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Implementing SkillSoft Course Player Skins

Overview

Skins are customized files used to control the appearance (color scheme) of the SkillSoft Course Player.

The customized files override the properties set in the installed PagePlayer.properties, PlayerValues.properties, and PlayerStrings.properties files. Skins also contain customized graphics that override standard images stored in the assets directory.

On a content-only site, you can set a skin for a specific course or for all courses on the server. For a site serving multiple SkillPort installations, you can set skins for all courses launched by a single SkillPort Installation or for a specific course on a SkillPort installation.

scp default skin

SkillSoft Course Player with the Default Skin

gray tones interface

SkillSoft Course Player with the Gray Tone Skin

Note: Skins are only available in 800 x 600 resolution.

Setting Up Skins with a SkillPort Site

SkinsAvailable.xml

The skinsAvailable.xml file specifies all of the skins that are available to learners for the default company skin and/or learner-selectable skins. An example of a skinsAvailable.xml file is shown below.

In the skinsAvailable.xml file, the dir value is the name of the folder for each available skin in the Skins directory. The skin name parameter is the name of this skin that appear in SkillPort. To add custom skins for use in SkillPort, add the directory for the skin in the Web/Skins directory and enter the skin name and dir parameters for that skin in the skinsavailable.xml file.

Custom Course Skins

The <courseid>.Properties allows you to specify a skin for a specific course that overrides any other setting. To specify a skin for a specific course, follow the procedure below:

  • If it does not exist already, create a <courseid>. properties file for the course that you want to customize. Ensure that the file is named the same as the course that you are modifying.

    For example: Comm0606.properties

  • Insert the following parameter into the <courseid>.Properties file:

    PlayerSkinToWear = <skindirectory>

    The <skindirectory> value refers to the name of the skin directory for the skin that you want to specify as the default.

Company Default Skin

If you want to specify a new default skin for all learners on your SkillPort site, you must edit the courseinfo.properties file at the base of the Skins directory. The PlayerSkinToWear parameter in courseinfo.properties file sets the default. An example of a courseinfo.properties file is shown below.

To set a new default skin for the learners on your SkillPort site, enter a value for the PlayerSkintoWear parameter equal to the skin folder containing the skin you designated as the default. If there are any other parameters in the courseinfo.properties file, comment them out.

Note: You cannot assign a default skin if you are also using the courseinfo.properties file to set parameters for the SkillSoft Course Player.

User Selectable Skins

By default, the SkillSoft Course Player allows users to select a custom skin from any skins in the skinsavailable.xml file. If you want to disable user-selectable skins, follow the procedure below.

  1. Open the lms_parameters table in the company database for the company that you want to disable SkillSoft Course Player skins.
  2. Set the user_skins parameter to 0.
  3. Repeat Step 1 and Step 2 for each company that you want to disable SkillSoft Course Player skins.

If user-selectable skins were previously disabled and you want to enable them, follow the procedure below.

  1. Open the lms_parameters table in the company database for the company that you want to enable SkillSoft Course Player skins.
  2. Set the user_skins parameter to 1.
  3. Repeat Step 1 and Step 2 for each company that you want to enable SkillSoft Course Player skins.

Setting Up Skins on a Content Only Site

PlayerSkinToWear Property

Skins are implemented in Content Only sites by setting the PlayerSkinToWear property in a course information file (courseinfo.properties or <courseid>Properties). The PlayerSkinToWear property is a path that directs the Player to a directory that contains a PlayerValues.properties and PlayerStrings.properties files, and an assets folder (See Creating a SkillSoft Course Player Skin below). PlayerSkinToWear can be set to either an absolute path to the skin directory, or it can be a path modifier.

If the PlayerSkinToWear path starts with '/' it is treated as an absolute path on the server containing the SkillSoft Course Player and must point to a directory accessible to the SkillSoft Course Player.

Example:

PlayerSkinToWear=/skins

If the PlayerSkinToWear path does not start with '/' it is taken as a path relative to the localization folder (e.g. /en/). Use this option if the skin is maintained in the localization folder.

Example:

PlayerSkinToWear=myskin

In this example, the skin "myskin" is in the web/content/en directory.

Contents of a Player Skin for a Content Only site

A Player skin contains customized PlayerValues.properties and PlayerStrings.properties files, an assets.jar file, and image files stored in the assets directory. The graphics located in the assets directory are customized images that take the place of the standard images used by the SkillSoft Course Player. The directory for a skin must reside on the same server as the Player applet; however, it does not need to be in the same Web directory as the applet.

At the top level are the customized PlayerStrings.properties and PlayerValues.properties files, an assets.jar file, and an assets directory. The customized properties files contain customized parameters for the Skin. Changes to the parameters in these files impact the layout, formatting, and appearance of the SkillSoft Course Player interface. The customized properties files should contain ONLY the parameters you are modifying for the skin. Do not copy the entire contents of the installed properties files into the customized files used for the skin. However, the customized files cannot be empty. Each file must include at least one line (e.g. #Empty).

The assets directory must mirror the structure of the standard assets directory, but only files that have been customized need to be included. In the example above, the assets directory contains the img8x6 folder with three of its sub-folders. Only images that have been modified need to appear in these folders.

For a skin to be downloaded and used by the Local SkillSoft Course Player application, it must be archived into an assets.jar file. The assets.jar file is an archive file of the entire skin, containing copies of all the other files (the two properties files and the entire assets directory).

Set Up a Skin on a Content-Only Server

  1. Create a virtual directory (e.g. skins) on the root of your content server.

    This directory will contain the skin directory used by the SkillSoft Course Player.

  2. Copy the directory containing the files for the skin into the virtual directory.

    Example: You have created a skin called testskin. Place the directory into the virtual directory you created in step 1 (skins/testskin)

  3. Create a folder named CourseInfo in the content directory on the server.

    Example: web/content/CourseInfo

  4. Create a file called courseinfo.properties in the CourseInfo directory.

    You could also create a custom properties file for an individual course, e.g. mgmt0101.properties. The SkillSoft Course Player looks for custom properties files first. If one is not present for the course, it will use the courseinfo.properties file.

  5. Enter the parameters you want to use in the courseinfo.properties files. Point the PlayerSkinToWear parameter to the directory (relative to the location of the SCP) containing the skin you want to use.

    When a skin is used, any parameters you enter into the courseinfo.properties file will override those set in the standard PagePlayer.properties file. Continuing the example, PlayerSkinToWear=/skins/testskin.

  6. Save the courseinfo.properties file.

When the SkillSoft Course Player is launched from the index.html page, it will automatically look for any course information files in the CourseInfo directory. If there is no CourseInfo directory, the SkillSoft Course Player uses the installed properties and assets files.