Types of Skins

HTML5 skins control the look and behavior of the navigation elements surrounding your topic content in the output for HTML5 targets. See HTML5 Output and HTML5 Skin Styles.

There are three types of HTML5 skins: Side Navigation, Top Navigation, and Tripane.

In Flare, Side Navigation is a type of HTML5 output that can be designed to look like a modern website, where the main navigation is positioned at the left or right. It lets you use a flexible, frameless output while continuing to have a more traditional configuration that looks like the Tripane format. This kind of output is possible with the Side Navigation skin type and other related features.

In Flare, Top Navigation is a type of frameless, flexible HTML5 output that can be designed to look like a modern website, where the main navigation is positioned at the top. This kind of output is possible with the Top Navigation skin type and other related features.

In Flare, Tripane is a type of HTML5 output that lets you generate output in a traditional format with three distinct frames (a navigation pane on the left, a toolbar and search on the top, and the main body pane). This kind of output is possible with a Tripane skin type.

Skin components are used for smaller pieces of your output interface. They typically work hand-in-hand with corresponding proxies to control the look of those elements. See Skin Components and Proxies.

A Central Account proxy lets you create an account link drop-down, allowing users viewing private output to log out or edit their MadCap Central profile settings. By default, the account link is included automatically in the header of the regular skin.

The eLearning Toolbar proxy lets you include intuitive navigation buttons and controls in your course. These might be a Next and Previous button, or a progress bar. When you build HTML5 output, the proxy content is replaced with the generated navigation tools.

Short for “favorite icons,” favicons are supported in Flare for HTML5 output. A favicon is the image that you sometimes see in a browser tab, address bar, bookmark, Windows tiles, etc. The Favicons skin component is the only one that is not associated with a proxy. Simply by adding and editing this type of skin component, your HTML5 output will include favicons in the appropriate locations.

A Menu proxy lets you create a topic menu based on your TOC file, allowing users to navigate to other topics. This proxy can be especially useful if you are creating HTML5 Top Navigation or skinless output and you want a context-sensitive menu to display next to each topic. When you build the output, the proxy is replaced with the generated menu.

A Search Bar proxy lets you create a field that can be used to perform searches in HTML5 output. When you build the output, the proxy is replaced with the generated search bar. If you insert a search bar using a proxy, you might also need to hide the search bar from some topics so that you do not have two search bars on a page.

A Search Results proxy works with the Search Bar proxy and lets you create a container that is used to display the results of end user searches in your output. When you build the output, the proxy is replaced with the generated search results.

The Test Results proxy is necessary for ending course navigation and calculating the test results score when you link a custom pass or fail topic for the test results page. When you insert this proxy, the Test Results Proxy dialog opens. If you have customized the Test Results skin component, you can select it from the Skin File drop-down.

You can use the Topic Toolbar proxy to generate a toolbar anywhere in your topics. This is an alternative (or an additional option) to the web toolbar that can be included in some online outputs.

Micro content skins control the look and feel of the micro content container and its corresponding proxy. You can use separate skin components if you want to have different settings for various instances of a proxy in your project. See Micro Content and Micro Content Containers and Proxies.

The FAQ proxy lets you generate a list of phrases and responses for the selected micro content file(s) in most outputs. Results are static, based on specific criteria selected when the target is built, not on the search engine output. This type of proxy is ideal for including traditional FAQs, but it can be used for other purposes as well. The skin defaults to Drop-Down view mode.

The Knowledge proxy lets you display filtered micro content items in HTML5 output. Results are dynamic, generated at runtime in the browser, using search engine rankings. You might use a Knowledge proxy to display content such as information about a person, a company, technical specifications, related tasks, etc. The skin defaults to Truncated view mode.

The Promotion proxy lets you display random micro content items in HTML5 output. Results are dynamic, generated at runtime in the browser, using the search engine. You might use a Promotion proxy to display information about relevant products, events, new features, etc. The skin defaults to Plain Text view mode.