Showing some skin

mrsocal

New member
I've been working on skinning some new graphics for the forums to make them look more modern. There's a lot of graphics, and I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. I need to take a break for now, and I'd like some opinions before continuing...

Here are a couple examples:
example1.png

example2.png


If you would like to try this skin out yourself, you can! Click [Profile] in the top menu, then Modify Profile. Down near the bottom, 3 items above Dates and Times you should see Select Skin. Change it from "Default" to "WorkInProgress" then click Modify Profile to save it.

Hope you like. I have not gotten around to all of the images. I would like some opinions before continuing.

Thanks!

-Mr. SC
 
that looks great... the old blog has like 4 or 5 options... that I was playing around with once,, but just stuck to the default... I wonder if there is an option to choose... again, ONLY if it's not too much trouble...
 
The forums are capable of supporting several skins. I however, am not capable of creating too many <!-- s:p -->:p<!-- s:p -->.

I've looked over some others on Proboards. There's quite a few cheesy ones (bright saturated colors), and many that lost their image host, so I couldn't tell what they were supposed to look like. Most altered colors and whatnot, but didn't alter the button images. It was the default buttons that irritated SoCal mostly from the get go, which is why I made it my mission to improve them. <!-- s:cool: -->:cool:<!-- s:cool: -->
 
[quote author="roundcorners"]... I wonder if there is an option to choose... again, ONLY if it's not too much trouble...[/quote]

There is an option to choose, just follow the directions under the pictures in the first post. Not much to choose from yet.
 
[quote author="Mr. SC"]I've been working on skinning some new graphics for the forums to make them look more modern. There's a lot of graphics, and I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. I need to take a break for now, and I'd like some opinions before continuing...

Here are a couple examples:


If you would like to try this skin out yourself, you can! Click [Profile] in the top menu, then Modify Profile. Down near the bottom, 3 items above Dates and Times you should see Select Skin. Change it from "Default" to "WorkInProgress" then click Modify Profile to save it.

Hope you like. I have not gotten around to all of the images. I would like some opinions before continuing.

Thanks!

-Mr. SC
[/quote]

First of all let me thank you for all your time and effort supporting this community. I've been a moderator before, and it certainly is a thankless position and involves far more work than most people realize. Obviously it is a labor of love. Though we haven't talked much, I have talked with Mrs. SoCal quite a bit in the past, and I know how passionate she is about this community.

With that having been said, let me give you a word of warning. Being a labor of love, it is far too easy to spend inordinate amounts of time doing things for the community. This behavior can be reinforced by well wishing members of the community who aren't fully cognizant of the time commitment that you are putting into the community to keep things going. Over time, it can begin to feel like you are an indentured servant to members of the community.

So in answer to your question, I suggest that you not just examine the time commitment into developing new skins for the forum, but also that you look at the return on that investment of time.

Do I think the graphics you are working on look good? Sure. But do I think you are getting a worthwhile investment on time? I can't answer that question for you, but suggest that you contemplate it seriously.

One additional suggestion, something like skins for the forum can be made into a community project. I personally lack artistic capability, but I'm sure that you could ask around for help and possibly set up a situation that requires a far lower expenditure of personal time while at the same time helps build a tighter community as people tackle joint "problems" together.
 
It would be great to have people come up with ideas. I tried that with the emoticons here but didn't get much in the way of suggestions, unfortunately. Any artistic input is welcome.
 
[quote author="SoCal78"]It would be great to have people come up with ideas. I tried that with the emoticons here but didn't get much in the way of suggestions, unfortunately. Any artistic input is welcome.[/quote]
Well, my artistic skills are severely limited, but I'm pretty good with a search engine. Have you checked out http://smangii.proboards.com/index.cgi for anything you like?
 
[quote author="jumpcut"]
[quote author="Mr. SC"]I've been working on skinning some new graphics for the forums to make them look more modern. There's a lot of graphics, and I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. I need to take a break for now, and I'd like some opinions before continuing...

Here are a couple examples:
example1.png

example2.png


If you would like to try this skin out yourself, you can! Click [Profile] in the top menu, then Modify Profile. Down near the bottom, 3 items above Dates and Times you should see Select Skin. Change it from "Default" to "WorkInProgress" then click Modify Profile to save it.

Hope you like. I have not gotten around to all of the images. I would like some opinions before continuing.

Thanks!

-Mr. SC
[/quote]
I've been using the new skin and I like it. I especially like the larger, easier-to-distinguish "New" button.[/quote]

Agreed. Thank you, Mr. SC.
 
Thanks for the positive remarks everyone! Blame Trojan for the larger, easier-to-click "New" button, that was his idea. I made sure to get that in before I went public. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) --> There's more to come, but it'll be a while.

And thanks for the links winex. It'll take a while to go through them all. Some of the real nice ones require changes I'm not willing to make because they're global and independent of the user selected skin.
 
[quote author="Mr. SC"]Thanks for the positive remarks everyone! Blame Trojan for the larger, easier-to-click "New" button, that was his idea. I made sure to get that in before I went public. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) --> There's more to come, but it'll be a while.

And thanks for the links winex. It'll take a while to go through them all. Some of the real nice ones require changes I'm not willing to make because they're global and independent of the user selected skin.




[/quote]
I'm loving it...great job...thanks again! ;D <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
 
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