-- MartinCleaver - 23 Sep 2001

TigerSkin isn't installed on Codev. I'd like to see a selection of skins on a site. However, for a user to be able to switch between them means some sort of session information is needed. Hence, SessionPlugin. However, this uses (temporary) cookies, which some might object to on TWiki.org. It also means the session files need regular cleanout - although I don't see why this should be a problem.

-- JohnTalintyre - 24 Sep 2001

John, there is no reason for the user's preference for a skin to be kept in session info. It can be set on their TWikiUserTopic, and if you use my UserCookiePlugin, the TWiki will always user their preferences. THats why I did the Cookie thing at Unisys so long ago..

-- SvenDowideit - 25 Sep 2001

Users can also be tracked without cookies if you enable the $doRememberRemoteUser flag in TWiki.cfg. This assumes that the IP address does not change too often, which is the case in most corporate environments. Details in TWiki.TWikiUserAuthentication

-- PeterThoeny - 25 Sep 2001

Great, well, I'm glad that if some people have an objection to Cookies that we can do without. Personally I have no objection to the use of cookies. I'm surprised if many people do.

Another question: how do I determine what plugins are installed? Does % ACTIVEPLUGINS% give me a definitive list, or just those active? TWikiVariables does not talk about the ACTIVEPLUGINS variable, can someone please update that?

% ACTIVEPLUGINS% variable currently expands to %ACTIVEPLUGINS%

-- MartinCleaver - 26 Sep 2001

A couple of comments:

• Does $doRememberRemoteUser really work well? I'd would think that in any global company you are likely to get hit by proxies. When using internet access many people will be hit by NAT. At present there is no Internet site where everyone can try out different skins. $doRememberRemoteUser doesn't work for my office on the Internet or on our Intranet. I assume this is the same for many others.
• A user's preferences don't need to be kept in Session level information. The SessionPlugin means that user preferences are always available (as does UserCookiePlugin - which is really just a way of auto logging in the user). But, the SessionPlugin also adds the ability to override the skin. Useful for trying out a skin, or swithcing to one that's more appropriate to the end device you are currently on.

%ACTIVEPLUGINS% are those plugins that are installed and working. If a plugin is installed but fails to initialise it will not be in this list.

-- JohnTalintyre - 26 Sep 2001

Would it be sensible to host a second version of TWiki at TWiki.org that:

• Used the same data and pub areas
• Had the same code, but with the addition of:
  • A selection of skins
  • the SessionPlugin - so that choice of skin can be changed on the fly for the session
• This would be to attract new users, by showing the power of skins

-- JohnTalintyre - 28 Sep 2001

What's added by having a second installation? I can think of nothing about skins that would make TWiki unstable. How about we just install them?

-- MartinCleaver - 30 Sep 2001

Related to above, it is an error to say that all that is required is to put the plugin in the lib/twiki/plugins directory. Unless it has an associated topic it will fail to initialise. It would be helpful if a note to this effect was put in the default TWikiPreferences file.

Cheers, Martin.

-- MartinCleaver - 26 Oct 2001

Further to John's point 28 Sep 2001, I see this as a good second-best solution to not having a decent skin here at TWikiDotOrg

-- MartinCleaver - 15 May 2003