Customize Zoho Discussions

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Customize Header and Footer

Customize Secondary Header:

Create Custom Login & Description

Sample Templates

Sample Websites

The "Customize" section allows you to customize the look and feel of your discussions portal according to your website. Here you can:

Customize the Header & Footer
Provide Custom Login messages and Description text

Customize Header and Footer

This option enables you to change the header and footer of your portal by updating the relevant HTML Code. You can also use these options to relocate the side bar too. Doing this customization only needs HTML knowledge and some basic condition checks (like if conditions). Using this customization options, you can

Remove all Zoho related links
Insert images, Ads, links and other branding information
Re-layout and customize standard menu options (like recent posts, new topic etc).

To customize header:

Go to your portal
Click on Settings > Portal > Customize
Specify the appropriate HTML code in the Header field to change your portal header
Enable the Header check-box (Mandatory)
Click on Save
Your portal header will be changed. Example: See the screenshot below:

To customize Footer:

Go to your portal
Click on Settings > Portal > Customize
Specify the appropriate HTML code in the Footer field to change your portal header.
Enable the Footer check-box (Mandatory)
Click on Save
Your portal Footer will be changed. Example: See the screenshot below:

Customize Secondary Header:

This section enables you to customize the header of your main login page, which appears when your users want to login to your portal.

To customize secondary header:

Go to your portal
Click on Settings > Portal > Customize
Specify the appropriate HTML code in the Secondary Header field to customize the login page header
Enable the Secondary Header check-box (Mandatory)
Click on Save
The header of your portal login will be changed. Example: See the screenshot below:

Create Custom Login & Description

This section enables you to customize the text messages of your portal login page and the user welcome screen. Portal login page is the main page, which is visible for all users who want to log into your portal , while user welcome screen is the page which appears when your users accept the user invitation.

To update custom login text:

Go to your portal
Click on Settings > Portal > Customize
Enter a short note about your portal, which explains the purpose your online community in the Login field
Enable the Login check-box (Mandatory)
Click on Save.
Your portal introduction message will be updated. Example: See the screenshot below:

To customize welcome text:

Go to your portal
Click on Settings > Portal > Customize
Enter the welcome message for your users in the Description field
Enable the Description check-box (Mandatory)
Click on Save.
The welcome message will be updated. Example: See the screenshot below:

Note: For all these customizations, you need to upload the associated CSS, so that the change will take effect accordingly.

Sample Templates

Below is a list of sample templates, which you can download and paste the HTML codes in the relevant fields to customize your portal.

Template to customize header: Download

This specific template helps you to remove all Zoho related links like My Portal, Help, Switch To etc., from your portal header. See the example below:

Template to customize footer: Download

This specific template helps you to remove all Zoho related links from the footer. See the example below:

Template to customize user login page: Download

This specific template helps you to remove all Zoho related links from your portal login page. See the example below:

Sample Custom Style Sheet: Download

You need to upload this CSS along with the above mentioned HTML Codes.

Check-List: Before updating the templates, please make sure that you have followed the instructions listed below:

Replace the "portal name" text with your the exact portal name, which is updated in your general settings. Example: Replace <a href="http://discussions.zoho.com/portalname"> with <a href="http://discussions.zoho.com/testportal">
Modify the sample templates to update specific details like Logo, portal name etc. - according to your business need.