I followed the SuperStyleSheets tutorial and created my skin. Now I was going to package it for installing on a DNN installation. I started watching the How to Package a DNN5 skin tutorial. But, I don't see my skin on the extensions page. There seems to be a disconnect. In the SuperStyleSheets tutorial we copy folders to make our new skins. In the packaging tutorial you install a new skin before packaging it up. Can anyone help me?

I think that the idea is to add the skin to a local (test) site by copying them to a folder in Portals/_default/Skins. This actually installs the skins in your site. Then, you can use the tools built into DotNetNuke to create the manifest file and package the skin.

Note that this works only for ascx skins. Also, if you have containers, you will need to package them separately. If you want to include skins and containers in the same file, you can take the two packaged skin and container files and combine them. You will also have to combine the two manifest files.

You don't have to do things this way. You can package them outside of DotNetNuke if you create a proper manifest file.

Right now my new skin is part of a local site. My skin is in the Portals/_default/Skins folder. I am using it on one page in this site. I am pretty sure what I have made is an ascx skin because I followed the SuperStyleSheets tutorial to make the skin. I just changed a few things in the skin.css file. I just don't know what to do next for packaging it since I cannot see this skin when I go to Host->Extensions. Frustrated by this, I copied my skin folder to a different local site. I put it in the Portals/_default/Skins folder. I logged in as admin, clicked on the icon to edit the settings for this page to try to apply the skin. I cannot see the skin here either, so I am totally confused now. I don't know what I am doing wrong. Everything I do seems to be logical to me, but I obviously am missing something.

Can you see the skin and apply it to a page using the functions in Page Settings for a page or for the site?

I can on the site that I developed the skin. I cannot on the second site where I copied the skin folder to the Portals/_default/Skins folder.

That is rather odd.  Double check that the directory structures on the two sites are the same.

They look the same to me. I've attached a couple of images showing the paths.

Make sure that the files are the same inside of the DHI_SuperStyleSheets directories.

Yep, they are the same. Which is to be expected since I just copied the folder from my skinning development site over to the other site. Maybe we should take a step back though. Remember I can't see my skin when I go to Host->Extensions on my skin development site. But, I have applied it to a page within my development site. In fact, to test it again I just created a new page and applied my skin to the new page. Also, I can see my skin in Host->Host Settings and also in Admin->Site Settings. I just can't see it in Host->Extensions.

I think I'm more confused now than at the beginning ... 

I'm not sure that I can offer any more help without looking at the two sites.

I'm sorry to be so confusing. They are local sites on my machine so that isn't going to work. So, if I create a skin all I have to do is copy it to the right folder in a DNN installation and then the skin should be "installed" and I should be able to use it on any portal in that DNN installation? This is my understanding, is this correct?

That is correct.

What is confusing is that you aren't seeing the skins on the Extensions page.