hello,

as i read in a book, it says that ascx is generated after the parsing process of .htm file. but some tutorials develop the skin using the .ascx file. if the .ascx is generated automatically, why do people develop skins using the .ascx ? what is the right way?

thanks.

I agreed with Chris that developers prefer to develop skins using ASCX approach.

Beside it's easy for them to make changes without having to reparse the HTML, it also allow them to take full control in skin objects customization without creating the skin.xml file. When installing skins, dnn essentially marges the skin.html and skin.xml to produce the skin.ascx with specific ASP.NET user controls and skin object attributes.

In brief:

Building HTML skin, common files that need to create:

1. skin.html
2. skin.doctype.xml (if using XHMTL/CSS)
3. skin.css
4. skin.xml

Building ASCX skin, common files that need to create:

1. skin.ascx
2. skin.xml (if using XHMTL/CSS)
3. skin.css

Both approach is the right way to do, however, when develop commerical skins, it is better to take the HTML approach because it reaches the broader target audiences.

Hope this helps!

Cuong Dang
Co-founder: Enliven, dnnGallery
LinkedIn | Twitter
I'm the author of DNN and Web Standards Wrox Blox

I definately agree with Jan's point of view.