Should I Customize My ProBoard?

[veggiegirl]

Oct 20, 2007 3:26:09 GMT -8 burningwicky said:

that you can Customize virtually everything of a proboard is a good thing, i rather have a lot of options that i dont use then no options to do them things at all..
the fact that you can add coding into the headers and footers is a great option that gives Proboards a edge on its nearest competition, and is without a doubt one of its greatest benefits as a proboard user..

but i have seen a lot of great looking boards who went down the tube by over modding them, too much of anything isnt good and that goes for adding codes and images to your forum as well
adding too many fancy codes to your forum doesn't make it necessarily better the more codes you add to your headers and footers the more time it will need to load and then there is the problem of adding codes that conflict with each other creating all kinds of errors and keeping the mods of support board very busy (hehehe)

Also in the end it is not about adding fancy codes and great images to your forum which will result in a successfully forum, in the end your forum is as good as the quality of its topics and posts...

I agree.

On my board, most of the codes are used only by me. My members are are not tech savvy and a lot of them don't even use the smilies ;D

[jakelithurdz]

how do you add the "ModSquad" box?

[Kai]

If you want to customize it, I wouldn't go too far with it. Yes, a layout is nice, just not with random colors here and there. Keep it basic. If you want images on it, not to many, not to little, you would want a few images. If your adding music, make it so that the person on your forum can turn it on and off. And make sure it's off when some one enters the site. They don't want music blasting in their ears, who knows how load there speakers are on.

[Enchant]

Apr 27, 2008 12:15:29 GMT -8 jakelithurdz said:

how do you add the "ModSquad" box?

Please leave technical questions for the support boards. This is for discussion purposes. Thank you.

[fantasmic]

I think customization is really important. Even if it's something as simple as changing the gradients and adding a banner. It has to say something about YOUR site.

Take for example, Proboards Support. No, I'm not bashing it, so don't glare! I'm just saying that their site is not customized, but it serves its purpose. The site is purely about proboards sites in general. But for other sites, that won't work. A graphics site needs a skin. It needs a custom made banner, and buttons, and menu images that say "yes, we ARE the real deal, kaythanks." Role play boards need a skin that reflects on their site plot and makes you want to look into the rest of the site. A music board should have graphics that are reminiscent of music...etcetera.

I think if you don't customize your site, you're saying you don't care that much about it. You're giving the impression that their site isn't that different or original compared to all the others out there. And that is definitely not the way to get active members.

[Fishooked]

Hi, I just figured Id weigh in.

I say yes, I've changed almost all of the default images, but I've strayed away from dark colors & overuse of 'look what kind of graphics I can make' type of stuff.

I've kept my background white, and for the most part my board is white with just red & maroon accents.

My target audience isn't exactly a bunch of computer saavy or graphics intensive people anyway. For them & myself, it's all about a clean appearance and usability.

[Des]

I think the question here should be not whether one should customize a proboard but how much one should customize it. It is one thing to say that don't leave the default skin on, and put in some codes to make the forum look better and work more efficiently (as well as to provide some extra reasons for people to join your forum) but it is another to overload the forum with ten million images of different types that takes hours to load, and so many codes that most people don't even know about half of them.

The key is finding the balance. Personally, I think if your forum takes more than half a minute to load at even the slowest computer connection then you're just losing members.

[Lainey]

I am reading all this and would like to say I thought keeping a neat and imageless forum was a good idea to keep things running smoothly but I have a few people saying I should add graphics and Im just not sure. There saying graphics would bring members in. How to keep it neat & professional and still have images or is no images alright. Just because I dont do images I do still have tons of color schemes to choose from.

[Des]

Sept 27, 2009 12:53:40 GMT -8 Lainey said:

I am reading all this and would like to say I thought keeping a neat and imageless forum was a good idea to keep things running smoothly but I have a few people saying I should add graphics and Im just not sure. There saying graphics would bring members in. How to keep it neat & professional and still have images or is no images alright. Just because I dont do images I do still have tons of color schemes to choose from.

Hi,

I think the important thing here is whether your forum is considered appealing and/or eye-catching by the new guests who see your forum. Neatness and fast-loading times are part of the things that attract new people, but if you have a site on default skin then it doesn't show much effort and may deter new members.

That said, I think your decision is a unique one, and I think it is a good idea. The only thing I would perhaps recommend is to have an eye catching banner, but other than that if you have a lot of good color schemes I don't think you should follow the herd and put images.

[Elicia]

I think that pictures go a long way in a forum. However, if you have a banner for every single Category, and the page is five miles long, well, that just takes away from the RPing. It makes it hard to get from board to board, and there are too many things that catch your eye and distract you.

Color schemes? Oh gosh. That is the hardest thing to nail. One of the text colors aren't right, or the background just isn't light enough, or something like that. It never works out well for me. I don't know why-should I just stop trying, and ask one of my members for help instead?

[fantasmic]

Sept 27, 2009 20:48:56 GMT -8 Elicia said:

I think that pictures go a long way in a forum. However, if you have a banner for every single Category, and the page is five miles long, well, that just takes away from the RPing. It makes it hard to get from board to board, and there are too many things that catch your eye and distract you.

Color schemes? Oh gosh. That is the hardest thing to nail. One of the text colors aren't right, or the background just isn't light enough, or something like that. It never works out well for me. I don't know why-should I just stop trying, and ask one of my members for help instead?

I always use sites like colour-lovers to find color schemes, because those colors kind of work together. Color schemes really aren't that hard, with a bit of practice. Just use a tester site until you're more confident in your ability to improve your board for your members.

Concerning the idea of graphics vs. no graphics, I think it also depends on the kind of site. I've never found much point in many graphics on a discussion board; as long as the colors are readable, and the site is active, don't worry about them so much. But a graphics resource site, or a site like Blank Pages should have graphics. It's what its about; you've got to grab people's attention and keep it.

If you don't want to make your own skin, Ive seen lots of sites where they simply hold a skin-making contest for the members; winning skin makes it onto the site. But again, I think that's not practical for a RPG. You want people to focus on posting, not making graphics.

Another thing I've noticed is, many admins think that graphics make the site. However, that only goes so far. I mean, I'd rather a site with no graphics than graphics that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot. If your site is set in London, why on earth have pictures of Australian beaches and American cities? it baffles me.

[grieves and squick]

I think that anyone who visits a site, especially a new site, that's using the default skin and no codes, and isn't THIS site {which has an excuse, since they CREATED the default} will perceive that that site is being lazy and doesn't really care about how their forum looks. At least create a skin, for starters. Make it look like you put some effort into it. The default is, I think, meant to be a starting point more than anything. In all honesty the default skin is sorta drab. It's meant to be as nonspecific as possible, is why. But most people have a board that's for something more specific, so they should customise it. I think that's a large part of the fun of having a board: dressing it up!

[ily 'TIL THE end]

But should you customize your ProBoard, and if so, just how much customization should you do to it?

People have gotten used to codes and the default images being edited to be distinct and different. So any more these days, it's a necessity for forum administrators/staff to go out of their way to make a forum look good. A lot of times, people who are familiar with ProBoards does not like the default look. They see it enough here, so why would they want to see a forum that is not Support, look like Support? Even if you change up the colors around a bit, they still have to mix well. Using black, orange and white can only go together if you mix them very well. Possible but if you just use the exact colors, you will see a very bland and boring forum. Now, a lot of forums get off the ground not needing a good look because the have content that is good. But a lot of times, anyone that joins that forum doesn't know what ProBoards is.

Any comments, suggestions, questions?

I highly suggest any forum administrator to take the time to make sure their forum looks good, feels good and flows like oil through an engine. Make sure you customize the most obvious images first. The on/off icons and the menu button icons being the ones that are most obvious. Later, you can slowly replace the other images. Even if you just use a pre-made skin to get things going a bit faster, just make sure you are having a good skin that is original made in its place. Or you can just stick with pre-made skins. It never harmed anything to do so, just make sure you pick ones no one really uses but goes along with the idea of your forum. If you're the impatient type, perhaps creating a forum is not the best idea for you right now. Because most of the time, if someone is impatient, they will create a forum and throw things together as fast as possible and go, here, my forum, join. And they really didn't put that much work into it. People can see that and will turned away instantly. For me, if some forums had put more time into caring what others think a bit more, I would have joined but the look turned me away.

[RF44]

I think it really depends on the theme of the forum. If you have a graphics or coding forum, you want a first glance that won't match any other. In order to really grab people because there are so many graphics and coding forums, you need to have something new and fresh that is better than the rest. However, there is a point where there can be too much coding. This isn't the case with most but sometimes administrators seem to find a need to have a code for EVERY little thing you do which slows down loading time and detracts rather than adds onto to the overall appearance. All in all, I think ALL forums need a good mixture of graphics and coding but there is a limit sometimes.

[Former Member]

I think you should customize your forum as best you can, to make it look attractive to people. Coding can't do much harm, just as long as you don't overdo it.