
tbirnseth,
Thanks for the reply…I will continue using the hooks. Can’t see much point in copying & renaming skins.