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CONFIGURATIONSkin ManagementSkin is the term used to describe the collection of interchangeable files that together make up the look and feel of your Review Foundry implementation. The bulk of these files are Template-Toolkit templates, others are language templates, images, a skin configuration file which contains information about Cascading Style Sheet parameters (colors, font faces/sizes, etc), and the CSS file used by the skin. Review Foundry is designed to accommodate interchangeable skins. A skin author, someone who has customized the look and feel of their Review Foundry implementation, and then exported it as an archived skin file, can share their skins with the Review Foundry community. There are 5 basic skin operations that can be performed from the Skin Management frame of the Configure control panel. As the Administrator, you can: change from one skin to another, import a skin from an archive file, export a skin to an archive file, create a new skin, or remove a skin. These operations are discussed below in more detail, and each operation has a separate page accessible from the secondary navigation menu which appears on the Skin Management frame. Change SkinChanging between skins is simple. Simply select the name of the skin you wish to change to, from the presented menu of currently installed skins, and click on the Change Skin button. Note that when you first install Review Foundry there will only be a single skin installed: the "Default Skin". You will need to import skins before you can change to any other. Import SkinTo import, or install, a skin, you first need to locate a skin archive. This is a .tar file named something like the following: SKIN_vanilla_sky_10.tar In this example, the Vanilla Sky skin was created with Review Foundry version 1.0 and is at least compatible with that version of the software. Skin archive files need to be placed into the /my/import directory in order to be recognized. Where you get skin archives is less clear. Other than the default skin, there presently are none. If you create an interesting skin that you think might be of use to others, let people know about it via the forum area at Random Mouse Software. If there is one or more skin archives present in the import directory, these files will show up in the archive menu on the Import Skin page. When importing a skin you will need to supply a name for the skin. Generally you'll take your cue from the archive file name. For the above skin archive file you would probably decide to name the imported skin "Vanilla Sky Skin", but any name will do. When you hit the Import Skin button, the archive will be unpacked, and the files within it will be copied to the correct skin location on your server. Each skin has 2 components: a CGI bin arm, where templates and the skin configuration file go, and an HTML arm, where skin images go. Thus, look for a new directory named /my/skins/vanilla_sky_skin in the CGI bin area, as well as a new directory named /skins/vanilla_sky_skin in the HTML area of your Review Foundry file structure.
Create SkinWhen you want to customize the look and feel of your Review Foundry implementation to any significant extent, it is a good idea to create your own skin before you proceed. That way you can always change back to the default skin if you encounter a problem. Creating a skin simply involves copying the files of another base skin into their own directory. You then customize these copied files to produce the next masterpiece in skin design. To do this you first need to select the skin upon which your new skin will be based (select from the menu of currently installed skins). In addition you will need to supply a name for your new skin, as well as two pieces of "skin author" information: your name and your email address (so that if you share your skin with others they will know who designed it). Thus, if I am going to create a Red Planet skin, based off the default skin:
In the same way that skin files appear in the CGI bin /my/skins directory, and the the HTML /skins/ directory when importing a skin, so will files appear when creating a new skin. In this case, look for new files in /my/skins/red_planet_skin and in /skins/red_planet_skin Export SkinIf you have created a new skin, customized the heck out of it, and now wish to share it with others (or even if you just want to create a backup of it) you'll want to export it. That is, you'll want to create a .tar archive file of your skin. This archive file will appear in the /my/export directory. To export a skin, first select the relevant skin from the menu of installed skins. Next, choose a file descriptor to embed into the file name of the archive to be created. Generally you should use something that reflects the name of the skin you supplied when you created the skin. Thus, if the skin name is "Red Planet Skin", a good choice for the descriptor would be "red_planet". You are free to add a version number of your skin if you want to, but do NOT add any Review Foundry version number, as this will be done for you automatically. If we assume the example skin name above, and that we are dealing with Review Foundry version 1.2, then when you click on the Export Skin button, the following archive will be created in the export directory: SKIN_red_planet_12.tar Now you can share that file with whomever, or simply store it as a skin backup file. Remove SkinIf you want to remove a skin from your set of installed skins, simply select from the menu of removable skins and click the Remove Skin button. All the skin files for the choosen skin will be deleted from the CGI bin and HTML arms of your Review Foundry file structure. You cannot retrieve a removed skin, so if there is any possibility you might want to get it back after removing it you should first export the skin (i.e. create a skin archive file in your /my/export directory). That way you can re-import it at a later date if needed. « Table of Contents | Obtain Review Foundry » Copyright © 2004 Random Mouse Software. All Rights Reserved. |