Templates and Skins in Tribiq CMS

Tribiq CMS uses a system of Templates and Skins to present and style its content.

What are Templates?

Templates contain the HTML framework for the pages of a site.

They define the basic layout of the page, where the Slots are placed.

Templates in Tribiq CMS are stored in the file system, not in the database. This means you can use your favourite editor to edit Templates, and they are protected by server file permissions.

Templates contain little more than <DIV> tags and a couple of standard snippets of PHP. These define the Slots.

A handful of Templates actually is all we use for about 80% of the sites we build!

What are Skins?

Skins define the look and feel of a site, and work in conjunction with a Template.

A Template must have a Skin in order for a page to be displayed properly. Many Skins can potentially use the same Template.

Tribiq CMS comes with a number of Skins included.

Like Templates, Skins are stored in the file system, not the database. This means you can use your favourite editor to edit Skins.

Skins consist of CSS and images.

Where multiple Skins have been written for a Template, you can choose the appearance you wish that Template to have by changing which skin it uses.

Where to get Templates and Skins

Templates and Skins are downloadable from the Tribiq Store, and the Store contains ones which have been built by Tribiq, and by other contributors.

Alternately you can make your own. Creating a new Template requires knowledge of HTML, and creating a new Skin requires knowledge of CSS. You should read this section if you are interested in developing Templates and Skins for your site, or for distribution.