Specifying Skin Style Settings

1. Open the skin.
2. Select the Styles tab.
3. Select the style item that you want to modify (e.g., ToolbarItem).
4. Select the Property Groups or Alphabetical List option to display the properties for the style item.
5. In the Properties section, set the values for the properties that you want modify.
6. Press CTRL+S or click to save your work.

Following are specific tasks that you may want to perform when setting skin styles, depending on whether you are working in a Standard skin or a WebHelp mobile skin.

Standard Skin Tasks

You might perform the following tasks if you are working in a Standard skin.

• Accordion items These are the navigation items that display in the output, allowing users to open different elements of your output, such as the table of contents, index, glossary, and more. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to accordion items are the icons, text labels, font, and background color. See Specifying Style Settings for Accordion Items.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must make sure they are added to the skin. See Specifying Navigation Elements to Include in the Output Window.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR outputs.

• Controls These are controls that display in the output, such as various buttons, labels, and the input boxes. Usually these controls are displayed within the various accordion items (e.g., the search box, "Search" button, and "Add topic to favorites" button that are shown at the top of the Search accordion item). Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to controls are the icons, text labels, tooltips, font, and background color. See Specifying Style Settings for Controls.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must make sure they are added to the skin (e.g., you must add accordion items or enable Feedback). See Specifying Navigation Elements to Include in the Output Window and About MadCap Feedback.

  Note: Styles for many of the controls are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR outputs. The controls related to MadCap Feedback are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and HTML Help.

• Dialogs These are the dialogs that users might see if you have enabled MadCap Feedback for your output. The dialogs are used for actions such as registering as a Feedback user, adding comments, and replying to comments. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to Feedback dialogs are field and other text labels, font, messages (e.g., email), and background color. See Specifying Style Settings for Dialogs.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must enable Feedback with your output. See About MadCap Feedback.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and HTML Help outputs.

• Feedback user profile items These are fields that can be added to the Feedback user profile dialog. The dialog always includes a "Username" and "E-mail Address" field. In addition to those fields, you can add many others by using the Feedback tab in the Skin Editor. Once you've added the fields, you can edit the skin styles for those items. You can change the field labels, specify whether they should be required, and enter a default value for a field. See Specifying Style Settings for Feedback User Profile Items.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must enable Feedback with your output and add the necessary fields to the user profile. See About MadCap Feedback and Specifying Fields for the Create Feedback Service Profile dialog.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and HTML Help outputs.

• Formats These are navigation elements that you might include in your project (e.g., cross-references, breadcrumbs, keyword links, related topics links, concept links). For most of these elements, you can use the skin style to change the link or prefix text. For cross-references, you can change text as well as formats (i.e., how the link is constructed). See Specifying Style Settings for Formats.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include them in your project. See About Cross-References, About the Breadcrumbs Proxy, Inserting Keyword Links into Topics, Inserting Related Topics Links into Topics, and Inserting Concept Links into Topics.

  Note: Most of these styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR outputs. However, the cross-reference styles are designed for print-based outputs (Adobe PDF, XHTML, Microsoft XPS, Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker).

• Frames These are the "containers" of the navigation items that display in the output when you include elements such as accordion items, toolbars, and Feedback at the end of topics. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to frames are the background and height. See Specifying Style Settings for Frames.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include them in your project. See Specifying Navigation Elements to Include in the Output Window, About MadCap Feedback, and Specifying Custom Settings for Topic Toolbars.

  Note: Many of these styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR.

• Index entries This is the text that users see when they open your index in the output. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to index entries are the font settings, as well as the text used for index links. See Specifying Style Settings for Index Entries.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include them in your project. See About Indexes, Inserting Index Keywords, Enabling Indexes in Skins, and Creating Index Links.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR.

• Index entry popups These are the popups that users see when they click an index entry that links to more than one topic. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to index entries are the font settings and background color. See Specifying Style Settings for Index Entry Popups.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include an index in your project. See About Indexes, Inserting Index Keywords, and Enabling Indexes in Skins.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR.

• Relationships These are the areas that display the different kinds of links from a relationship table. You can edit the text labels for the different kinds of links (concept, reference, task). See Specifying Style Settings for Relationships.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include a relationship table in your project. See About Relationship Tables.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR.

• TOC entries This is the text that users see when they open your table of contents (TOC) in the output. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to TOC entries are the font settings, as well as icons. See Specifying Style Settings for TOC Entries.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include a TOC in your project. See About Tables of Contents.

  Note: These styles are supported only in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, and WebHelp AIR.

• Toolbar items These are the buttons and other elements that are part of WebHelp and topic toolbars that you can add to output. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to toolbar items are the icons, font settings, background, borders, and click behavior. See Specifying Style Settings for Toolbar Items.

  

  Note: In order to see these items in the output, you must include a WebHelp toolbar or topic toolbar in your project. See Specifying Custom Toolbar Settings for WebHelp Output, Specifying Custom Toolbar Settings for HTML Help Output, and Specifying Custom Settings for Topic Toolbars.

  Note: These styles are supported in WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, WebHelp AIR, DotNet Help, and HTML Help.

WebHelp Mobile Skin Tasks

You might perform the following tasks if you are working in a WebHelp Mobile skin.

• Header This is the area at the top of the screen, which displays the caption text that you provide on the General tab; it then displays text for the different elements as you click on items (e.g., Table of Contents, Index). Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to the header are the font settings, border, padding, background, and positioning (height). See Specifying Style Settings for Headers.

  

• Home button This is the Home button at the top of the screen, which lets users navigate to the starting screen of the documentation. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to the Home button are the font settings, background image, and label. See Specifying Style Settings for Home Buttons.

  

• Item count These are the numbers in parentheses that may be displayed next to items. They tell users how many sub-items will be seen if they click on the item. You can edit font settings for the item count elements. See Specifying Style Settings for Item Counts.

  

• Navigation elements These are the areas that let users move around to find information. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to the navigation elements are the font settings, border, padding, background, positioning (height), and icons. See Specifying Style Settings for Navigation Elements.

  

• Search bar This is the bar that holds the search field and button. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to the header are the border, background, and positioning (height). See Specifying Style Settings for Search Bars.

  

• Search button This is the button that lets users initiate a search for content. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to the header are the font, background color, and label. See Specifying Style Settings for Search Buttons.

  

• Toolbar items These are the buttons and other elements that are part of the topic toolbar that you can add to output. Some of the more common properties you might edit when it comes to toolbar items are the icons, font settings, and click behavior. See Specifying Style Settings for Toolbar Items—WebHelp Mobile.