This month, I'm diving into the Uskinned "package," if you can call it that. It's quite well-known, but it was new to me until Codegarden. I've always wanted to explore it but never had the time to tackle such a substantial package—until now.
What is it?
In their own words “uSkinned Site Builder is the only all-in-one, future-proof website solution available in the Umbraco ecosystem.” but wat does that entail? I will look at the features it adds, the problem it is trying to solve and the costs of using it.
Problem
The issue it aims to resolve is the initial setup of a project with essential core functionalities that every website might need. This allows you to easily set up your website without repeating the same tasks for every site, saving you and your client both time and money. As a result, you can dedicate more time to developing complex and custom features.
Setup
You can either install the package in your own solution or you can get a site from uSKinned them self’s and let them handle everything.
To Setup the package it is as simple as adding the package and building, but to see it in action locally you will need to have a licence.
For this blog I have used the week free online version to see the package in action and added it to my local test project to see more of the details.
Features
You can setup the full website experience from setting up a shop with SNIPCART or ECWID or using external form handlers like mailchimp with recaptcha. In addition to those extra features, there are core elements of the website that I will explore in more detail.
Website setup
When you add the package to your project there suddenly will be allot of more pages and datatypes. From the technical pages like the sitemap & robots.txt and functional pages like login and the search page.
Next to that are the more content focused pages, like overviews or lose content pages
By default you can only add content pages to the home node no new overview pages or any other pages. If you have added the package to your local setup you can change this.
Templates
Another feature is the ability to setup templates for all kind of pages for easy use of the content team so nothing important gets forgotten.
Design
USkinned adds a new node called ‘Design’ where you can add a design for your website. In these designs you can change nearly everything like the layout, logos, fonts, colors used, custom scripts and much more. For the colors you can even setup a custom color pallet, sadly is does not automatically update it if you change it.
Globals
Another node they add is the ‘Global’ node where the general settings are stored, like the chosen design, reading direction, how to handle forms, components you want on every page, and many more options. There is also a specific place for the navigation, footer, and reusable items. There, you can create groups of reusable items to use all over your website with the reusable component or pod's per page.
(Components are big blocks that take up the full width of the page, and pods are smaller and can be added into some blocks)
Costs
If you just want a simple website you can host it at uSkinned for 36€ or if you want to use uSkinned in your own setup it is a onetime payment of 319€ for one site.
Hosting cost
An easy comparison is to check the hosting options verses Umbraco self
| uSKinned | Umbraco cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 35€ | 40€ |
| Features | uSninned designer | Forms, deploy |
| Hosting | SSL https, azure | TLS https, cloud |
| Support | Backups, upgrades, 24/7 suport | Upgrades, buisiness hours |
| Domains | 1 | 10 |
Conclusion
To conclude, it is a great package that allows you to quickly set up an entire core website, which you can expand upon as needed. It ensures that you don't forget any important elements. While some features may be excessive for certain sites, they provide valuable future-proofing.
As a backend developer, I find it particularly useful for handling the look and feel of the website.
However, I am disappointed that there is no free version available for local testing. Additionally, I don't understand why the default settings limit the types of pages you can create.
OPINION
I would easily choose this package when I want to create my own site, but I would go for a custom hosting to have some freedom in how the website is set up maybe even combining it with Umbraco cloud.
Nevertheless the entire team deserves a #H5YR
Top comments (1)
Hi there! Marc from uSkinned here - thanks for the great article! I just wanted to jump in and add a little more context to a couple of points you raised.
- I don't understand why the default settings limit the types of pages you can create.
This is actually designed to simplify things for content editors, helping to keep the editing experience uncluttered. A standard page is generally the most commonly used, but if more complex pages are needed, editors can easily add them using the "Quick Create" option in the content dashboard.
- For the colors you can even setup a custom color pallet, sadly it does not automatically update it if you change it.
I think I understand what you're referring to! Content colors can indeed be changed via the Design node within the Content section in Umbraco, or in "Preview mode" by selecting "Save and preview." In Preview mode, you’ll see the colors update on your website as you adjust them in the Design slide-out panel. Once you "Save and Publish" your changes, all updates will be instantly reflected on your live site.
- Hosting certificates
We use Let's Encrypt TLS certificates.
- Hosting domains
We have no limit on the number of domains you can add to your hosted site.
Thanks again for the write-up, and feel free to reach out if you have more questions!