xdDesign Blogs

Log in to DNNSKINS.com and downlod XDNewDesignAway. Having made some good infrastructure changes over the last 12 – 18 months, I’m in a better position to provide more free skins on dnnskins.com – and the good news is that we’ll be providing some commercial versions of skins with extras and some nice add ons to support the dnn community.

It’s a big job maintaining anything you offer for free – partly because things change and you have to keep up with them. I’ve been waiting like many people for the DNN 5 release, which we’re testing on http://www.dnnbeta.com.  I managed to get the new skin formatted to work but it’s very time consuming as you can imagine working in new spaces, and of course, my isolation these days from anything to do with the ‘inner workings’ of the project mean that I have to rely on information filtered through to me.

But aside from the petty politics that run the dnn project, I really love the application, so have worked it into our business model to be able to support the dnn community with free skins. I think it’s so important to have something that people can download, without having to pay 50 > 100 which other sites seem to do, because many people coming here are only new, they want to look, they aren’t convinced perhaps, or are asked to research something to evaluate.

Here’s how the skin looks – it’s a revamp of one of the most popular free skins around – I’ve cleaned it up, made it work in today’s screens – 1024 (960) and added in two different styles with a vertical and horizontal menu.

The containers – well, they’re just ok – I confess, I’m not a big fan of containers, never have been, never will be, so basically it’s the same containers with a different image – as  I look at them today, I feel they are a bit clunky – but hey – everyone my age had to live through the eighties!!!!

I’ve put the solpart menu in – I gave up on the NavMenu – it’s .. um… well, for free – do it yourself… but I did create one for those who have Snapsis Nav Menu – which, after trying out about EVERY menu that’s around, this is the most exciting and workable, search engine friendly lightweight, well supported menu that I think everyone should have.

I wanted to put more into the free skin varieties, but I simply couldn’t spare the time – it’s taken so long just to check, test, get ready, upload, document.. bla bla – you know the story – so I will be making available for sale – variations and source code for you do yourself, including a small video that shows you how to create easy to replicate skins – there is a method, to keep the amount of files you have installed minimalised, and you’ll surely want to know about it with the pending dnn 5 skins changes… oh my – it’s going to sort the boys out from the men – so to speak.

If you’re not already registered on http://www.dnnskins.com you might want to be – because we have an exciting announcement – sure to bring some interest and I can’t wait to share with you.

I hope you enjoy working with this skin – it truly is amazing how popular it’s been over the years, so here’s hoping we have an extened life – as there’s nothing wrong with recycling something that’s been so popular.

Cheers
Nina Meiers