Changing default/initial login page

[jfields]

Hello,

We have a fresh install of 4.5.6 NE. Everything is working well, but I have a question about rebranding. I read the entire PDF under documents and implemented the changes. The problem is that when users first visit the Zimbra login page (or after clearing cookies), Zimbra does not use our default customized skin for the default COS (we only have one COS). We only have one email domain and one COS. Our custom skin comes up after they login, but it always defaults to the sand theme for initial logins or after users have cleared their cache and cookies. Please note I am not talking about logos, but about the actual skin. I searched extensively, but only found a little information. Can someone please help with this? Thank you.

JF

[phoenix]

Currently it's the default 'sand' skin that a user will see. There's an RFE in bugzilla to change this to the preferred default skin, have a search through bugzilla and vote on the RFE. You might, IIRC, be able to modify the base skin but do make sure you backup the original.

[jfields]

Thank you for the quick reply. I think I saw that bug already, but it didn't seem active. The last comment on it was from February. I did vote on it. Any suggestions for how to safely substitute a different skin for the sand skin on initial login? I guess we could copy over sand with our custom skin, but will that cause other issues? What is the recommended workaround?

James

[mmorse]

Welcome to the forums,

long workaround: modify _base skins to desired (might affect other skins)

quick workaround:
su zimbra
cd /opt/zimbra/tomcat/webapps/zimbra/skins
mv sand/ desert/
cd desert
rename the skin to 'desert' on and in the internal files
cd /opt/zimbra/tomcat/webapps/zimbra/skins
cp perferredskin/ sand/
cd sand
change perferredskinname to sand on internal files just like you did for desert
zmprov gcf zimbraInstalledSkin -and you'll get a list of currently installed skins.
when you've done that/written those down:
zmprov mcf zimbraInstalledSkin sand zimbraInstalledSkin desert zimbraInstalledSkin perferredskininCOS etc...

now both the sand and the perferedskin folders match (minus names)
so in cos you can leave it set to perferredskin, and for the login screen they will see this skin also.

[phoenix]

James

I'd suggest you raise a support case for this requirement. Mention the bug number (I think it's 10585) and they will add your details to the bug report to give it some added weight, it is currently scheduled for the next but one major release. They should also be able to give you some guidance on any modifications, if it's possible. I'm not a coder so my advice wouldn't be too great.

[jfields]

mmorse,

Thank you for that reply. Will such customization be affected by future upgrades? In other words, will any of this customization and branding be broken by future upgrades to new versions? Thanks.

[mmorse]

Your not hurting anything. The entire folder gets written over on upgrades; be sure to backup your skins to a safe location (even better, outside of /opt/zimbra) so you can re-apply them. And it's always recommended that you do a full backup before applying any upgrades anyway.

[jfields]

Thank you. I didn't realize the skins got written over with each upgrade.

JF