Introduction before we begin

Customizing the look of any Plone website involves a series of systematic steps, each one focusing on a different part of function of the website. As the site administrator, you will perform these functions from the comfort of any web capable computer that can reach your website via the Internet (or local area network if you are creating a private Intranet website). If you follow the steps I provide, either on a practice website installed on your local PC or on an Internet hosting service, you will succeed in creating your first fully customized Plone website.

The following is an outline of what we will cover in this learning exercise:

• Creating a Website Design Sketch
  
• Logging into your Own Site
• Controlling who can Login and Join (during development and later)
• General Site Settings, including email, metadata, etc.
  
• Creating the Website Skin
• Changing the Website Logo Image
  
• Background Colors and Images
• Organizing Folders, Web Pages, and Other Content
• Horizontal Navigation Tabs
• Vertical Navigation Menu
• Side Slots and Portlets
• Search Box
• Site Actions Hyper-link Menu
• Footer
• Colophon
• Getting Ready For Users (Yourself, Other Members You Allow, and Site Visitors (- make a backup of your work so far, enable joining, etc)
  

It looks like a lot, but it will go fast, as we move forward in small steps. So let's get started ...