guidance on a GUI

Well in looking how ci_synchronicity works I see that  $this->output->set_template('default2'); where default2.php is the template for the menuing. Can I assume that I should change the index.html that comes with starting_bootstrap  template should be changed to a php file and then loaded with set template?

Where do I set the views directory? Right now it is pointing at "views/themes". I need it to point at views/startbootstrap-sb-admin-gh-pages. This way when I call $this->output->set_template('index'); it will get index.php out of the correct directory. 

proof that an old dog can learn new tricks