Discus 4.0 contains an interface within the Appearance Manager to browse, preview, obtain, install, and apply prepared skins from DiscusWare's web site. This technology provides an easy mechanism for administrators of all experience levels to customize their board appearance by taking advantage of the contributions of others and the additional skin development performed by DiscusWare.

Accessing the Skin Gallery

You must be running Discus 4.0 or higher in order to access the DiscusWare on-line skin gallery. With Discus 4.0 or higher:

1. Access the administration program of your Discus board. Log in as the board administrator (typically admin).

2. From the administration program main menu, click "Appearance Manager" under the Board Controls section.

3. In the right frame, click the "Skins" tab.

4. Scroll down to the "DiscusWare's Skin Gallery" box. Click the "Browse Skin Gallery" link, which will open the skin gallery in a new pop-up window.

Using the Skin Gallery

Once you have opened the skin gallery, there are three main types of operations that you may wish to perform.

BROWSING

When browsing the skin gallery, you will locate a skin of interest. This visual process is achieved by viewing screen captures of the skin as applied to a board and even by previewing the Discus Support Forum as generated from the skin you've selected. Here are some tips for browsing:

• Browsing by category: The first screen of the skin gallery presents several categories of the available skins, along with a count of the number of skins available in each category. To locate a skin of interest, choose the category that most interests you. You can also choose "Master Directory" for a list of all skins available through the gallery.

• Skin logos: Each skin has a logo associated with it which is generally chosen as a screen capture of a representative part of the skin.

• Screen captures: Each skin has a set of screen captures that are generally prepared from the Support Forum or another board with the skin applied. Clicking "Screen Shots" in the skin listing will present a window with up to six screen shots of the skin. Remember that colors are always configurable, so do not discount a skin from your consideration simply because you do not like the colors shown in the screen capture.

• Preview the skin: You can preview a skin by browsing the Support Forum using the skin you've selected. This is an interesting way to see how the skin will appear in your browser. Keep in mind, however, that the links and forms may not work properly in the preview. Clicking "See It In Action" in the listing brings up the preview in a separate window.

DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING

When you have found a skin you like, you can download it for installation onto your board. Although it is possible to download the files individually, DiscusWare recommends using the automatic installation method to ensure that all files are transferred properly to your server. The automatic installation does not automatically apply the skin to your board; it simply copies all files to your server to allow you to apply the skin at a later time.

To install a skin from the gallery onto your board, simply click the "Auto-Install" link from any skin listing. From the resulting pop-up window, click the "Auto-Install Skin" button. You will be prompted to choose a file name for the skin, with the default file name for the skin filled in. Once you've chosen a file name, click the "Save Skin" button to save the skin and any associated files onto your board. Close the resulting window.

Saving the skin to your board via the automatic installation method requires your administration password. Since you have already logged into administration, your password is stored in a cookie that is available to your site. The actual skin data is provided in a hidden field on the pop-up screens. The DiscusWare web server never learns your password or contacts your server directly at any time when the skin gallery is in use.

APPLYING A SKIN

Once you have downloaded and installed a skin onto your board, in order to generate all message pages from that skin, you must select the skin through your Appearance Manager and then regenerate your board based on the skin.

1. After returning from the Skin Gallery, click the "Skins" tab again. This reloads the list of available skins, updating it to reflect any skins that you have just installed from the skin gallery.

2. Within the "Skin Selection" section, check the radio button in the leftmost column next to the skin you wish to use on your board. Click the "Save and Apply" button.

3. In the resulting screen, review the color scheme suggested by the skin. DiscusWare recommends that you accept the default color scheme unless you really know what you're doing. Since your previous skin may not have defined colors for certain aspects of your display, not accepting the defaults may result in undefined colors which would result in inconsistent and/or odd displays in the user interface.

4. Click the "Save Skin" button to save your skin choice.

5. You will now be placed in the "Regeneration" tab to apply the changes to all pages on your board. Click the "Regenerate Board" button and wait for the operation to complete. When you are returned to the "Regeneration" screen, the application of your new skin is complete.

Contributions are Welcome

As users of Discus 3.10 upgrade to version 4.0 in greater numbers, DiscusWare anticipates that the number of skins available in the gallery will grow substantially. If you develop a customized skin for your use that is unique, we would like to add it to the skin gallery so that it can be made available to other customers.

Check out "How to write a skin that DiscusWare can distribute" for useful guidelines to follow when customizing skins. These suggestions will make it possible for DiscusWare to distribute the skin, and also it will make it much easier for you to use the skin on other discussion boards on your same server should this ever be necessary.