I produced a panel for my own use recently that makes the task of seeing skin changes a lot easier (specificaly when altering the tree menu - but also in general). I've found it really useful so I thought I'd share it with the masses.
Essentially this mod makes a small panel with two buttons on it. To reload the skin all you need to do is press button one then button two - done.
The panel is also moveable so you can drag it with the mouse to any area of the screen, away from where you are working. It is invaluable for those moments when thigns go wrong and items disappear. It will stay above everything on screen and is available at all times. Once finished your skin it is also easy to remove.
Screenshot How to add the skinner panel:
Simply copy and paste the code below into the global panels.xml file of the skin you are altering. Put it right at the bottom after everything else and just before the </panel> tag. Make sure skin cache is turned off and 'Always Reload on Confirm' is ticked in preferences.
Reload your skin and the panel will appear.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> <container class="titled_box" title="Skinner Panel" width="200" height="90" appearance="boxes/tutorial" colour="white"><layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="bottom, right" inset="10"/><attachment class="moveable_attachment"/><widget class="action_button" text="1" auto_size="vertical" appearance="button/blue/button" width="85"><event id="click_event" event_id="sPRF" event_target="scrn"/><layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="bottom" inset="0"/><layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="left" inset="0"/></widget><widget class="action_button" text="2" auto_size="vertical" appearance="button/blue/button" width="85"><event id="click_event" event_id="conf" event_target="scrn"/><layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="bottom" inset="0"/><layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="right" inset="0"/></widget></container> </pre>
Radestock's Skinner Panel 0.1 
Linear Mode
