View Full Version : Forum Skin Suggestions
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 12:19 AM
Hello friends and fans,
For the past few weeks we've been poring over a large number of vBulletin styles/skins to renovate the forum. As many of you know, I've been expressing my concerns (read: complaining nonstop) about how much I hate our current skin and wish to give us a "better" one. Of course, better is in the eye of the beholder.
I wish now to at least TRY to include the community in this discussion. If you have any particular styles that you think look nice, please share your ideas with us. Good places to look for styles... simply search Google for "vBulletin Styles" or "vBulletin Skins". It's okay that most of them are not free, Alex says he's footing the bill... so... you know what that means. PARTY! As I come up with various skins that we plan to choose from, I'll post them here so that you guys can comment on them. I was originally going to keep this process a bit of a secret, but now I believe it would be in the best interests of the community to involve everybody in this project.
Remember, if you don't talk to us here, it's not our fault if you hate the new look. (Actually, if you talk here and you still hate the new look... well... whoops :P)
-Kain
Twilight Blade
03-30-2007, 12:22 AM
I'm working on learning CSS, so I'll see if I can't come up with a skin myself with the help of creating a banner with our lovely Design Team. ;)
Tidus
03-30-2007, 12:23 AM
The skin color here is ok, but a good skin color would be light blue or a lighter color. Not too light though because then some words might be hard to read.
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 12:27 AM
I'm working on learning CSS, so I'll see if I can't come up with a skin myself with the help of creating a banner with our lovely Design Team. ;)
We have discussed making our own, but the work involved in that endeavor was more than I wanted to bite off. Aside from simply CSS and XHTML, there is also some PHP knowledge required, plus a ton of graphics work that I really don't want to bog our design team down with. While myself and maybe some other people meet the coding requirements, these things are a bit too time-intensive for the relatively low importance of this project.
Twilight Blade
03-30-2007, 12:29 AM
PHP? Scratch my idea then. XD
I'll get searching. ;)
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 12:29 AM
The skin color here is ok, but a good skin color would be light blue or a lighter color. Not too light though because then some words might be hard to read.
Blue (particularly light blue) is one of the color schemes that we are emphasizing. We actually had a nice skin picked out and modified and such, but just before we bought it another Kingdom Hearts site began using that skin as their default. So no luck there. We're looking for more "blue" related options now.
One of the skins I'm interested in is this one: http://www.extremepixels.com/forum/index.php?styleid=63 which isn't blue at all, but definitely open to some color changes.
Tidus
03-30-2007, 12:40 AM
One of the skins I'm interested in is this one: http://www.extremepixels.com/forum/index.php?styleid=63 which isn't blue at all, but definitely open to some color changes.
Since blue is out of the option that skin color you like is really cool. It's even better than blue.
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 12:44 AM
Since blue is out of the option that skin color you like is really cool. It's even better than blue.
Well blue isn't out of the picture, just that one skin we were looking at is out of the picture. We still like blue.
Tidus
03-30-2007, 12:49 AM
Well blue isn't out of the picture, just that one skin we were looking at is out of the picture. We still like blue.
Good because blue is my favorite color.
Is everybody going to vote for their favorite skin? Or is Alex going to decide?
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 12:52 AM
Good because blue is my favorite color.
Is everybody going to vote for their favorite skin? Or is Alex going to decide?
It ultimately comes down to Alex. I'm just requesting some feedback from the community.
Riku-Sora
03-30-2007, 04:55 AM
That skin did look nice expect it was too bright. Hurt my eyes.
Whatever is picked we need to keep it dark enough to avoid the eye issue.
Just one question thou. Will the skin change affect the banner we got. The Pegasuses has to go.
As much as Alex likes it, is not Kingdom Hearts related.
I mean I am almost sure my design team could make a new banner that would fit within the limits of any skin we use.
I like the first two. The third one is okay. http://www.templatefreak.com/templates/prev1/tf_844.jpg
http://www.vbstyles.com/images/products/greenfox.gif
http://www.vbstyles.com/img/hex10sion.gif
Tidus
03-30-2007, 05:02 AM
It ultimately comes down to Alex. I'm just requesting some feedback from the community.
Well you have my feedback.
That skin did look nice expect it was too bright. Hurt my eyes.
Whatever is picked we need to keep it dark enough to avoid the eye issue.
Just one question thou. Will the skin change affect the banner we got. The Pegasuses has to go.
As much as Alex likes it, is not Kingdom Hearts related.
I mean I am almost sure my design team could make a new banner that would fit within the limits of any skin we use
Maybe you guys can blend the new skin with the Pegasuses banner? Or still keep the Pegasuses but add more Kingdom Hearts stuff in the banner.
DragoonKain
03-30-2007, 06:08 PM
The Pegasi are leaving.
Riku-Sora: There is actually no evidence from a design point of view that a dark colorset vs. a light colorset is any easier on the eyes for all individuals. It all comes down to: a. Color coordination and b. Individual preference. Some people prefer dark backgrounds and light text, others prefer light backgrounds and dark text. We are basing our selection more on whether the theme is clean and easy to read, and easily modifyable into something somewhat Kingdom Hearts related.
PS: Leon, Green Fox was the skin that we had chosen before and just recently became the skin of choice on another KH site. So unfortunately that one is out of the question. Sadly.
Nikkikuh
03-30-2007, 06:39 PM
How about something yellow?
Lots of skins on forums bother people's eyes, ecpessically when bright colors are on a dark skin. *points to font colors used in people's sigs; pinks, green, red*
Its not like that for all computers but on most screens it is.
To solve the problem, forums Ive usually seen use colors that calm the eye (like blue)
but since most forums have blue I was thinking of another color that used to be on a voice acting forum I went to.
It was a very nice yellow and the whites parts were NOT bright and painful agaisnt the computer screen because it was more of a baze (baige) color than a white.
In my suggestion, make multiple of colors that people want :p
but if you can only settle for one, Im in the kuddos of yellow =]
Riku-Sora
03-30-2007, 07:13 PM
The Pegasi are leaving.
Riku-Sora: There is actually no evidence from a design point of view that a dark colorset vs. a light colorset is any easier on the eyes for all individuals. It all comes down to: a. Color coordination and b. Individual preference. Some people prefer dark backgrounds and light text, others prefer light backgrounds and dark text. We are basing our selection more on whether the theme is clean and easy to read, and easily modifyable into something somewhat Kingdom Hearts related.
PS: Leon, Green Fox was the skin that we had chosen before and just recently became the skin of choice on another KH site. So unfortunately that one is out of the question. Sadly.
Well with the Pegasuses leaving then I am happy then whatever forum skin we go with then. That was my main concern.
I think that the forums should have the same color pallet and feel as the main sites new layout, would make the two sites feel more connected and also would make me less sleepy when browsing
Kingdom-heart
04-01-2007, 03:51 PM
I think that we should haev a group of skins and we could just choose whatever one we want.
kingdomheartsjunkie
04-01-2007, 08:07 PM
good idea but might be a little bit hard
i would just like one a we bit brighter because at the moment i feel like dosing off when i come on these forums
Twilight Blade
04-01-2007, 08:38 PM
That's the idea and it's not really hard, as you can see (at the bottom of the page) there is a skin selector, we just don't have any other choices at the moment.
DragoonKain
04-01-2007, 09:17 PM
The idea is you will be able to choose between this new one or the skin we're currently using. The only reason we don't have more is two reasons: A. Skins cost money. B. Identity. We want you to be able to recognize our forums simply by looking at them. Too many cookie-cutter skins and your forum/site will lose its identity.
Any idea when will be getting a new one, if we do?
DragoonKain
04-11-2007, 12:50 AM
There is no ETA on the skin stuff. We'll get it done when we get it done. Currently our lead design guy is on vacation too. :P
Still waiting on that skin. :rolleyes: jk Anything new on it yet?
DragoonKain
05-07-2007, 11:00 PM
Nope. I'll be starting it back up again once the design team reorg is finished, and once Alex returns to not being busy.
I'll post any meaningful updates in this thread.
yuffie300
05-07-2007, 11:34 PM
chicken !!!
DragoonKain
05-07-2007, 11:47 PM
chicken !!!
Nope, I'm having turkey tonight. Thanks though.
yuffie300
05-07-2007, 11:55 PM
LOL ok than :D
Helix: The True Hero
05-07-2007, 11:57 PM
*Backs away slowly*
Anyway: A new skin would be a good change, but just so long as it isn't bright yellow or something like that. Something a little easy on the eyes.
DragoonKain
05-08-2007, 12:18 AM
*Backs away slowly*
Anyway: A new skin would be a good change, but just so long as it isn't bright yellow or something like that. Something a little easy on the eyes.
As a web developer myself, I promise I won't choose anything that would be greatly offensive to your eyes.
Helix: The True Hero
05-08-2007, 12:20 AM
As a web developer myself, I promise I won't choose anything that would be greatly offensive to your eyes.
Thank God! *Takes off ultra-tinted sunglasses*
Kingdomhearts 3
05-08-2007, 01:23 AM
blue would be nice, or orange :)
As a web developer myself, I promise I won't choose anything that would be greatly offensive to your eyes.
THANK YOU. I hate bright forums. (sometimes)
H Leaf
05-08-2007, 05:20 AM
Can you show us some skins? and we can vote poll the best one???
DragoonKain
05-08-2007, 02:05 PM
Can you show us some skins? and we can vote poll the best one???
It really just comes down to what Alex wants (since he's paying for it.) I'm really just taking suggestions from the community and relaying them to him.
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