Professional DotNetNuke® Module Programming

Chapter 16. Creating Skin Objects

The discussions in the earlier chapters of this book were specifically geared toward the development of DotNetNuke modules, which, for many implementations, is the right way to go when adding needed functionality. However, it isn't the only solution available to help extend DotNetNuke.

This chapter begins an examination that focuses on some of the other methods for adding functionality to a DotNetNuke site. It is dedicated to skin objects, elements that are added and configured in the skin and not via the control panel.

The chapter begins with an overview of when it would be a good idea to use a skin object (instead of a module) to accomplish the desired functionality. The discussion then progresses to the development, installation, and configuration of a new skin object. The chapter concludes with a short overview of the purpose and process of creating a skin object.

When to Use Skin Objects

After working with DotNetNuke for a while, you start to notice the elements that appear on each and every page — items such as Login, Register, and Copyright are the most common. How do they get there? These elements are all implemented as skin objects, and are added by the administrator to the skin of the site, rather than on individual pages. DotNetNuke does allow an administrator to set a module to "display on all pages," but that option does not show the modules in the case of a different module running in Isolated mode.

Figure 16-1 shows a screen with the Logo, ...