diff --git a/browser/common.py b/browser/common.py
index a476e5a..9b05eb6 100644
--- a/browser/common.py
+++ b/browser/common.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class BaseView(object):
         skin = None
         if skinName and IView.providedBy(self.context):
             skin = zapi.queryUtility(ISkin, skinName)
-            if skin is not None:
+            if skin:
                 applySkin(self.request, skin)
         self.skin = skin
 
diff --git a/browser/configure.zcml b/browser/configure.zcml
index ad1711d..1490ccb 100644
--- a/browser/configure.zcml
+++ b/browser/configure.zcml
@@ -565,4 +565,32 @@
         allowed_interface="zope.publisher.interfaces.browser.IBrowserPublisher"
         permission="zope.Public" />
 
+  <!-- view configurator stuff -->
+
+  <zope:adapter factory="loops.browser.node.ViewPropertiesConfigurator" />
+
+  <editform
+      label="Configure View Properties"
+      name="viewconfigure.html"
+      schema="loops.interfaces.IViewConfiguratorSchema"
+      for="loops.interfaces.INode"
+      template="edit.pt"
+      permission="zope.ManageContent"
+      />
+
+  <menuItem
+      for="loops.interfaces.INode"
+      action="viewconfigure.html"
+      permission="zope.ManageContent"
+      menu="zmi_views" title="View Properties"
+      filter="python: context.nodeType == 'menu'"
+      />
+
+  <zope:adapter
+      factory="loops.browser.node.NodeViewConfigurator"
+      for="loops.interfaces.INode
+           zope.publisher.interfaces.browser.IBrowserRequest"
+      provides="cybertools.browser.configurator.IViewConfigurator"
+      />
+      
 </configure>
diff --git a/browser/node.py b/browser/node.py
index 4b00e4f..c2745b5 100644
--- a/browser/node.py
+++ b/browser/node.py
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ View class for Node objects.
 $Id$
 """
 
+from zope import component, interface
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy
 from zope.app import zapi
+from zope.app.annotation.interfaces import IAnnotations
 from zope.app.catalog.interfaces import ICatalog
 from zope.app.container.browser.contents import JustContents
 from zope.app.container.browser.adding import ContentAdding
@@ -36,8 +38,10 @@ from zope.proxy import removeAllProxies
 from zope.security import canAccess, canWrite
 from zope.security.proxy import removeSecurityProxy
 
+from cybertools.browser import configurator
 from cybertools.typology.interfaces import ITypeManager
 from loops.interfaces import IConcept, IResource, IDocument, IMediaAsset, INode
+from loops.interfaces import IViewConfiguratorSchema
 from loops.resource import MediaAsset
 from loops import util
 from loops.browser.common import BaseView
@@ -314,3 +318,43 @@ class NodeAdding(ContentAdding):
         #             'has_custom_add_view': True,
         #             'description': 'This creates a node with an associated document'})
         return info
+
+
+class ViewPropertiesConfigurator(object):
+
+    interface.implements(IViewConfiguratorSchema)
+    component.adapts(INode)
+
+    def __init__(self, context):
+        self.context = removeSecurityProxy(context)
+
+    def setSkinName(self, skinName):
+        ann = IAnnotations(self.context)
+        setting = ann.get(configurator.ANNOTATION_KEY, {})
+        setting['skinName'] = {'value': skinName}
+        ann[configurator.ANNOTATION_KEY] = setting
+    def getSkinName(self):
+        ann = IAnnotations(self.context)
+        setting = ann.get(configurator.ANNOTATION_KEY, {})
+        return setting.get('skinName', {}).get('value', '')
+    skinName = property(getSkinName, setSkinName)
+
+
+class NodeViewConfigurator(configurator.ViewConfigurator):
+    """ Take properties from next menu item...
+    """
+
+    @property
+    def viewProperties(self):
+        result = []
+        for p in list(reversed(zapi.getParents(self.context))) + [self.context]:
+            if not INode.providedBy(p) or p.nodeType != 'menu':
+                continue
+            ann = IAnnotations(p)
+            propDefs = ann.get(configurator.ANNOTATION_KEY, {})
+            if propDefs:
+                result.extend([self.setupViewProperty(prop, propDef)
+                                for prop, propDef in propDefs.items() if propDef])
+        return result
+
+
diff --git a/helpers.txt b/helpers.txt
index 2a2dfc5..7b9cce4 100755
--- a/helpers.txt
+++ b/helpers.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Let's first do some basic imports
   >>> from zope.app.testing.setup import placefulSetUp, placefulTearDown
   >>> site = placefulSetUp(True)
   
+  >>> from zope import interface, component
   >>> from zope.app import zapi
   >>> from zope.app.tests import ztapi
   >>> from zope.interface import Interface
@@ -32,6 +33,10 @@ and setup a simple loops site with its manager objects,
   >>> loopsRoot['resources'] = ResourceManager()
   >>> resources = loopsRoot['resources']
 
+  >>> from loops.view import ViewManager, Node
+  >>> loopsRoot['views'] = ViewManager()
+  >>> views = loopsRoot['views']
+
 some concepts,
   
   >>> cc1 = Concept(u'Zope')
@@ -44,7 +49,7 @@ some concepts,
   >>> cc2.title
   u'Zope 3'
 
-and resources:
+resources,
 
   >>> doc1 = Document(u'Zope Info')
   >>> resources['doc1'] = doc1
@@ -54,6 +59,16 @@ and resources:
   >>> img1 = MediaAsset(u'An Image')
   >>> resources['img1'] = img1
 
+and nodes (in view space):
+
+  >>> m1 = Node(u'Home')
+  >>> views['m1'] = m1
+  >>> m1.nodeType = 'menu'
+  
+  >>> m1p1 = Node(u'Page')
+  >>> m1['p1'] = m1p1
+  >>> m1p1.nodeType = 'page'
+
 Finally, we also need a relation registry:
 
   >>> from cybertools.relation.interfaces import IRelationRegistry
@@ -229,3 +244,55 @@ i.e. the 'topic' concept, via an adapter:
   >>> cc1Adapter = cc1_type.typeInterface(cc1)
   >>> ITopic.providedBy(cc1Adapter)
   True
+
+
+Controlling presentation using view properties
+----------------------------------------------
+
+  >>> from zope.app.annotation.interfaces import IAttributeAnnotatable, IAnnotations
+  >>> from zope.app.annotation.attribute import AttributeAnnotations
+  >>> from loops.interfaces import INode
+
+First we have to make sure we can use attribute annotations with our nodes,
+and we also have to register an IViewConfigurator adapter for them:
+
+  >>> component.provideAdapter(AttributeAnnotations, (INode,), IAnnotations)
+
+  >>> from cybertools.browser.configurator import IViewConfigurator
+  >>> from loops.browser.node import NodeViewConfigurator
+  >>> from zope.publisher.interfaces.browser import IBrowserRequest
+  >>> component.provideAdapter(NodeViewConfigurator, (INode, IBrowserRequest),
+  ...                          IViewConfigurator)
+
+Now we are ready to set up a view on our page node:
+
+  >>> from loops.browser.node import NodeView
+  >>> request = TestRequest()
+  >>> view = NodeView(m1p1, request)
+
+The elements responsible for presentation are controlled by a controller
+object:
+
+  >>> from cybertools.browser.controller import Controller
+  >>> controller = Controller(view, request)
+  >>> getattr(controller, 'skinName', None) is None
+  True
+
+There is no `skinName` setting in the controller as we did not set any.
+The configurator (IViewConfigurator adapter, see above) takes the
+view properties from the attribute annotations. We set these properties
+using an adapter to the config schema; the configurator will only use
+settings on menu nodes (possibly above the node to be viewed in the
+browser).
+
+  >>> from loops.interfaces import IViewConfiguratorSchema
+  >>> from loops.browser.node import ViewPropertiesConfigurator
+  >>> component.provideAdapter(ViewPropertiesConfigurator, (INode,),
+  ...                          IViewConfiguratorSchema)
+  
+  >>> pageConfigurator = IViewConfiguratorSchema(m1)
+  >>> pageConfigurator.skinName = 'SuperSkin'
+
+  >>> controller = Controller(view, request)
+  >>> controller.skinName.value
+  'SuperSkin'
diff --git a/interfaces.py b/interfaces.py
index c9b8029..da05358 100644
--- a/interfaces.py
+++ b/interfaces.py
@@ -497,3 +497,14 @@ class ITypeConcept(Interface):
         source="loops.TypeInterfaceSource",
         required=False)
 
+
+# view configurator stuff
+
+class IViewConfiguratorSchema(Interface):
+
+    skinName = schema.TextLine(
+        title=_(u'Skin Name'),
+        description=_(u'Name of the skin to use for this part of the site'),
+        default=u'',
+        required=False)
+