Last modified: 2004-08-27 05:30:05 UTC
So reusers don't have to hack the code to provide new skins, and so that people not trusted with CVS access can still use their own private skins (beyond what's provided for with the stylesheet!).
I suppose it would theoretically be possible to create a PHPTal-based skin which pulls its XML template (the .pt file) from a user sub-page rather than a fixed file.
Restored the summary. Timwi completely changed the meaning of the request -- this is about site administrators customizing their wikis' display, not end-users.
Huh? But site administrators can already customise their wiki (either by modifying xhtml-slim.pt, or by writing an entirely new skin).
Right now adding a new skin requires hacking up a bunch of code in Language.php, Skin.php, User.php etc. That's a royal pain in the neck -- and you have to carefully preserve your changes on even minor version upgrades. It should be as easy as dropping in an extension: copy in a new directory and add an include() to your LocalSettings.php. Particularly for skins that simply use new styles and/or a new PHPTal template, this should be a relatively painless affair for a site administrator. However, it's not that easy yet. That's why we have an enhancement request. :)
Really want this for 1.4 release, skin customization is a very frequently asked-about issue and right now there's no easy answer.
Added a module "sampleskin" to the extensions package. It documents how to write a skin extension. Also added the neccessary hooks to the main module.
