I'm very flattered that you think I can figure out the problem with your code without even seeing it but I am not all knowing.

What did you change in OnPreInit?

What did you comment out?

Have you set a breakpoint and stepped through your code?

Hi,

I've made the change you indicated in SiteUtils.DetermineSkinBaseUrl(string skinName)

However note that the only reason that code is executed is because you have

<add key="CombineCSS" value="false"/>

and there is really no good reason to do that, it makes it create separate links for each css file which is bad for performance and there is no control over caching when you do that because the  browser will cache static css files.

For supporting pages of a CMS plugin feature it is easy (with the latest code) to make the supporting page use the page specific skin (ie the skin selected in page settings on the cms page) like this:

protected override void OnPreInit(EventArgs e)
{
AllowSkinOverride = true;
base.OnPreInit(e);
}

If your page is not a supporting page of a cms plugin or if you are trying to hard code a specific skin I don't really have any advice for you about "best practices", whatever works for you is ok with me but it doesn't sound like something I would do myself.

Hope that helps,

Joe

it's easier to do design tweaks with separate CSS files

I disagree, you have no control over browser caching of static files.

It is very easy now to reset the skin guid under Administration >Advanced Tools > Design Tools > Cache Tool.

Just click the button to reset the guid and you can be sure it will reload all the css using the combiner. You can click the button as often as needed ie after each change to any css. Or you can set a cookie with the other button to prevent caching.

Best,

Joe

Hi,

If the multiple CSS files is making it difficult for you to find the elements/selectors, combine them all into one file. There is no requirement to have separate files. To do this, open your style.config and make note of the order in which the files are listed. Copy the contents of the files into a new file in the same order. Finally, remove all of the entries for the files you merged from the style.config.

For example, your style config may look like this:

…
<file>style.css</file>
<file>styleblog.css</file>
<file>styleforum.css</file>
…

Copy the contents of the styleblog.css file to the bottom of the style.css file and then copy the contents of the styleforum.css file to the bottom of the style.css file. Remove the entries for styleblog.css and styleforum.css from the style.config so it looks like this:

…
<file>style.css</file>
…

Now the style for the blog and forum are included in the style.css file so it should be easy to find the elements/selectors for those modules. You can do this for the rest of the css files in your skin.

HTH,
Joe D.