Skins

From Online Grades Documentation

In the config.php file there is a “$SKIN” setting, which actually sets the directory name of the skin that you would like to use. Skins differ from templates in that skins consist of headers, footers, and CSS files that change the overall look of the site. A true template system would allow you to make major changes to the look of the site while touching very little PHP code at all, but would require major programming changes to Online Grades. For now we believe that the Skin route gives us the most “bang for the buck”.

Skin files are located in the “skins” directory and Online Grades ships with several samples for you to choose from. You can see the full effect of the skin (including the login page) by changing the skin setting in the config.php file to match the directory name you would like to use. For a quick preview there is a “skin switcher” in the Admin Interface that allows you to preview a skin without making config.php changes.

If you would like to make your own skin (for example to create a custom header or footer or to change some colors) we suggest that you take an existing skin and copy it to a new name and work from there. By doing this your skin change will be easier to keep track of if you upgrade Online Grades. If you create a really neat skin, feel free to email it to the developers and we can look at including it with the main Online Grades package.

In Linux you would copy an existing folder to a new one via the cp –R command:

   cp –R light newlight

Once this is complete you can go into the “newlight” directory and edit the files as needed. The header, footer, and CSS files include comments to help guide you through the editing process.