DeskNow allows customization at two levels:

• themes (for colors, fonts, background images)
• layouts (for the actual structure of the page)

DeskNow provides three default layouts:

• original : the default layout, used with PCs
• pocket: a compact layout, that works well with PocketPC and other PDA devices
• wap: for WAP phones
  

All the pages that define a layout are contained in a folder called with the name of the layout (ex. C:/Program Files/DeskNow/webapps/desknow/jsp/original  , or /var/desknow/webapps/desknow/jsp/original on Linux/Unix/Mac OSX).

Every page is a JSP file. A JSP file is like a normal HTML page, but with some "dynamic" tags that are filled in by DeskNow when the user accesses the page.

For instance, the tag <%= email_body %>, found in MailView.jsp , tells DeskNow to insert in that position the body of the email. MailView.jsp is the page shown when an user opens an email.

To make minor changes to the structure of a page

Simply edit the page with a good HTML editor or a text editor.

Important:

before starting, make sure to backup all the pages that you will change

do not change the dynamic tags unless you know exactly what you're doing

To create a completely new layout

This can be a hard task, as DeskNow is a rather complux product, with many pages. The best way is to start from an existing layout (ex. "pocket").

This is how:

copy the "pcket" layout directory to a new directory with the new layout's name, (ex. "mylayout").

Edit \desknowdata\cfg\Web.cfg and add this line:

Layout.2.Name "My new layout"

Layout.2.Id mylayout

If you want to make this the default layout, simply change this line:

Layout.Default mylayout

Then restart DeskNow.

You can now edit your pages in the mylayout directory, and test their effect while DeskNow is running. You can change the pages at any time, without having to restart DeskNow.

IMPORTANT: when you upgrade DeskNow, make sure to backup the mylayout directory, and to restore it after the upgrade.