Thanks Sebastian for your effort and response.

I was seeking an answer to Adam Conway’s original question; hopefully you could provide an answer and some insight?

“Is this a bug or is this really the intended behaviour?  Seems odd that the .template file has a reference to the skin which doesn't appear to do anything.  Also, I'd like to be able to say to my users "To create a page of this type, simply choose this template" and it would have the right skin, the right modules and the right permissions.”

Is the above possible?

Scenario: A website with 5 different types of content related to: 5 different templates, 5 different skins. The content manager needs to create new pages every week for 5 different templates/skins. Is there a way in DNN to have them simply choose a Template and it would have the right Skin, the right Modules and the right permissions? Or, do they have to go through the lengthy process of:

“When creating a new page, you select the proper template (default contains a single HTML module). Afterwards, you may add additional modules, choosing the type, which are most suitable for the content they want to add.”

and/or

“1. create a new page,
2. select a template,
3. select a skin,
--- and possibly the following:
4. add modules,
5. and/or module settings, and then start inputting content”