I am using Salesforce tab + Visualforce template in my community.
Is there any way to customize the layout? I know how to customize the branding but it is not enough.
For example we do not want our customers to access "My Settings" page and the search bar, is there any way to remove them?
Also, what if I want to fully customize my community's UI? I found out this link. Is it the best approach?
This basically comes down to creating a custom theme layout with custom styling. You will need to create a lightning component that :
implements="forceCommunity:themeLayout"
as follows:
<aura:component implements="forceCommunity:themeLayout" access="global" description="Sample Custom Theme Layout">
<aura:attribute name="search" type="Aura.Component[]" required="false"/>
<aura:attribute name="profileMenu" type="Aura.Component[]" required="false"/>
<aura:attribute name="navBar" type="Aura.Component[]" required="false"/>
<aura:attribute name="newHeader" type="Aura.Component[]" required="false"/>
<div>
<div class="searchRegion">
{!v.search}
</div>
<div class="profileMenuRegion">
{!v.profileMenu}
</div>
<div class="navigation">
{!v.navBar}
</div>
<div class="newHeader">
{!v.newHeader}
</div>
<div class="mainContentArea">
{!v.body}
</div>
</div>
you will notice that each class represents a section/component of the standard layout, you can then add custom styling (and reorder the components) to fit your needs.
once you have created the above component, you will need to assign it to a layout under community settings:
and finally to the page in question:
The Options that we see in the Select Post Destination is based on the Navigational Topics .
You will need to add some Navigational Topics to see the Options there .
Take a look at screenshot from one my sample orgs
Here is good old blog from me on how to set these
Best Answer
There are limits of official supported UI customizability. To remove 'My Settings' is clearly beyond. It also would break standard documented functionality and may end up in irritation and frustration of users.
So I think this requirement is a really bad idea.
The searchbar could be deactivated be disabling chatter for the customer profile. Typically you might want chatter for other profiles. Therefore you can log a ticket and ask them to enable a feature called "Profile-based chatter rollout"
Here is the branding docu https://help.salesforce.com/HTViewHelpDoc?id=networks_customize_branding.htm&language=en_US
All this might not apply to sites, where you have more design freedom and less functionality than in communities.