Wiki source code of Skins

Version 17.6 by Sorin Burjan on 2011/04/13

version	line-number	content
11.1	1	(% class="floatinginfobox" %)
	2	(((
1.1	3	Contents
	4
	5	{{toc depth="3" start="2"/}}
	6	)))
	7
11.1	8	= XWiki Skins =
	9
11.2	10	== How to create a new Skin ==
13.3	11
13.4	12	{{warning}}
	13	To create a new Skin, you must have access to the server side of the XWiki Enterprise instance.
	14	{{/warning}}
13.3	15
13.5	16	To create a new Skin, you have to create a new direcory inside the webapps/xwiki/skins folder and then add Velocity templates,CSS stylesheets, Javascript files and images inside it. For example, if you want to remove the logo from the header of the pages, follow these steps:
11.1	17
13.5	18	1. Inside the webapps/xwiki/skins folder, create a folder named myskin. Copy all files from webapps/xwiki/skins/colibri folder into your new skin directory.
	19	1. Change the Skin at global or instance level and set it as myskin ( see [[this>>AdminGuide.Skins]] page for more informations about how to change the Skin )
13.6	20	1. Open any page in view mode and you will notice that myskin layout is the same as the colibri layout (if the skin changes to albatross means that your theme wasn't used. Check the names of your skin directory. Note that skin names are case-sensitive)
13.5	21	1. Change the global template:
	22	1*. to remove the logo, modify the global.vm template under the new Skin and delete the line:(((
	23	{{code language="html"}}
	24	<img src="$!logourl" alt="Wiki Logo"/>
11.1	25	{{/code}}
	26	)))
13.5	27	1. Save the template
1.1	28
13.5	29	Open any page in view mode and you will notice that the XWiki logo is not displayed anymore. Congratulations! You have created a new minimal XWiki Skin.
13.4	30
11.2	31	== How to override a Skin ==
13.3	32
13.4	33	{{warning}}
	34	To change the Skin, the user must have administrating rights. In the case that you have these rights, make sure that you switch to the Advanced mode in your profile, to enable the advanced options on the top main menu.
	35	{{/warning}}
13.3	36
1.1	37	An alternative for creating a new Skin is the possibility to override an existing Skin. The advantage of overriding an existing Skin is the fact that you don't need access to the server filesystem in order to modify the files used by the current Skin.
	38	To override a Skin, you have to use the same document that is used to store the Skin.
11.2	39	{{id name="5a"/}}
13.4	40
11.2	41	=== A. Creating a Skin document ===
13.3	42
13.4	43	{{warning}}
14.3	44	You need to have the advanced edit mode activated to access the object editor. Please refer to [[platform:Features.PageEditing]] for more information.
13.4	45	{{/warning}}
13.3	46
1.1	47	To create a new Skin document, follow these steps:
	48
14.3	49	1. Create a new page. Name it MySkinPage(((
14.4	50	[[image:createSkinPage.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
11.1	51	)))
14.2	52	1. Edit the document's objects (Edit -> Objects)
	53	1. Add an object of type XWiki.XWikiSkins to the document
	54	1. Click on add
14.3	55	1. Set the base skin property to colibri. Now, you use colibri as a base skin. As you can see, no files were copied on the file system, but your skin uses colibri.(((
16.2	56	[[image:addSkinObject.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
14.3	57	)))
14.2	58	1. Save the document
11.1	59
17.2	60	=== B. Working with the XWiki.XWikiSkins class ===
13.4	61
17.2	62	The base element in overriding a Skin is the XWiki.XWikiSkins class ( http://localhost:8080/xwiki/bin/view/XWiki/XWikiSkins ). In order to modify the templates or the files used by a Skin, you have to work with the properties of this class. By default, the Skin class contains a set of properties that allows you to override some of the templates and files used by the Skin, and it also allows you to set the name of the logo displayed in the header of the interface.
	63	To override other templates or files, you have to add new properties to the Skin class. For example, if you want to override myfile.vm ( or myfile.css, or myfile.js ), follow these steps:
11.1	64
17.2	65
	66	1. Go to the XWiki.XWikiSkins document
	67	1. Edit the document's class (Edit -> Class) or follow this link: http://localhost:8080/xwiki/bin/edit/XWiki/XWikiSkins?editor=class
	68	1. Add a new property myfile.vm as TextArea type
17.4	69	1. Click on Add. The myfile.vm property should appear in the list(((
17.2	70	[[image:editXWikiSkins.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
11.1	71	)))
17.2	72	1. Save the document
1.1	73
11.2	74	=== C. Using a Skin document ===
13.4	75
1.1	76	To use a Skin document, follow these steps:
11.1	77
17.5	78	1. Go to the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)Skin(%%) property from inside the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)Administration(%%) page, Presentation section
	79	1. Set the value of the files as being the full name of the Skin document. For our skin page created above, we will type Main.MySkinPage
	80	1. Save the preferences
13.4	81
11.2	82	=== D. Overriding the Skin components ===
13.4	83
17.6	84	Let's add a "HELLO," before the username on the top right menu, not by modifying the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)menuview.vm(%%) template on the server, but overriding it inside the Skin document. Follow these steps:
11.1	85
12.1	86	==== Method 1: By editing the XWiki.XWikiSkins properties on the Skin document ====
	87
17.6	88	\|(% style="width: 60%; overflow-x: auto; " %)(((
	89	1. Add a (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)TextArea(%%) property named (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)menuview.vm(%%) to the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%) class
	90	1. Edit your skin document's objects (Edit -> Objects) and open the properties of the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%) object
	91	1. Copy the original content of the menuview.vm template and paste it in the property field named menuview.vm. If you don't have access to the server filesystem, open the template by following one of these links:if the previous link is not valid, go to http://localhost:8080/xwiki/templates/global/vmmenuview.vm
	92	1. (((
	93	Replace the following code:(% style="color:#222222;" %){{code language="xml"}}
11.1	94	<a class="glink"
1.1	95	href="$!xwiki.getURL($context.user, 'view')"
	96	id="headeruser">
	97	$!xwiki.getUserName($context.user, false)
11.1	98	</a>
17.6	99	{{/code}}(%%)
	100	)))(((
	101	with(% style="color:#222222;" %){{code language="xml"}}
11.1	102	<a class="glink"
1.1	103	href="$!xwiki.getURL($context.user, 'view')"
	104	id="headeruser">
	105	HELLO,
	106	$!xwiki.getUserName($context.user, false)
11.1	107	</a>
17.6	108	{{/code}}(%%)
11.1	109	)))
17.6	110	1. Save the document
11.1	111	)))\|(((
13.4	112	[[[[image:6.png\|\|style="border: 3px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);" width="100%"]]>>attach:6.png]]
11.1	113	)))
1.1	114
12.1	115	==== Method 2: By attaching files to the current Skin document ====
13.4	116
	117	1. create a copy of the global.vm template; if you don't have access to the server filesystem, open the template by following one of these links:
12.1	118	1*. http://localhost:8080/xwiki/skins/mybaseskin/global.vm ( where mybaseskin is the current Skin used in the Skin document ), or
	119	1*. if the previous link is not valid, go to http://localhost:8080/xwiki/templates/global.vm
	120	1. replace the following code inside the copy of global.vm template:(((
	121	{{code language="xml"}}
	122	<a class="glink"
	123	href="$!xwiki.getURL($context.user, 'view')"
	124	id="headeruser">
	125	$!xwiki.getUserName($context.user, false)
	126	</a>
	127	{{/code}}
	128	)))with(((
	129	{{code language="xml"}}
	130	<a class="glink"
	131	href="$!xwiki.getURL($context.user, 'view')"
	132	id="headeruser">
	133	HELLO,
	134	$!xwiki.getUserName($context.user, false)
	135	</a>
	136	{{/code}}
	137	)))
	138	1. attach the copy of global.vm template to the current Skin document page
	139
1.1	140	Now, open any document in view mode and you will notice the nice "HELLO," before your username.
11.1	141	Follow the same process in order to override (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)Javascript(%%) and (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %){{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}}(%%) files ( http://localhost:8080/xwiki/skins/colibri/myfile.css ).
1.1	142
13.1	143	==== 3. Overriding a skin resource ====
	144
	145	Just like templates, resource files such as images or css/js files can be overridden. To do that, the replacement must be attached to the Skin document, making sure it complies with the naming convention explained below. To find out the right name for your replacement resource, here is the trick:
13.4	146
13.1	147	1. find the path on the filesystem of the resource to replace (you can easily obtain that information using development tools such as [[Firebug>>http://getfirebug.com/]]); for instance, let's say this path is either
13.4	148	{{code}}/xwiki/resources/icons/silk/myicon.gif{{/code}}
13.1	149	for a resource found in the general resource directry, or
13.4	150	{{code}}/xwiki/skins/colibri/myimage.png{{/code}}
13.1	151	if the resource is specific to a certain skin, in this case 'colibri'.
	152	1. strip from this path everything from the beginning until 'resources/' or the name of the skin, included; in the previous examples, you will obtain in the first case
13.4	153	{{code}}icons/silk/myicon.gif{{/code}}
13.1	154	and in the second case simply
13.4	155	{{code}}myimage.png{{/code}}
13.1	156	1. in this path, replace '/' with '.'; after this operation, we will get {{code}}icons.silk.myicon.gif{{/code}} for the first image example, while the second one remains unchanged. This is the name of the file corresponding to the resource that you need to attach to the Skin document in order to make the replacement.
	157	1. create a file named as explained above and attach it to your Skin
	158
	159	{{info}}
	160	Technical note: This trick works for any resource whose URL is generated in the skin by the {{code}}$xwiki.getSkinFile(){{/code}}, {{code}}$xwiki.jsfx(){{/code}} or {{code}}$xwiki.ssfx(){{/code}} methods, for instance like this:
	161
	162	{{code language="none"}}
	163	.infomessage {
	164	background-image: url("$xwiki.getSkinFile('icons/silk/information.gif')");
	165	}
	166	{{/code}}
	167
	168	In this case, {{code}}$xwiki.getSkinFile('icons/silk/information.gif'){{/code}} will first search for an image called 'icons.silk.information.gif' attached to the configured Skin document, if any. If that image exists, it will generate its URL. Otherwise, it will continue to search for 'icons/silk/information.gif' in the base skins and finally in the general 'resources/' directory.
	169	{{/info}}
	170
13.5	171	{{id name="5e"/}}
13.4	172
17.4	173
11.2	174	=== E. Adding new components to the Skin ===
13.4	175
11.1	176	If you want to add new files to the skin, like (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %){{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} (%%) or (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)Javascript(%%) files, you have two options:
1.1	177
11.1	178	* attach the files to the Skin document and reffer them by their URL, or
	179	* add new properties to the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%) object from inside the Skin document, and refer them by their name
	180
	181	For example, if you want to add a new {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} file to the Skin, named (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)mynewfile.css(%%), follow one of these set of steps:
	182
13.4	183	\|(% style="width: 60%; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" %)(((
11.1	184	1. attach the {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} file to the Skin document
	185	1. override the stylesheets.vm template ( check the section [[D>>#5d]] to learn how to override a Skin component ), and add the reference to your file in the template:(((
	186	{{code language="xml"}}
	187	<link rel="stylesheet"
1.1	188	type="text/css"
	189	href="$xwiki.getSkinFile('mynewfile.css')"
11.1	190	/>
	191	{{/code}}
	192	)))
	193	1. save the document
	194	)))\|(((
13.4	195	[[[[image:7.png\|\|style="border: 3px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);" width="100%"]]>>attach:7.png]]
11.1	196	)))
1.1	197
	198	OR
	199
13.4	200	\|(% style="width: 60%; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" %)(((
11.1	201	1. add a new property to the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%), name it (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)mynewfile.css(%%) ( check the section [[B>>#5b]] for more information about how to work with this class ), edit the Skin document's objects ( use the top-left menu: (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)EDIT -> OBJECTS(%%) ), and paste the {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} code into the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)mynewfile.css(%%) field
	202	1. override the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)style.css(%%) component ( see the section [[D>>#5d]] for more information about how to override a Skin compoment ) and add the following line to the content of the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)style.css(%%) property:(((
	203	{{code language="css"}}
	204	@import "mynewfile.css";
	205	{{/code}}
	206	)))the important thing is to add a reference to the new component from a existing one; you must know most of the components content, so that you will take the best decision about which existing component will contain a reference to the new one
	207	1. save the document
	208	)))\|(((
13.4	209	[[[[image:8.png\|\|style="border: 3px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);" width="100%"]]>>attach:8.png]]
11.1	210	)))
	211
1.1	212	Open any document in view mode and you will notice that the stylesheet is now applied.
	213
11.2	214	{{id name="5f"/}}
13.4	215
11.2	216	=== F. Using (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)images(%%) in a Skin document ===
13.4	217
11.2	218	{{id name="5f1"/}}
13.4	219
11.2	220	==== 1. Changing the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)logo(%%) ====
13.4	221
11.1	222	For example, if you want to add an image named (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)myimage.jpg(%%) as being the logo for the current Skin, follow these steps:
1.1	223
11.1	224	1. attach the image to the Skin document
	225	1. edit the document's objects ( use the top-left menu: (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)EDIT -> OBJECTS(%%) )
	226	1. use the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%) object and set the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)Logo(%%) property as being the name of the attached image: (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)myimage.jpg
	227	1. save the document
	228
1.1	229	Open any page in view mode and you will notice that the logo is now changed.
	230
17.5	231	{{id name="5f2"/}}
11.1	232
	233	==== 2. Adding images to the Skin interface ====
	234
	235	To add images to the interface, attach them to the Skin document and use them in the {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} code. For example, if you want to use (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)myimage.jpg(%%) as background image for the pages inside your XWiki Enterprise instance, follow these steps:
	236
	237	1. attach the image to the Skin document
13.4	238	1. choose one of these actions:
11.1	239	1*. add a new {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} component to the Skin, name it (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)pagebackground.css(%%) and add a reference to it from the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)style.css(%%) component ( see the section [[E>>#5e]] for more information about how to add new components to the Skin )
	240	1*. override the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)mybaseskin.css(%%) component ( where mybaseskin is the name of the current Skin - for example: (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)albatross.css(%%), (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)toucan.css(%%) or (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)colibri.css(%%) )
	241	1. paste the following code inside the {{html}}<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</acronym>{{/html}} component:(((
	242	{{code language="css"}}
	243	body{
1.1	244	background-image: url($xwiki.getSkinFile("myimage.jpg"));
11.1	245	}
	246	{{/code}}
	247	)))
1.1	248
	249	Open any page in view mode and you will notice that the the background of the page contains your image.
	250	Have fun taking advantage of the power of XWiki Skins!
	251
11.1	252	== More about XWiki Skins ==
	253
9.1	254	In order to find more about XWiki Skins, check the [[Skins Tutorial>>AdminGuide.Skins]] from inside the Admin Guide and the [[Skins Tutorial>>Features.Skins]] from inside the User Guide
	255
11.1	256	== Further reading ==
1.1	257
11.1	258	* the [[XWiki Data Model>>http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/DataModel]]
12.2	259	* using the [[Skin Editor Application>>extensions:Extension.Skin Editor Application]]
11.1	260	* [[edit only one object>>http://dev.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Drafts/EditOneObject]]

Wiki source code of Skins

Quick Links

Navigation

About

About

Support

Platform

User Guide

Admin Guide

Developer Guide

Projects

XWiki

Extensions

Other

Contribute

Status

Practices

Under the Hood

Get Involved

Get Connected