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Jan
31
2012
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Posted 108 days ago ago by Douglas C.
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Previous to the latest content management systems, a great many expert web design providers depended on handling static HTML internet sites for a substantive part of their sales revenue. Nevertheless, with the emergence of content management systems such as DotNetNuke, the customer has promptly become knowledgeable of the many benefits provided by dynamic websites. The skinning architecture in DotNetNuke allows professional web designers to create beautiful user interfaces which integrate seamlessly with the underlying portal application to yield a powerful, yet aesthetically attractive customer website.
The words “Skinning” pertains to a software architecture which provides you with a manageable way to separate application logic and content from its presentation. This abstraction of “form” and “function” is sometimes referred to as a two-tiered presentation model. The benefits of skinning are that application logic and web page layout are segregated and can be designed and modified separately. A software developer and a web page designer can collaborate without the possibility of interfering with each others work.
Skinning entails the use of "templates" which separate presentation and layout characteristics from application logic. An intelligent skinning engine is then utilized to assemble the artifacts into a final product. This two-tiered approach offers both developers and designers a considerable degree of freedom when it comes to maintaining a web site, and can extensively reduce the time and effort required in the post-release phases of a development project.
However, skinning also presents some complexities to your web application. The process of merging multiple files into a single page can result in serious performance degradation. Not to mention, developers must be effectively educated to keep the presentation details of layout and appearance abstracted from their script code. Both of these items can be mitigated through the use of technology and a solid skinning architecture.
As a result the skinning solution needs a method for a web designer to define a skin using the most basic base technology. HTML is the lowest common denominator when it comes to the World wide web and has the widest support in terms of design applications. The only problem with HTML is that it is ultimately static - yet a web application has demands for dynamic components as well.
Based on the demands and issues specified above, it would seem useful to allow web designers to incorporate placeholders into their HTML markup which represent dynamic functionality. This provides the cleanest abstraction of “form” and “function”. The skin file could be modified without affecting the application logic. The application logic could be re-factored without impacting the user interface. The only issue is the performance penalty added by this additional layer of separation.