# <a name="Pattern skin"></a><a name=" Pattern skin"></a> Pattern skin

**PatternSkin is developed to provide a CSS based default look and feel for TWiki - flexible and [[W3C]]-compliant.** Its layout and color scheme are designed to provide a nice, clean and productive _editing environment_. For use in corporate or perhaps in personal websites it should be fairly easy to tune the looks or even create a PatternSkin-based new skin.

<div><span>Page contents</span><ul>
    <li>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#Screen Shot"> Screen Shot</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#TWiki Installation Error">TWiki Installation Error</a><ul>
        <li><a href="#Supported browsers"> Supported browsers</a></li>
        <li><a href="#Installation"> Installation</a><ul>
            <li><a href="#Troubleshooting"> Troubleshooting</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="#Creating your own look"> Creating your own look</a></li>
        <li><a href="#Customization"> Customization</a></li>
        <li><a href="#Further reading"> Further reading</a></li>
        <li><a href="#Skin Info"> Skin Info</a></li>
        <li><a href="#Related topics"> Related topics</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div>

## <a name="Screen Shot"></a> Screen Shot

[<img src="http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/patternskin_screenshot.gif" width="600" height="130" alt="Click for full screen image" style="border: 1px solid #eee" />](http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/patternskin_screenshot_full.png)

## <a name="Supported browsers"></a> Supported browsers

PatternSkin has been tested succesfully on the following browsers:

- Windows
  - Internet Explorer 6.0, 5.5 (note: Explorer 5.0 is **not** supported: will function but shows visual quirks)
  - Mozilla/Firefox
- Mac OS X
  - Safari 1.2
  - Mozilla/Firefox

Not tested, but will probably work (let me know):

- \*nix
  - Mozilla/Firefox

## <a name="Installation"></a> Installation

**Note:** You do not need to install anything on the browser to use this skin. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the skin on the server where TWiki is running.

**Note 2:** PatternSkin is included with TWiki by default. Use the following instructions only if you are upgrading PatternSkin.

- Download the ZIP file from the Skin Home page (see below)
- Unzip <code>**%TOPIC%.zip**</code> in your twiki installation directory
- Test if installed: <http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/%WEB%/%TOPIC%?skin=pattern>
- For skin activation see [[TWikiSkins]]

### <a name="Troubleshooting"></a> Troubleshooting

If you have set the SKIN variable setting to `pattern` and you still don't see the layout as on the [screenshot](http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/patternskin_screenshot_full.png), a few settings in may have been disabled.

Check these variables here:

- TWIKILAYOUTURL = %TWIKILAYOUTURL%
- TWIKISTYLEURL = %TWIKISTYLEURL%
- SKIN = %SKIN%

If TWIKILAYOUTURL or TWIKISTYLEURL don't give a value or point to non-existing files, check in [[TWikiPreferences]] that the following variables do exist and that they are set to on:

    	* %TWIKIWEB%.PatternSkin settings:
    		* Set TWIKILAYOUTURL = %PUBURL%/%TWIKIWEB%/PatternSkin/layout.css
    		* Set TWIKISTYLEURL = %PUBURL%/%TWIKIWEB%/PatternSkin/style.css

If this still does not work, contact the administrator who installs skins.

For further troubleshooting and feedback, go to TWiki:Plugins/PatternSkinDev.

## <a name="Creating your own look"></a> Creating your own look

It is easy to tune the look and feel of PatternSkin by changing the color and space (margin, padding) settings in the Style Sheet files.

You may also choose to radically change the look and create a PatternSkin-based new skin. This is easier than to create a skin by writing new template files; you can concentrate on how things should look instead of what elements should get displayed.

You can eiter:

- Change the `layout.css` and `style.css` attachment files for this topic (upload updated versions)
- In [[TWikiPreferences]], point the variables `TWIKILAYOUTURL` and `TWIKISTYLEURL` to other attachments, perhaps in another topic (your new skin topic?)

If you want to change colors and white space of screen elements, modify `style.css`. <br /> If you want to change the positioning of screen elements, modify `layout.css`.

See for practical details: [[PatternSkinCustomization]]<br /> The CSS classes that PatternSkin uses are documented in [[PatternSkinCss]].

## <a name="Customization"></a> Customization

See: [[PatternSkinCustomization]]

## <a name="Further reading"></a> Further reading

- [[PatternSkinCustomization]] - Practical information on how to change the looks of PatternSkin
- [[PatternSkinCss]] - A reference to used CSS classes
- TWiki:Plugins/PatternSkinDev - Development page, bug reports, solutions from users

## <a name="Skin Info"></a> Skin Info

<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Description: </td>
    <td> Provides a CSS based default look and feel for TWiki - flexible and [[Main/W3C]]-compliant </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Screenshot: </td>
    <td><a href="http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/patternskin_screenshot_full.png"><img alt="Click for full screen image" height="130" src="http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/patternskin_screenshot.gif" style="border: 1px solid #eee" width="600" /></a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Base Name: </td>
    <td> pattern </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Skin Author: </td>
    <td> TWiki:Main/ArthurClemens </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Skin Version: </td>
    <td> 08 Aug 2004 (v1.000) </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Download PatternSkin: </td>
    <td><a href="http://www.dementia.org/twiki//view/PatternSkin.zip" target="_top">PatternSkin.zip</a><br /><strong>Note:</strong> the CSS files in this topic may be more recent than the version in the zip file </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Change History: </td>
    <td>  </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> 14 Aug 2004: </td>
    <td> v.1.0.3 - Update to attach template, css fix to edit template </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> 14 Aug 2004: </td>
    <td> v.1.0.2 - Fixes print template, table paddings in topics, minor changes to style.css </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> 13 Aug 2004: </td>
    <td> v.1.0.1 - Updated /data/TWiki/WebLeftBarPersonalTemplate and style.css </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> 08 Aug 2004: </td>
    <td> Initial version (v1.000) </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Dependencies: </td>
    <td>[[TWiki/TablePlugin]]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Skin Home: </td>
    <td><a href="http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/%TOPIC%" target="_top">http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/%TOPIC%</a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="right"> Feedback: </td>
    <td><a href="http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/%TOPIC%Dev" target="_top">http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/%TOPIC%Dev</a></td>
  </tr>
</table>

## <a name="Related topics"></a> Related topics

- TWiki:TWiki/TWikiCss
- TWiki:TWiki/WebBottomBar
- TWiki:TWiki/WebLeftBar
- TWiki:TWiki/WebLeftBarExample
- TWiki:TWiki/WebLeftBarPersonalTemplate
- TWiki:TWiki/WebLeftBarCookbook
- TWiki:TWiki/WebTopBar

See also [[Further reading|Main/TOPIC#Further_reading]] on this page.

Other skins:

- TWiki:TWiki/TWikiSkins
- TWiki:TWiki/TWikiSkinBrowser

----

-- TWiki:Main/ArthurClemens - 16 Aug 2004