Skinner Plugin
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- Skinner 0.1.4
Skinner 0.1.3Skinner 0.1.2Skinner 0.1.1Skinner 0.1.0Skinner 0.0.5Skinner 0.0.4Skinner 0.0.3Skinner 0.0.2- Skinner 0.0.1
- Skinner 0.0.0
This software is licensed under the CC-GNU GPL.
Tip Jar
Installing
- copy the 'skinner' directory to your wp-contents/plugins directory.
- Activate Skinner in your Plugins administration page.
- Install and activate a Skinner compatible theme.
- You will now see the 'Skins' and 'Skin Editor' entries in the 'Presentation' menu.
Screen Shots
- Picking a skin
- Editing a skin
FAQ
I'm a theme user. Why would I create skins?
Using skins is more maintainable that editing the theme directly.
If you are editing the theme, then when a new version of the theme comes out, you need to remember all the changes you made previously and apply them to the upgraded theme. Tracking down the changes can be a real pain.
If instead of editing the theme, you create a skin, then when a new version of the theme comes out, you can just copy your skins into the new theme. A few tweeks of your skin and the upgrade should be complete. Nice!
Can I skin a skin?
Yes you can. Just create a skin for the same theme and in the header of the 'style.css' file add:
Parent Skin: skinname
How do I put a skin switcher on my page, without using widgets?
Edit the theme you are using and place
<?php skinner_skin_switcher() ?>
where you would like the skin switcher to appear.
I'm a theme maintainer. Why would I create skins?
Using skins for your themes allows you maintain a single code base for the theme, but have a number of variations to it's look and feel. e.g., your theme might be blue by default, but you could have a green, yellow and pink skin.
By providing skins for your theme, you can make it more applealing to a larger group of people, with very little extra work.
Vistered Little and JSBox are both great examples of skinned themes.
How do I find out what CSS selectors to use to modify a specific element on the page?
Go and grab Firebug is you are using Firefox, of IE Developer Toolbar if you are using IE. Both of these plugins will allow you to inspect an element to find out what id and/or class it has and what CSS is currently applied to the element.
64 comments.
So.. is there a demo for this plugin? Because it shounds cool.
Well, I’m not sure how to provide a demo as it requires admin access to a wordpress blog. Not something you can let anyone access. In the meantime, your best bet is to install the vistered little 1.7 theme and the plugin and go from there.
how u freeze the top header bro?
Hi brew,
I fix the header at the top by using the following css
position: fixed;
for most browsers and
position:absolute; top:expression(eval(document.documentElement.scrollTop));
in a style sheet that is only included by IE 6
It could just be a combination of plugins, but I’ve noticed that the latest Skinner (0.0.2) is causing Wordpress to output a “are you sure you want to enable/disable/edit x?” dialog that can’t be avoided. I know it’s this plugin because moving the Skinner directory outside of the /plugins root fixes the issue, but then the skin gets broken. My solution has been to move the directory, make the necessary changes, then restore the directory and re-enable the plugin to keep things looking smooth.
Hi ZB, do you happen to have WordPress installed in a sub-directory?
No sir, it’s installed in my web root. It took me a while to figure out what was causing the issue (generally speaking), though I have no clue as to specifically what could do that. For clarification purposes, please see the main page of my blog - zbmowrey.com. I’ve posted a couple of images showing the Wordpress Dialog that’s being invoked, as well as a detailed write up. If there’s anything else I can do to help you troubleshoot this, please let me know… Vistered Little is by far the coolest WP theme ever, and if I can help you out a little, I think it’s worth it.
Hi ZB, I’m having problem reproducing this problem. Can you tell me, without the skinner plugin installed, are you still asked to confirm the (de)activation of plugins? From what you wrote on your blog, I’m guessing the answer is no.
Right - without the plugin installed, everything works without a hitch as you’d expect it to. As soon as I activate the Skinner plugin, I start getting those dialogs for other plugins.
For reference purposes, I have the following plugins installed: Akismet, AllinOne SEO Pack, Google Sitemaps, Presentation Toolkit (from here), Skinner, WP-Cache.
I wouldn’t suspect Google Sitemaps or AllinOne, since the problem was around before I installed those. Maybe this is something related to the WP install Dreamhost uses?
It is 2.1.3, but perhaps there’s some php tweak they’ve used that is causing skinner to go crazy? Not really sure how to proceed, so I’ll just keep doing the workaround since it’s worth it.
Hi ZB, thanks for all the information. I’m going to keep trying various things to see what I can do to reproduce the problem. One thing I should point out however, is that you should only need the Skinner plugin if you don’t want to use the default skin, which when I last looked at your site, is the case.
Will this work with WP 2.2, which was just released?
I installed wordpress v2.2 tonight and this theme seems to be working perfectly (at 1.7.3). I even figured out how to change the wallpapers to add some of my custom favorites. Nice work, guys!
Is there any way to make it seem like it’s not chugging my system (more than capable computer) when I use the mouse wheel to scroll?
Hi -drew-, You’re the first person to complain about this, but I’m guessing you are using IE 6 and you have the header fixed to the viewport (stays visible at the top when you scroll). Correct?
correct on both points, Tom. i’m on my mobile right now so I can’t test it with firefox but i’ll try that when I get home. i’ll also look into adjusting the banner so it’s not fixed. I played w/that a bit last night and didn’t notice a change but that was in ie6.
IE 6 uses “expressions” in the css (have a look for
headerfixedin style-ie.css.php) and these can put a bit of a load on the CPU. The strange thing I’ve found is that sometimes it’s really slow and chews up a lot of CPU and other times, there’s no noticeable slowness at all.hi. i’m using the skinner plugin together with the theme switcher.
i’ve found a problem that may be considered a bug:
when using another template (with the theme switcher) the skinner inserts the .css from vistered little into the page, crashing the layout.
is it possible to tell the skinner to insert the VL-css only, wehen VL is active?
thanks for the help.
I haven’t tried it with the theme switcher. I’ll test it let you know what I find.
I’ve just updated the Skinner Plugin and Presentation toolkit to support the theme switcher. Let me know if you have any problems.
nope. sorry. there were no changes detectable.
i tried the actual versions of VL, skinner and the presentation toolkit.
perhaps it helps describing the combinations i tried:
if VL is the main theme (with skinner & PT) the skinner inserts its .CSS into the other themes that are selectable by the themeswitcher.
if VL is not the primary theme (selectable by the user, with active skinner & PT) the settings are ignored completely not even borders are drawed. but other themes remain untouched.
the only way to use VL as secondary (selectable) theme without problems is to use it without the skinner. but then all other settings are ignored - even the ones made by the presentation toolkit.
thanks for your dedication but i guess i have to use this very nice plugin without any customizations. keep up the good work.
I’ll look into it further to see what is going wrong. I had it setup on a dev installation of wordpress and was able to switch between VL, classic and default.
ah. i had a inspiration.
when i copy the VL-”skins”-folder into the the folder of the primary theme, the borders are drawed. so there seem to be problems with the pathes.
i hope this helps a little bit.
but i have to add, that - if the VL-skins are copied to the maintheme - the CSS of the skins is inserted to all other themes.
so the summary of the problem would be:
- the skinner tries to get its VL-skins from the direcorty of the main theme.
- the skinner inserts the CSS everytime. not only when VL is active.
perhaps it is possible to add some sort of a hook or “jump-in-point” for the skinner. i’m not that keen in programming.
Hi, you must correct the URL for Skinner 0.0.4, just 0.0.3 works
Thanks. It’s fixed now.
i installed skinner the newest version from wordpress to 2.2 version and its not showing in “skins” or “skin editor” in the presentation area.
does anyone else have this problem?
What theme are you using?
This is a great plugin. This type of is priceless for the new kid on the block.
Thanks
Vic
this plug-in has stopped working for me on the Mac, using either Firefox or Safari. selecting Citrus, for example takes me to a blank page with an address which is my url + /index.php?wpskin=Citrus.
Sounds like the redirect after the skin change is failing. Do you have an error log on the server? Also what version of WordPress are you using?
per the skin switching issue:
I’m using WP 2.2.1 & the vistered-little theme. i have two osx computers & only get the error on one.
not working on osx 10.4.1 desktop: firefox 2.0.0.6 + safari 2.0.4. working on osx 10.4.1 laptop: firefox 2.0.0.1 & safari 2.0.4.
i see no errors in the server log.
I think I’ve found and fixed the problem. Try 0.1.1.
I want a skinswither (without themeswitcher) and i’m not using widgets.
Fixed it myself. Just…
Sorry for the delay, I’ve added a FAQ above for your question.
Same problem as Jack describes in MSIE 6.0. I disable the skinswitcher until the problem is solved
What version of WordPress are you using?
I can’t get it to work for me. everything in the admin works fine, but it won’t switch the skins for me on the blog.
wordpress 2.2.2
I’ll be testing it against 2.2.2 over the next few days.
Please try 0.1.1
I get an ‘fatal error’ when I try and install the pugin so that I can use it with the Js Theme v2 - PolarLight. The fate I get does not do any harm to my wordpress installation but the plugin is not activated.
I’m using wordpress 2.2.2 and the skinner version is 0.1.3.
Thank you for the help and it seems your work is making blogging more interesting for quite a few people.
Can you provide more details about the error Or does it just say “fatal error” and that’s it?
WP 2.3 and Skinner 0.1.3
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare kubrick_head() (previously declared in /home/zecompad/public_html/www/wp-content/themes/default/functions.php:11) in /home/zecompad/public_html/www/wp-content/themes/default/functions.php on line 10Dang. I’m trying to get some time to upgrade to 2.3 and as soon as I do I’ll try to upload a fix.
i forgot but this error is when i try to activate the skinner just with the default skin and k2 .
it isnt working..fatal error appears have wordpress 2.3
I get fatal error on Wordpress 2.3 as well. An error about K2 being re-declared…
Add me to that list of 2.3 fatal errors. It’s a brilliant theme otherwise. We know you’ll pull through Tom!
i think this is not reade for 2.3 ! didn’t work for me too !
I’ve just release 0.1.4. Give that a go and let me know if if still doesn’t work.
tks tom !
gona try !
let u know then !!
Hey wicked idea for plugin.. exactly what I was after as we have different colour flavours/skins for our company’s WP theme, based on the same base code. I only want the admin to be able to decide/choose the skin, and not the end user.
Question tho: how does one make their theme “Skinner compatible” ? when I click on the link above it doesn’t go anywhere? (linked to anchor #skinner-themes)
Also, in your latest realease 0.1.4, in the comments in the PHP it still says 0.1.3, is this just an oversite?
I have the latest skinner plugin installed, then under presentation tab in wp admin I select “create your own skin” name it, then nothing happens ?
now i think is fine !
tks tom !
btw :
- JSBox do you know him ?
Great. Thanks for letting me know.
RE: JSBox. I know JSBox uses skinner, but I don’t know the author.
It would seem the author of JSBox has given up, JSBox.net has gone walkabout…
shame
jsbox.net still works for me. Maybe it was only down for a while.
Yeah looks like it is back up, I’ve updated Jay’s theme to be more Wordpress 2.3 compatible, but it still needs work and I am not a developer, so fingers crossed, Jay sorts it out soon
jsbox.net is slow ! sometime even doesnt load !
My ubuntu Linux choose a different skin when i first loaded the blog. Is it a bug or a feature?
Can this plugin be installed at blogsavy.com? If so, I need help because I can’t figure it out… :S
Thank you for the skinner. Am going to try it!
Is there a more detailed readme/instruction? I wanted to try to use this to create a new skin for my theme, but it just redirects me to the index.php without changing a thing about the look and feel. What am I missing?
I selected your template for my edublog blog and as I changed pages, the background changed. All the pages had different backgrounds. It was very cool.
Then, I selected 1 of the small boxes at the top of the page and manually changed the background.
Now the backgrounds don’t change automatically and they are all the same.
Can you tell me how to set the background so that it will change as I navigate through my blog? I cannot figure it out.
Thanks,
Antoinette
http://presentingbloggingatkms.edublogs.org/
I am on WP 2.5.1 and skinner 0.1.4. On the blog, I have placed skinner widget (JSTheme). This shows the list of available skins but clicking on the skin name doesn’t change the skin.
http://the-geek.in
Update : If I change the skin, nothing happens. But after changing the skin, I click ‘Home’ or ‘Achieve’ etc links, the skin is changed.