5.7 Changing the Look and Feel

Themes are used to set the look and feel for a page. To set these options, click Welcome and select Manage Pages, then click the Look and Feel tab. The look and feel for pages within a community can also be set by the community administrator on the My Communities portlet. A child page inherits the look and feel of a parent page unless it is specifically changed.

5.7.1 The Default Themes Library

The Dashboard comes with a small library of default themes and color schemes. Additional themes can be uploaded from the Liferay Marketplace at http://www.liferay.com/marketplace.

The following sections describe the following default themes:

Novell Theme

The Novell theme is the default theme and is the selected theme for all images shown in this guide:

Figure 5-1 Novell Theme

Sleek Theme

The Sleek theme is simple, yet modern with lots of white space. Portlet icons become visible when the cursor is moved over the portlet’s title bar.

Figure 5-2 Sleek Theme

Simple Theme

The Simple theme is a very clean looking theme with a blue tabs and portlet title bars:

Figure 5-3 Simple Theme

Classic Theme

The Classic theme has a black header showing page portlets displayed in blue, green or orange boundaries.

Figure 5-4 Classic Theme

The Classic theme can be selected in the following colors:

  • Blue (default)

  • Green

  • Orange

Desktop Theme

The Desktop Theme simulates a desktop look and feel. The Welcome menu is replaced with a spherical icon in the top left corner of the page for the Liferay version, with portlets displaying as tabs across the top.

Figure 5-5 Desktop Theme

The Desktop theme has the following variations:

  • Liferay (as shown in the illustration above)

  • Mac

5.7.2 Selecting the Look and Feel

To set the look and feel (such as theme and color scheme):

  1. Click Welcome and select Manage Pages.

  2. Click the Look and Feel tab.

  3. Select a theme and, if applicable, a color scheme.

5.7.3 Installing Additional Themes

New themes can be downloaded from the Liferay Marketplace at http://www.liferay.com/marketplace. Or, if you have a custom theme, you can upload and install it using a .war file.

To install new themes:

  1. Click Welcome and select Manage Pages.

  2. Click the Look and Feel tab.

  3. Click Install More. The Plugin Installer opens with the Theme Plugins tab open.

  4. lick the Upload File tab, then browse for the new .war file to install.

  5. Click Install to install theme. A message displays that theme is downloaded successfully and installation is in progress.

  6. Click Back to return to the Manage Pages > Look and Feel page.

  7. Select the new theme when it displays under the Themes tab.