Wiki source code of Skins

Version 22.2 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
22.2	78	1. Go to the skin property from inside the Administrationpage, Presentation section
17.5	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
19.4	84	Let's add a "Hello" before the username on the top right menu, not by modifying the 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
18.2	88
19.6	89	1. Add a TextArea property named menuview.vm to the XWiki.XWikiSkins class(((
19.2	90	[[image:XWikiSkinsMenuView.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
	91	)))
18.2	92	1. Edit your skin document's objects (Edit -> Objects) and open the properties of the object
19.4	93	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 http://localhost:8080/xwiki/skins/colibri/menuview.vm
19.6	94	1. Replace the following code:(((
18.2	95	{{code language="html"}}
	96	#xwikitopmenuentrystart($xwiki.getURL($xcontext.user, 'view') "$msg.get('core.menu.type.profile')__SEPARATOR__$!xwiki.getUserName($xcontext.user, false)" 'tmUser' 'hasIcon')
	97	{{/code}}
19.2	98
	99	with
	100
	101	{{code language="html"}}
18.2	102	#xwikitopmenuentrystart($xwiki.getURL($xcontext.user, 'view') "$msg.get('Hello')__SEPARATOR__$!xwiki.getUserName($xcontext.user, false)" 'tmUser' 'hasIcon')
	103	{{/code}}
19.6	104	)))(((
19.2	105	[[image:MySkinPageWithMenuView.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
18.2	106	)))
19.2	107
17.6	108	1. Save the document
1.1	109
12.1	110	==== Method 2: By attaching files to the current Skin document ====
13.4	111
20.1	112	1. Create a file on your computer called menuview.vm. Copy the original content of the menuview.vm into your local file. If you don't have access to the server filesystem, open the template by following [[http://localhost:8080/xwiki/skins/colibri/menuview.vm]]
21.2	113	1. Replace the following code:(((
19.7	114	{{code language="html"}}
	115	#xwikitopmenuentrystart($xwiki.getURL($xcontext.user, 'view') "$msg.get('core.menu.type.profile')__SEPARATOR__$!xwiki.getUserName($xcontext.user, false)" 'tmUser' 'hasIcon')
12.1	116	{{/code}}
19.7	117
	118	with
	119
	120	{{code language="html"}}
	121	#xwikitopmenuentrystart($xwiki.getURL($xcontext.user, 'view') "$msg.get('Hello')__SEPARATOR__$!xwiki.getUserName($xcontext.user, false)" 'tmUser' 'hasIcon')
12.1	122	{{/code}}
	123	)))
19.6	124	1. Attach the copy of menuview.vm template to the current Skin document page
12.1	125
19.7	126	Now, open any document in view mode and you will notice the nice "Hello" before your username. Follow the same process in order to override Javascript and CSS files ( http://localhost:8080/xwiki/skins/colibri/myfile.css ).
1.1	127
13.1	128	==== 3. Overriding a skin resource ====
	129
	130	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	131
21.2	132	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	133	{{code}}/xwiki/resources/icons/silk/myicon.gif{{/code}}
13.1	134	for a resource found in the general resource directry, or
13.4	135	{{code}}/xwiki/skins/colibri/myimage.png{{/code}}
13.1	136	if the resource is specific to a certain skin, in this case 'colibri'.
21.2	137	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	138	{{code}}icons/silk/myicon.gif{{/code}}
13.1	139	and in the second case simply
13.4	140	{{code}}myimage.png{{/code}}
21.2	141	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.
	142	1. Create a file named as explained above and attach it to your Skin
13.1	143
	144	{{info}}
	145	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:
	146
	147	{{code language="none"}}
	148	.infomessage {
	149	background-image: url("$xwiki.getSkinFile('icons/silk/information.gif')");
	150	}
	151	{{/code}}
	152
	153	In this case, {{code}}$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.
	154	{{/info}}
	155
11.2	156	=== E. Adding new components to the Skin ===
13.4	157
22.2	158	If you want to add new files to the skin, like CSS or Javascript files, you have two options:
1.1	159
11.1	160	* attach the files to the Skin document and reffer them by their URL, or
	161	* add new properties to the (% class="sectionblockcodecolored" %)XWiki.XWikiSkins(%%) object from inside the Skin document, and refer them by their name
	162
	163	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:
	164
22.2	165
	166	1. Attach the CSS file to the Skin document
21.2	167	1. Override the stylesheets.vm template and add the reference to your file in the template:(((
22.2	168	{{code language="html"}}
11.1	169	<link rel="stylesheet"
1.1	170	type="text/css"
	171	href="$xwiki.getSkinFile('mynewfile.css')"
11.1	172	/>
	173	{{/code}}
	174	)))
21.2	175	1. Save the document
1.1	176
22.2	177	(((
	178	OR
1.1	179
22.2	180
	181	1. Add a new property to the XWiki.XWikiSkins, name it mynewfile.css, edit the Skin document's objects ( Edit -> Objects ), and paste the CSS code into the mynewfile.css field
	182	1. Override thestyle.css component and add the following line to the content of the style.css property:(((
11.1	183	{{code language="css"}}
	184	@import "mynewfile.css";
	185	{{/code}}
22.2	186	[[image:importCSS.png\|\|style="border:1px solid black; width:650px"]]
	187
	188	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 .
11.1	189	)))
22.2	190	1. Save the document
11.1	191
22.2	192	Open any document in view mode and you will notice that the stylesheet is now applied.
1.1	193
13.4	194
22.2	195	=== F. Using images in a Skin document ===
13.4	196
22.2	197	==== 1. Changing the logo ====
13.4	198
22.2	199	For example, if you want to add an image named myimage.jpg as being the logo for the current Skin, follow these steps:
13.4	200
22.2	201	1. Attach the image to the Skin document
	202	1. Edit the document's objects
	203	1. Use the XWiki.XWikiSkins object and set the Logo property as being the name of the attached image myimage.jpg
	204	1. Save the document
1.1	205
22.2	206	Open any page in view mode and you will notice that the logo is now changed.
11.1	207
1.1	208
11.1	209	==== 2. Adding images to the Skin interface ====
	210
22.2	211	To add images to the interface, attach them to the Skin document and use them in the CSS code. For example, if you want to use myimage.jpg as background image for the pages inside your XWiki Enterprise instance, follow these steps:
11.1	212
22.2	213	1. Attach the image to the Skin document
	214	1. Choose one of these actions:
	215	1*. Add a new CSS component to the Skin, name it pagebackground.css and add a reference to it from the style.css component
	216	1*. Override the mybaseskin.css component (where mybaseskin is the name of the current Skin - for example: albatross.css, toucan.css or colibri.css)
	217	1. Paste the following code inside the CSS component:(((
11.1	218	{{code language="css"}}
	219	body{
1.1	220	background-image: url($xwiki.getSkinFile("myimage.jpg"));
11.1	221	}
	222	{{/code}}
	223	)))
1.1	224
22.2	225	Open any page in view mode and you will notice that the the background of the page contains your image. Have fun taking advantage of the power of XWiki Skins!
1.1	226
11.1	227	== More about XWiki Skins ==
	228
9.1	229	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
	230
11.1	231	== Further reading ==
1.1	232
11.1	233	* the [[XWiki Data Model>>http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/DataModel]]
12.2	234	* using the [[Skin Editor Application>>extensions:Extension.Skin Editor Application]]
11.1	235	* [[edit only one object>>http://dev.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Drafts/EditOneObject]]

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