Using Custom Skins

In addition to customizing through the Plesk GUI the logo image, URL attached to it, and browser's title bar text, Plesk 12.5 offers the option to change the visual appearance and branding of Plesk by using custom skins.

The visual appearance of the Plesk interface is governed by the Plesk theme. The theme, in this context, is a complete set of CSS styles and images that are not changeable by the users. However, these styles and images can be changed when a product update or a new product version is released. To change the visual appearance of Plesk, you should use customs skins.

A skin is a set of styles and images that are added to the theme. The skin does not physically replace the styles and images of the theme, it merely redefines them. Thus, it is easy to change the appearance of Plesk by applying a custom skin, and revert the changes by removing it.

For the purpose of creating custom skins, a so-called default skin package is provided. As opposed to the theme, the default skin does not include all styles and images. For example, the CSS file is initially empty in the default skin package, and you can add styles definitions into it. Only the styles that affect decorative elements, such as colors, backgrounds, and fonts are available for modification. Of course, you can add styles that will redefine the layout; however, we strongly advise against doing so because it might make some areas or functions of Plesk inoperable.

The skins can be created and applied to Plesk by the server administrator and resellers, one skin per server administrator or a reseller account. The changes to the Plesk appearance applied by the server administrator are visible to all Plesk users. The changes applied by a reseller are visible only to the reseller and their customers.

To prepare and apply a custom skin, you will need to do the following:

1. Obtain the files that will be used as a basis for creation of your custom skin. You can do this by connecting to the server through SSH (on Linux) or a Remote Desktop connection (on Windows), and then running the command-line utility branding_theme. For details, see Obtaining a Skin Package from Plesk.

   Note: If you access Plesk at the reseller level, and do not have the administrator's access to the server over SSH or Remote Desktop, contact your hosting provider for assistance with obtaining the package.

2. Download the archive, unpack it, and modify the contained files according to your needs: add the styles and replace the graphics files with your own ones. Be sure to preserve the directory structure. For details, see Modifying the Files.
3. Pack the directory containing the modified skin into a ZIP archive. Upload the archive file to the server and use the command line utility branding_theme to apply the new skin. Find more information in Installing Skins to Plesk.

Note: The new skin will be applied after you log out of Plesk and then log in again.

If you want to restore the default Plesk styles and images, remove the custom skin. For details, see Removing Skins from Plesk.