%META:TOPICINFO{author="TorbenGB" date="1087457280" format="1.0" version="1.17"}%
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*When will this be released??*

The final release of this skin has been a long time coming, and I've had other commitments as well. I will get around to finalizing the skin _eventually_ %NDASH% remember, I'm using it on this website, so I too have an interest in finishing it! But I can't currently say when that will happen. Stay tuned.
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HobbesSkin is the working title for an update of the TigerSkin. (The name _<nop>HobbesSkin_ hints at the funniest tiger I know, from Bill Watterson's cartoon _Calvin&Hobbes_, but the release version will be titled TigerSkin.)

HobbesSkin is currently in use on http://g-b.dk and once I get the last details sorted out, I intend to publish the modified TigerSkin as HobbesSkin on TWiki:Plugins/HobbesSkinDev. 

*Contents:* %TOC%

_Direct links to:_
	* HobbesSkinChanges
	* HobbesSkinKnownProblems
	* HobbesSkinFileListing
	* HobbesSkinFeedback

---

---+ How to install this skin

	* [[http://twiki.org/p/pub/Plugins/HobbesSkinDev/HobbesSkinBeta20040616.zip][HobbesSkinBeta20040616.zip]]: Release 20040616 beta.
	* %ALERT% *NOTE!* This is beta software, with the usual warnings that go with such (mostly: don't count on everything working, don't use in a critical production environment, I'm not responsible for what it does to your setup, but please do give me [[#Feedback]]!)



It's much like the installation of any other skin. Full documentation is included, see the [[TWiki.HobbesSkin]] topic in the ZIP file. Apart from that, this skin only assumes very few things:

	1 In TWikiPreferences, in the section about User Settings, the skin expects a variable =BANNERSEARCHSCOPE= to be defined as either = =all= or =Main TWiki= (list relevant webs, separated by spaces) or just no value at all to mean _current web_ only. See details in the description below. Example:

		* =Set BANNERSEARCHSCOPE = all=

	1 In TWikiPreferences, the skin expects a variable =WEBSITECOLOR= to be defined as a color value just like =WEBBGCOLOR=. This determines the background color for the top banner (and possibly other things in the future, too). Example:

		* =Set WEBSITECOLOR = #05B=

	1 In TWikiPreferences, in the section about TWiki Platform Settings, the variables =WIKILOGOIMG=, =WIKILOGOALT=, =WIKILOGOURL= and =WIKIFAVICON= should be set to meaningful values, for instance:

		* =Set WIKILOGOIMG = %<nop>PUBURL%/%<nop>TWIKIWEB%/TigerSkin/wikilogo.jpg=

		* =Set WIKILOGOURL = %<nop>WIKIHOMEURL%=

		* =Set WIKILOGOALT = Go to %<nop>WIKITOOLNAME% start page=

		* =Set WIKIFAVICON = %<nop>PUBURL%/%<nop>TWIKIWEB%/TigerSkin/favicon.ico=

	1 There are a few new files that should go into the =twiki/data/Main= and =twiki/data/TWiki= directories. This will provide the help and support pages for new features like the PersonalizedMenu. These files are included in the package and should simply be copied into the existing directories. (If files exist, it is recommended to back up the existing ones first as a precaution.)





---+ Why is this skin based on <nop>TigerSkin?



When we started out to establish a TWiki-driven intranet, we desperately needed a more user-friendly appearance than the default skin has. At the time, the TigerSkin best suited our needs. We wanted to have something that was useful for a small number of departments yet neither all mixed together nor all separate. Initially, we found that a web per department, plus the Main web for common issues, was a good solution, and the TigerSkin provided the ease of navigation between them and the user-friendliness that we needed. Major winning points were the customizable WebMenu and the friendly toolbar at the top of the page - with the =edit= link at the top of the page rather than at the bottom.



If I had to use or create a new skin today, I might start out with a different skin than TigerSkin, but in any case I'd need to shop around and compare all the good skins that are already out there. Each of them exists for a reason, and that reason is that other existing skins didn't meet some requirements, so somebody set to work to create a skin that did. This is how all new skins are born. This is also how the HobbesSkin was born.



---+ Why did we modify it then?



While the TigerSkin was the one that got closest to our needs, it still had a few things missing. We sorely missed the per-web background colors, so we modified the skin to include those colors again. The top banner and the general color theme also needed to be modified to be in line with our corporate branding.



After these changes, we had a good setup that we have been using for about a year. During that year, additional requirements and improvement suggestions came up, and further modifications of the skin were called for. At that time it so happened that I set up a Windows server at home (for my own private use) and I tried to install TWiki on that. Once successful, I put the modified skin on it and started to improve it further based on the findings of the company in the last year. It worked as a testing ground so we didn't have to use our live intranet as a test site for the modifications - which was good because I found several errors in my modifications that I was able to fix. 



I made some more changes to the TigerSkin and realized that by then, it wasn't a _tiger_ skin anymore but an evolved version, so I decided to rename the whole thing. I'm currently working on finalizing the evolved version so that it can go live on our intranet, and then I'll publish a renamed, evolved _HobbesSkin_ for others to use.



---+ So what's changed then?



See HobbesSkinChanges.



---+ Known problems



See HobbesSkinKnownProblems.



---+ File listing



See HobbesSkinFileListing.



---+ Browser differences



See HobbesSkinBrowserDifferences.



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---+ Feedback 



See HobbesSkinFeedback.



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