Planning for the customization

Ask yourself the question: "What do I need to do to complete the customization that I wish to achieve?"

Identify your goals.

• Do you have a single audience for your application, and only need to customize the interface to apply some corporate branding?
• Do you want your users to be able to change the appearance of the interface? For example, you could provide:
  • A default view and a high-contrast view (as in the default GBC runtime package)
  • A lighter-color view and a darker-color view
• Do you have different audiences that each require a separate and distinct look-and-feel?

I have a single audience and only need to apply corporate branding

Use a single customization containing a single theme. This theme may be comprised of one or more theme parts.

I want the user to be able to choose between different look-and-feels

Start with a single customization. Create multiple themes within that customization, where each theme provides a specific look-and-feel. While these themes may share some theme parts, it is the combination of theme parts that define the theme.

I want the UI to change based on the user device

Start with a single customization. Create a theme for each device type that the application may encounter. Within the definition of the theme, specify which device the theme is valid for. When a user accesses the application from a device, they see only those themes allowed for that device.

I have two separate audiences and want each to have their own look-and-feel

Create two distinct customizations. Within each customization, define one or more themes. Some theme parts may be common to both audiences; to share theme parts between the two audiences, define global theme parts in the GBC project and reference those theme parts with the themes set up in each of the customizations.