How Can I Create My Own Skin for Yahoo Messenger?
The Yahoo! Messenger instant messaging program comes with two default skins that users can apply to change the look of their instant messaging windows. The looks of these skins are determined by the XML and image files saved in the skin's folder. If you want to create your own skin, you can use these default skins as a foundation on which to build your new skin, but you must have the images that you want to use and some basic HTML skills on hand.
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Instructions
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1
Click the "Start" icon in the computer's taskbar and select the "Computer" option. Double-click the "C:\" icon, followed by the "Program Files" folder. Double-click the "Yahoo!" folder, followed by the "Shared" folder.
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2
Double-click the "Graphics" folder to view its contents. Right-click on the folder labeled "Indigo" and select the "Copy" button. Right-click anywhere in the "Graphics" folder and select the "Paste" button to create a copy of the "Indigo" folder.
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3
Click on the copy of the "Indigo" folder to highlight it. Click on the folder a second time and change its name to reflect the name of the new skin.
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4
Double-click the copy of the "Indigo" folder to view its contents. Double-click the "indigo.xml" file to open the file in Notepad. Locate the lines of text that read "SkinName='Indigo'
PreviewImage='preview_indigo.jpg'." -
5
Replace both instances of "indigo" with the name of your new skin. For example, if you are creating a skin named "flames," type:
SkinName='flames' PreviewImage='preview_flames.jpg'
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6
Change the information listed next to the "AuthorName=" and "AuthorURL=" text to reflect your information. Click the "File" menu and select the "Save" option to save the changes.
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7
Download or create the images you want to use in your theme with your image editor of choice. The images must be saved in BMP or PNG format, depending on their role in the skin. Refer to the "Yahoo! Messenger Skin Reference Table" for more information.
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8
Change the name of the image you want to use in the skin to match the name of the image used in the default skin. For example, if you have an image for the skin's top border, you must name the file "border_top.bmp." Repeat for every image that you want to use in the new skin according to their names in the Skin Reference Table.
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9
Drag the image files into the folder you renamed in Step 3. When asked if you want to replace the files, click the "Yes" button.
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10
Double-click the skin's XML file to open the file in Notepad. Locate the line of text that reads "color name='back' value='f4f5eb'/>." Change the color code in this line of text to change the color of the "back" section of the skin. Repeat for any other colors that you want to change.
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11
Locate the line of text that reads "<font name='caption' face='tahoma' height='8' weight='700' quality='c' textcolor='ffffff'/>." Change the font face, height, weight, quality and color to reflect how you want the skin's captions to appear. Repeat for any other fonts that you want to change.
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12
Click the "File" menu and select the "Save" option to save the XML file and the new skin.
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