The Mission
A new website I was contracted to create really needed a custom look and feel. Much more than I could find out at sites like SnowCovered.com. So this meant I had to get serious and put a skin and container together for the site.
So I located a set of ASCX and CSS files that used DIVs only. Next I used Photoshop CS3 to compose the site design and get sign off from the client. Now the challenge, turn the design into a workable skin.
Some quick background... I have a Virtual server I develop in so I can install DotNetNuke locally and get everything working before I put it on the client's server.
Steps to Success
1. Package up the basic Skin and Container set into two ZIP files and upload to your local test server.
2. From your browser, navigate to Host Settings and scroll down to Performance Settings. Change Performance Setting to No Caching and click Update. This will allow you to make changes, refresh the browser, and see the results whether good or bad.
3. From Explorer, navigate to your DotNetNuke folder and then descend to your portal (e.g. c:\inetpub\wwwroot\dotnetnuke\Portals\0). You will find your uploaded files in the Skins and Containers sub folders. Open up your skin.ascx and container.ascx along with their respective CSS files using Visual Studio or your editor of choice.
4. Make your changes and test. Without the caching, you can easily do the debug cycle of Save, Refresh, Review.
5. Once you have your skin and container ready for production, ZIP them up in place and upload them.
Using this methodology, I turned out this website today: www.landcomservices.com/
As a bonus, I Twittered about the new DotNetNuke website and quickly received positive feedback from Nik Kalyani, CEO of DotNetNuke. Thanks Nik!
If you haven't tried DotNetNuke, you are missing out on a inexpensive platform for enabling your clients. As a Content Management System, it enables your clients to do minor updates without additional costs. For many clients on tight budgets, this is a big selling point. Plus I can turn out a DotNetNuke site in a fraction of the time needed for full scale development. Give it a try, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
--David