Upgrading Implementations with Advanced Customizations
If you have implemented advanced overrides in the Stationery design, such as overrides to .xsl or .fti files, or overrides to files in the Formats folder, ensure you save a copy of the following items to a secure location before uninstalling a previous version of ePublisher and installing a new version:
  • Overrides currently used in the Stationery design project
  • A copy of the original files from which the overrides were created
If you want to continue to use your advanced customizations with the new version of ePublisher, first uninstall your previous ePublisher version and then install a new ePublisher version. Then identify and include your overrides in the new versions of the ePublisher files as appropriate by performing a three-way merge of the following items:
  • A copy of the existing override file used in the Stationery design project, located in <StationeryName>\Formats\<OutputFormat> folder, where <StationeryName> is the name the Stationery designer specified for the Stationery, and <OutputFormat> is the type of output format the Stationery Designer specified for a target in the Stationery.
  • A copy of the original file from which the override was created, available in the <StationeryName>\Formats\<OutputFormat>.base folder, where <StationeryName> is the name the Stationery designer specified for the Stationery, and <OutputFormat> is the type of output format the Stationery Designer specified for a target in the Stationery.
  • A copy of the new file from the new version of ePublisher
Performing a three-way merge allows you to identify the code you changed when you created the override, and also allows you to quickly and easily create the override again in the new ePublisher files. You may find tools such as Araxis Merge Pro, available at https://www.araxis.com/merge, or KDiff3, available at https://kdiff3.sourceforge.net, helpful as you compare and merge override files.
After you perform your three-way merge and update the files you want to override in the new version of ePublisher with the overrides you specified in the previous version, test your overrides by generating output using the new version of ePublisher Designer and the Stationery design project to confirm your output generates appropriately. After you verify the output generated correctly using your advanced customizations, you can create new Stationery using the Stationery design project and then deploy the updated Stationery that includes your advanced customizations to writers to use to generate output.
Upgrading Advanced Customizations of WebWorks Reverb 2.0
Most of the time, you will only need to customize the _*.scss files to achieve all of your styling requirements for your WebWorks Reverb 2.0 output. However, the Reverb 2.0 format is highly customizable and if necessary you can make advanced customizations to this format. If you are upgrading from a prior release, then you will want to understand what files are most likely to be customized and how this is affected if you change the Skin Target Setting.
If you have or plan to make advanced customizations to the WebWorks Reverb 2.0 layout or look-and-feel, then most likely you will have to modify one or more of the following files.
Table 5: Advanced Reverb 2.0 Files that are typically customized
Filename
The display area or items affected by this file
webworks.scss
Content panel styling only. Includes the styling of the MiniTOC, RelatedTopics, Social Buttons.
skin.scss
Styling of TOC, Index, Toolbar, and Breadcrumbs. All icons used in the skin.png sprite file are managed here. Styling of content that appears above the Toolbar, such as the company information.
search.scss
Styling of the search results page.
connect.asp
Used to manage the button placement in the toolbar. Also manages the TOC/Index/Search panel title for the Corporate
skin.
connect.scss
Manages basic structure of the entry-point file generated from the connect.asp template file.
When working with alternate skins, you need to be aware of which files are most likely affected as a result of changing the skin type. If you have Advanced Customizations in any of these files, then you need to re-examine the diffs of these files after you switch the skin type. Most likely you will have minimal differences. Here are some basic steps you can follow to make sure you translate those changes to the new skin properly.
Basic steps for setting an alternate skin type when Advanced customizations are present
  1. Check your Advanced Customizations for files listed in Advanced Reverb 2.0 Files that are typically customized.
  2. Make sure any of these commonly customized files are implemented as Target Overrides as opposed to Format Overrides. Setting an alternate skin type will create an implicit target override that will have priority over any format overrides of the same name.
  3. Before changing the skin type you will need to record any existing file differences. On the Advanced menu click Manage Target Customizations. Now use the procedure discussed in Format and Target Overrides to record these file differences. These file differences will be used later after the skin type has been changed.
  4. On the Target menu, click Target Settings.
  5. In the WebWorks Reverb category, select the right column of the Skin entry to display the file picker button.
  6. Click the file picker button to bring up an Open file dialog which will display a list of skin plugin files. Each skin plugin file is identifiable by a .weplugin extension.
  7. Browse to the plugin file that you wish to use and double-click it to set the skin to that value.
  8. At this point, you need to consider either removing your existing customizations and then re-implementing them using the information from your previously recorded file differences. Or managing the differences directly by comparing the differences using the procedure discussed in Format and Target Overrides. Either method will work.
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Last modified date: 01/28/2026