template questions

Hello! I'm planning to customize the interface of XWiki (using the wiki functionality only for a few administrator, and servicing content for everyone, who does not need to know about wiki). I've found that editing the files in the templates/ directory of the .war file does not really work, I can't see the changes on the interface. Could you provide me the proper method for editing the templates? (I've restarted the the application server for cleaning the cache, but it does not help) btw: XWiki works with the open source applications server Glassfish (former Sun Application Server). Istvan