The Natural Skin

Description

NatSkin is a skin driven by cascading stylesheets which is shipped with 12 predefined styles and 10 style variations that can be applied to each. Most of these are inspired by the MovableType and WordPress among others a port of the Kubrick style by Michael Heilemann and thus can provide a blog-like layout. This includes a PatternSkin style that emulates the look&feel of the PatternSkin as it is known from the TWiki/Cairo release.

The layout of the NatSkin can be configured online using the NatSkinStyleBrowser

• by selecting one of the predefined styles;
• by selectiong one of the predefined variations;
• the sidebar can be displayed left or right or both for a 3 columns layout;
• the page border can be switched on, off or enable a thin blog-like layout;
• there are so-called WebButtons^? displaying webs as tabs that can be switched on and off;
• the position of the search box can be set to one of four predefined positions.

The screenshots below only display a limited set of all possible combinations.

This is a rework of the TWiki:Plugins/CopyCatSkin by TWiki:Main/MattWilkie. It is used at the Natural Language Systems Division (NATS) of the University of Hamburg, Germany.

Features

• Skin state: an internal representation of different ways to render the NatSkin concerning
  • the skin style,
  • style variants,
  • the sidebar location,
  • the page border decoration,
  • the web buttons in the topbar and
  • the positioning of the search box
• skin style control: infrastructure to get, set and display the skin style that is currently active using the NatSkinStyleBrowser
• Conditional content:
  • USERACTIONS, NATLOGON: display topic actions depending on the user being logged in or not
  • IFSKINSTATE: render skin differently depending on the current skin state
  • IFACCESS: render different content or include topics depending on access rights
• WebSideBar: a configurable navigation bar
• MySideBar: every user can extend the sidebar with a personalized navigation
• NatSearch: a search+go box that combines advanced search with the GO feature of twiki
• Login page: independent implementation of a login page for maximal compatibility with old TWiki releases; this is similar to the TemplateLogin authentication mechanism in Dakar but only provides htpasswd based authentication
• email address obfuscation: all email addresses in topic texts are obfuscated by the use of dynamic html; so mailto links are still clickable while the pure html text does not allow to extract the addresses by respective web crawlers.
• marking external links: add a nice icon to offsite links

NatSearch

NatSearch unifies the Seach and the Jump box known from the standard TWiki. You can use one input field to either jump to a topic or start a content query.

NatSearch is heavily inspired by the PhotonSearch of the TWiki:Plugins/PhotonSkin.

Usage

This basically works in three modes:

1. GO: go to the named topic
2. topic search: search a topic whose name matches the search string
3. content search: search a topic whose content matches the search string

NatSearch proceeds along the following lines:

1. the search string starts with an uppercase letter:
   1. try a GO
   2. fallback to a topic search when 1.1 fails
   3. fallback to content search when 1.2 fails
2. the string starts with a /:
   normal content search
3. the string does not start with an upper case letter or /
   1. try a topic search
   2. fallback to content search

If only one topic was found then NatSearch jumps to that topic directly.

Options

The search string may be prepended with a set of options that are separated from the rest of the search string with a colon(:). Known options are:

Option	Description
g	global search (default is local)
l	local search
u	case-sensitive search (default is to ignore case)

A search string may consist of a list of terms that are retrieved. If a term shall contain spaces it can be surrounded by double quotes. Each term may be preceded with a minus (-) to exclude this term from the hit set.

Examples

Search	Description
TWikiUsers	if the current web is the Main go to the TWikiUsers
	if the current web is the TWiki go to the TWikiUsersGuide
g:twikiusers	list all topics in all webs whose name match "twikiusers"
/TWikiUsers	list all topics that contain the word "TWikiUsers"
gu:copyright	list all topics that contain the word "copyright" in lowercase
g:copyright -webpref	list all topics that contain the word "copyright" but not "webpref"
g:"Good morning" -natskin	list all topics that contain the term "Good morning" but not "natskin"

Customization

NatSearch can be restricted to certain webs and topics by setting WebPreferences. Besides the NOSEARCHALL feature of every web that excludes a web from search the following variables restrict the hit set:

Name	Description
NATSEARCHINCLUDEWEB	a regular expression that must match webs to be considered
NATSEARCHEXCLUDEWEB	a regular expression that must not match a web
NATSEARCHINCLUDETOPIC	a regular expression that must match a topic in the hit set
NATSEARCHEXCLUDETOPIC	a regular expression that excludes a topic from the hit set

Furthermore, the WebPreferences variable NATSEARCHTEMPLATE can be set to a template topic that is used instead of the skin's search template. This can be used in TWikiApplications to define a customized look of search results.

Special topic variables

There is a set of variables that can be used in a topic to influence the NatSkin.

Name	Description
PAGETITLE	the <title>... of the html page; if no PAGETITLE is defined the NatSkin will check for some formfields (Headlines, TopicDescription) to be used as a html page title and back off to the topic name
KEYWORDS	the value of this variable will be used to construct <meta name="keywords" ... /> in the html head; in addition SubjectCategory, BlogTag and Tags formfields will be used to generate keywords
WHITEBOARD	possible values: on, off; if WHITEBOARD is set to only the topic form will be edited when clicking on "Edit"; note, that the textarea is still accessible and not hidden completely; this is flag is only there for convenience

More Documentation

• NatSkinTemplates
• NatSkinCss

Installation

• Get the TWiki:Plugins/NatSkinPlugin supplementary package and install it.
• If you are installing on TWiki/Cairo then consider applying this patch: Cairo_UI_pm.diff
• Download the ZIP file
• Unzip it in your twiki installation directory. Content:
• Test if installed: click here

Skin Info

Skin Author:	TWiki:Main/MichaelDaum
Copyright ©:	2003-2006, MichaelDaum@WikiRing.com
License:	GPL (GNU General Public License)
Skin Version:	v2.9997
Dependencies:	TWiki:Plugins/NatSkinPlugin
Description:	Driven by cascading stylesheets, Comes with 12 alternative styles, MoveableType and Wordpress Look-n-Feel
Base Name:	nat
Screenshot:
More Screenshots:
Change History:
2006-06-15:	added WEBTOOLNAME to customize the name displayed in the header bar; minor usability improvements in the NatSkinStyleBrowser
2006-05-25:	added advanced diff options available on twiki4; improved diff dialogue; added css classes for ok/cancel buttons on oops dialogues; lots of css improvements, mostly diff related
2006-05-24:	spacing and font improvements; added example TWikiWebCcss; removed focusing the search box on every view; if there's an WEBLOGOIMAGE then use it in the title bar instead of the WIKITOOLNAME; fixed bug in save actions that could have caused data loss ; added missing save parameters in editform.nat.tmpl
2006-05-09:	fixed error in preview template that triggered an internal server error on twiki4
2006-05-06:	provide customised CSS support using WebComponent WebCss (WillNoris@WikiRing.com)
2006-05-05:	minor css cleanup; display default WebLinks and WebButton for a current non-public web
2006-04-19:	added support for KEYWORDS per topic
2006-04-11:	fixed oops dialogue leaping off the page; be nicer to non-css browers
2006-04-05:	added support for dakar's TemplateLogin; preventing an empty line in WebButtons in case there are no public webs; added WebComponent WebTopicActions; simplified topicactions templates; simplified TemplateLogin templates to match natlogon
2006-03-27:	moved MySideBar templates from plugin into the skin; fixed page layout of Kubrick style using borders for geckos; added HTTPSLOGON variable to get around install hassle on non-ssl servers; enabled edit and preview upper right topic actions again; added support for three-column layout using STYLESIDEBAR = both; fixed html error in topbar
2006-03-20:	several blog css fixes; added bottom topic actions to edit and preview; only display web.topic in the web locator no recursive parents anymore; natsearch docu
2006-03-13:	fixed WebLinks components; fixed atom feed link at the page bottom
2006-03-11:	reworked sidebar using the new WEBCOMPONET logic; docu restructuring - more needed; using messages.tmpl as far as possible
2006-03-01:	fixed TWikiForm not showing certain row values (uuh); added more css for the most recent stuff added to the BlogPlugin; removed html from mailnotification; replaced SCRIPTURL{} with SCRIPTURL+SCRIPTSUFFIX again for legacy platforms; minor css fixes
2006-02-20:	removed empty lines in templates; css fixes for lists in the sidebar; unified font size in attachment tables; using percentage instead of em size for the thin page layout
2006-02-14:	added variable %WEBSYNDICATION%; removed TablePlugin patch; made BaseStyle usable; added syndiation feeds; don't use dotted lines on IE; don't use transparent borders on IE; added gif version for cite background for IE; fixed content area of PatterStyle on IE; don't use Lucida Grande in KubrickStyle; added rss feed icons; added plain view template
2006-02-03:	compute even/odd search hits for WebSearch using CALC so that css-2.1 expressions aren't needed anymore; lots of css font and size fixes, i.e. blog related
2006-01-27:	fixed blog css for all styles
2006-01-26:	lots of css fixes
2006-01-23:	added forgotten IE decorations; fixed layout problems in the WebButtons?; replaced ICONPATH with ICONURL; added email_changed oopsattention message
2006-01-09:	more IE fixes; fixed search template: every hit must be a table of its own :(; fontsize fixes
2005-12-20:	fixed collapsing tables in firefox < 1.5
2005-12-05:	componentized template system adding javascript and styles components; removed inline-styles and -javascript and moved it to the respective components being inserted into the html header properly now; surpressing final skin state switches in the NatSkinStyleBrowser; removed absolute urls; removed EDITURL; fixed sidebar help for cairo and beijing; fixed squeezed main page; added the concept of WebComponents, that is the WebSideBar and the WebButtons?; the WebButtons are customizable the way the WebSideBar already is
2005-12-01:	added transparent borders and corners to the Kubrick style; improved PlasticLoveVariation; added a custom "cite" style inside blog texts; some minor IE fixes; w3c validation fixes to the style browser; more form fixes in the preview and editform pages; replaced every launchWindow() javascript with a proper a href using a _blank target; added tooltips to topicactions
2005-11-23:	added nops in expensive IFSKINSTATETHEN, i.e. to prevent the sidebar to be computed multiple times
2005-11-22:	moved basic blogging css to the BlogPlugin
2005-11-16:	added PatternStyle emulating cairo's PatternSkin
2005-11-10:	improved NatSkinStyleBrowser
2005-11-08:	firefox layout fixes
2005-11-07:	more safari fixes
2005-11-02:	fixed javascript problems combined with the TWiki:Plugins.TwistyPlugin; trigger printing when clicking on "Print"
2005-10-31:	safari fixes where content leaps out of the main area
2005-10-24:	added UserView templates; standardised favicon handling
2005-10-18:	workaround crash due to recursive accessdenied-exceptions
2005-10-13:	preliminary css support for header art; added some default headers
2005-10-10:	added skin style cycling to the NatSkinStyleBrowser; fixed way how the oops dialogues switch off the sidebar
2005-10-09:	new release NatSkin-2.51: reinvention of the NatSkinStyleBrowser; reworked the standard WebSideBar; extensive usage of the new conditional content tags interfacing the skin state machine, i.e. switch the sidebar from the left to the right etc.; removed hard-coded links to a Support web; lots of fixes to catch up with the evolving dakar engine; support for the TWiki:Plugins.TwistyPlugin; support for the TWiki:Plugins.AliasPlugin; skin state support for the TWiki:Plugins.TablePlugin; new webbuttons in the topbar; componentized style sheets for different skin states; improved css of forms and tables; better support for the upcomming BlogPlugin in every skin style; plus the usual small css fixes
2005-08-30:	lots of css fixes for IE and Opera; fixed topicactions for IE; different cancel actions per engine
2005-08-26:	final NatSkin-2.0
2005-07-12:	first round of pre-releases numbered 1.91 upwards
2005-06-24:	rewritten the templates, renamed the CSS classes
2003-07-25:	Initial version
Skin Home:	TWiki:Plugins/NatSkin
Feedback:	TWiki:Plugins/NatSkinDev
Appraisal:	TWiki:Plugins/NatSkinAppraisal

Note: The Description, Screenshot and Base Name rows are needed by the TWiki:TWiki/TWikiSkinBrowser

Related topic: TWiki:TWiki/TWikiSkins, TWiki:TWiki/TWikiSkinBrowser, TWiki:Plugins/NatSkinDev, NatSkinPlugin

-- TWiki:Main/MichaelDaum - 15 June 2006