I would like to start a thread about the Skins customization for Winter 06. Why? Because the information on http://www.sforce.com/resources/tn-16.jsp is not the whole story.

What is missing from this documentation?
* How to use the styles.
* I think I've figured out a few of these.

* Which styles to use for paticular parts of the page.
* What do you use for a list, for the sidebar, etc.?
* Custom palletes section gives a nice teaser but is also not complete.

* What are various body tag classes available?
* The custom.css lists 50 .customTabXX styles, which ones correspond to which type of custom tab.
* For instance, I chose "telescope" for my custom tab. Now how do I determine which of those 50 styles I should use in my iframed custom tab?
* The issue is that from a custom URL tab the style "customTab39" set in the main page does NOT propagate to the IFRAME window containing the URL.

Message Edited by djensen47 on 12-12-2005 07:06 PM

Is there a way that I can create an appforce/customforce or an s-control that integrates with a third party service (external to salesforce.com).

I would want to do this without using a web tab. Instead it would be great to be able to call into an external API that is being exposed as a websevice (via SOAP).

Thanks.

Message Edited by djensen47 on 09-28-2005 01:58 PM

I just read about the AppExchange program, but can find little in the way of details about it on the SForce or SalesForce.com sites. So I have some questions.

1. How does this change if any the partner levels and the certification process?
2. Can AppExchange applications implement storage options other than storing data and more importantly documents on SalesForce.com?
3. Must AppExchange applications be hosted on SalesForce.com entirely or can some components be distributed?
4. Can AppExchange applications act as integration components to external legacy applications?
5. Are there any technical requirements for AppExchange that developers need be aware of beyond the sforce api?
6. Is there any AppExchange specific technical documentation?

Thanks in advance for the answers to these questions.

I might say this new direction seems interesting and perhaps even exciting, but I felt much the same way when I first viewed the Lotus Notes Partner program info. While many small companies grew and flourished in that program, many more did not and the architectural flaws of Lotus Notes and the inability to scale eventually spelled the decline.

Commentary: If this becomes an ecosystem, which to me means there are life cycles and feedback loops, and not just a means to extend and expand SalesForce.com, then I am all for it. If the architecture is guided by the needs of the ecosystem with changes that are carefully thought out, evaluated and evolutionary in standards, features and services, I am all for it. If the standards and processes are inclusive vs. exclusive, I am all for it.

Ollie