Removing Terms of Use from Skin

Many of the skins included with DotNetNuke have a link to the Terms of Use. If we wish to remove this Terms of Use link you will need to edit and replace the existing DotNetNuke skin. Detailed below are two approaches:

Access is Available to the Server

If you have access to the server then the simplest way would be to edit the .ascx file fhich relates to the skin which is in use. The skins are to be found in the directory C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\dotnetnuke\Portals\_default\Skins. navigate to this directory, and select the skin which you are using. You will find that there are a number of variations on the default skin in use. Select the relevant .ascx file. To remove the Terms of Use link do the following:

The above may also be acheived by using ftp. To use ftp you will need to:

1. Navigate to the relevant directory with your ftp program
2. Download the relevant file
3. Make the necessary changes
4. Put it back in place.

Note that if you are using this approach then it may be easy to overlook your changes in the future, finding that the Terms of Use reappear.

Using the DotNetNuke Tools

For this option you will need to have the correct permissions set to enable you to upload your own skins to the server using the skins tab under the Admin menu. You will also need to obtain a copy of the relevant DotNetNuke skin, which you wish to amend. To remove the Terms of Use link in the DotNetNuke skin follow the steps below:

1. Open the html file corresponding to the skin which you are using. A program such as notepad may be used to do this. Programs which are designed for editing web pages may be used, but be careful using Word, it is likely that this will addd additional formating.
2. Look for and delete [TERMS], probably near the bottom of the file.
3. Save the amended file.
4. Copy this file into the zip file, found in the same directory.
5. Using the Skins tab under the Admin menu select Upload skin, add it to the list box and upload it. Be careful, don't be too rash and skip along to see whther your changes have been implemented. It is worth scanning own through the skin installation actions which are detailed. You might have slipped up somewhere in your editing of the file.
6. Now you can navigate to a page to see whether you have amended the skin. if they have been you will have removed the Terms of Use link.

Other Thoughts

By uploading the skin from the Admin Skin menu we will install the skin under the site. This means that it will be located in the directory C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\dotnetnuke\Portals\x where is a the number correspondingto your portal. This means that when your DotNetNuke installation is updated the changes which you have made to hte skin are less likely to become overwritten.

NAT October 2005