b2evolution _skin_area.plugin

This post contains the most recent _skin_area.plugin by C.R.T and patched by fralenuvol. I have taken over the plugin from C.R.T since he is unable to continue maintaining it.

* Fixed the zip file, Seems like it was somehow corrupted, thanks to paolo for letting me know.

What it does:

It allows the administrator to define certain areas on a skin which can be customized by individual users. For example, a “banner” area where each user can display a different image, a “background” area for user to define background image or colour, etc.

Aims:

1. Allow a blog group to have consistent look-and-feel, yet allow some degree of customization to reflect each blogger’s personality.

2. Allows Users unfamiliar with HTML and CSS to change customizable areas in their blogs.

3. Allows Users with insufficient permissions to upload custom CSS files or modify the skin directly to be able to alter customizable areas in their blogs.

How to use:

fralenuvol has a usable skin plugin that utilizes this plugin. He also has some useful instructions on how to further customize his skin with regards to this plugin.

1. Install the plugin.

2. Go to the Skin Area plugin settings, and define a few skin areas. For each skin area, give it a name, a default value, and a descriptive note for your users.

3. In your skin, insert the following codes into wherever you want each skin area to appear:
   
   
   Code:
   
<?php
$Plugins->call_by_code( 'evo_SkinArea', array(
'area_name'=>'BannerImg'
) );
?>


   Replace ‘BannerImg’ with the area name that you have defined.
   

4. A “Skin Area” sub-tab is added to the “Tools” tab. Users can access this tab, where they will see the list of skin areas that the administrator have defined (see screenshot). They can create their own skin area if they have administrator access to the blog, and it will be reflected on their blogs. However, they must use the skins with the above codes inserted.

TODO

• Validation of user input.
• Different types of input, e.g., check box, radio buttons, etc.
• Integration with filemanager for file selection (useful for inserting img tags).
• Color picker.

Useful resources

• Original forum thread at b2evolution