[Debate] Pre-Made Skins

[stryder420]

Well I just finished my forums site. Took me a while but it's about 99% complete.

After seeing some of the pre-made skins, (which were not all that bad and some very nice), I decided to go the route of making my own. I can say now, even after all the work, it was well worth making my own.

I feel proud of what I have accomplished. I received a good amount of help from proboards support and coding support, which really helped. But I did the work myself. Built it from scrath. If I had used a pre-made skin, I would have missed out on the great feeling of creating my own board.

Others may choose to use the pre-made skins. If I ever have to make another board, I would still choose to create my own.

[Eternity]

kelendria said:

I don't use them myself, I like to make my own.
Quick & easy enough, but does your forum then look like everyone else's?
They do look neat though & if I needed to I would give it a go, but why not use your own imagination?

some people aren't capable of making a skin, or if they are, feel that they cant make something good enough or suitable enough for their forum.

pre-mades are there for those people so that their forums can look nice too

[Xephyr]

Pre-made skins are great! I had to use one before, because I was too scared to adjust things on my site. I thought it would look really bad or text would be too hard to read. So for people that were like me should definitely use a Pre-made skin. I'm able to make skins myself now though, but...yeah.

[racinfan88]

Here is my opinion about premade skins.
First off, I wont say how many times I have thought about using a premade but I didnt. I am just not the type of person who uses premades! : Premades arent ok in my opinion. If you dont have enough time or effort to make a skin, then how to you have time to run a proboard?? Premades are awesome skins created by awesome graphics makers and I dont think they should be used. Though, many times I have thought about just that. But its not decision so let this topic Rest in Peace...

~RacinFan88~

[Bones]

I think it's only good for people who aren't able to do it themselves, if you can and able do, so otherwise it shows a complete lack of originality. But for people who can't i reccomend using a template, though even basic colours can work.

Even if you can't there's something to be said with just playing around with the colours and creating your own look there are lost of people eho can help if you're not sure, a topic here in D:YP a GOAYB thread to get opinions, give it a whirl. Unless you want a really flash looking forum to begin with if you can't make a skin, originality is one of the key factors to a good board, experiment first with basic colours before deciding.

Selection - i also think if you do use one you should select carfully. I've seen about 3 boards now with the very dark green/bright green accent template in GOAYB, and it's getting very old and very over used. It's a nice skin for sure, but getting very old. You know the skin i mean.

Think about what template goes with your forum's theme not ju8st selecting the flashiest, be different, be indivdual, but think about your forum and it's them first over what looks the best.

[Gamoc]

If you are going to use a pre-made skin, see if you can do it first, if you can't, turn to members of your proboard, or ask a friend in life who used to use a proboard.

Yes, too much of the same skin for a board might get boring and convince people that the admin of this forum really doesn't care about how it looks, as long as it looks like everyone elses forum, then they like it.

It is wise to start off with basic colors if it is your first board, that way you can get a feel of what looks nice for a board. Then go into really nice looking stuff.

[lparker]

i think there great to be honest im using one now

[myke]

lparker said:

i think there great to be honest im using one now

Please read the rules before posting.

Thanks.

[Deathnote]

I think Pre-made skins are okay only on three conditions.

• 1. You have no idea for another skin.
  
• 2. You need something to cover your forum until you can put up a good skin.
  
• 3. If you don't care if people dislike your forum cause of the pre-made skin.
  

But Take my Starcraft Forum. It is running on a heavily modified pre-made skin. The only thing that is left intact from the premade skin is the colors/background and the button in the info center. I had heavily modified that skin for my forum cause it fits my setting well. But people shouldn't rely just on pre-made skins.

[Stinky666]

So, what are your thoughts on pre-made skins. Do you recommend them, or not.[/u]

I would definitely recommend them. But only to those who can not design one for themselves. If someone can design a template/skin for themself, then they should. Alot of people have a "thing" against people who use pre-made skins/templates, but i personally have nothing against them, maybe thats just cos i have made a few of my own.

If someone doesnt want to design, or learn to design, and dont own a program, then fair enough. Some people are designers, others are coders, and others are just the general type of people, who will post in the general type of forums/boards etc.

Also, should design and graphics boards use a pre-made skin from another forum?[/u]

NO way! Why should they benefit from someone elses hard work, to get recognition for their own forum? It shouldnt be allowed. If they are a design board, and offer ANY kind of graphics, whether it is skins, tags, or icons, they should find the time to make their own. Yeah, the owner may not be able to design a whole skin for their forum, but then they should have staff that can do some things, or if not, they should learn, just like everyone else who had to who now owns a design board. Now, with that said, you may be thinking "shouldn't that apply to people who dont own a design board?". And my anwswer to that, would be; No. Simply because they havent got the design program. And may nto be able to afford it. Where as with someone who already has a program obviously has planned on designing, and should take the time to learn alot.

~ Hope that all makes some sense, it does to me. I'm just not very good at exressing my words. Sorry if it doesnt make sense. xD

[Joy]

I have seen several and I have wondered How'd they do that? While I have not had time to really learn to do all of that, and my board still looks basic with lots of different little graphics, I would not recommend them unless there is something really different about them. I see so many with the dark colors and I do not think they are that easy to read.

If someone wants a professional look right off the bat, I would say go ahead and start with a premade and use a test board as your learning tool. When you have created one, offer it as a choice option.

Maybe my board is pretty basic, but at least I am trying to learn new things as time permits. It suits my members who all started out learning to copy and paste after they joined my board.

I do not recommend premade for a board that has a purpose to teach newbies new ideas and techniques. I do like seeing responses that shows what they are talking about, with a link, when they respond to a question.

[monbade]

If you know what your doing i can see it, but for someone like me who is totaly lost on it, and that means even using the premade ones. I use most of my time as a writer, so i have very little time to even think on designing one. I know i should, but with my net also so sporatic due to problems on providers ends (they havent found the prob yet and been 6 months we loose connection for about 12 hrs) that i really cant do much. Oh well

Monbade

[Former Member]

Graphics forums should NOT (and I repeat, should NOT) have a pre-made template. That'd be like going to a building without electricity looking for someone to work on your wiring. The only time pre-mades should be used if someone does not have the time/equipment/knowledge to make their own, but most boards are likely to have at least ONE person who can. I don't mind seeing them so much, it doesn't make me think less of the site, but I'll never use them.

Illiteracy is what I don't like to see. Spelling errors everywhere, no punctuation, chatspeak, etc. I'm not ashamed to say that I look down on a site for that.

[WunderBunny]

Pre-Made Skins belong to forums, where content matters more than appearance. Not all owners have coding and design ability. If their purpose is to get the forum up and running, with minimal fuss, a pre-made skin is ideal. If the board covers a niche market and does not have many competitors, the quality of the content, staff and members is more important than its look.

It is inappropriate to look down at another forum just because they use a pre-made skin. Even if they are a graphics forum, they are entitled to use a pre-made if they want to get themselves up and running in a short time. As with any other forum, a new graphics forum needs time to gain experience and skill. Eventually they will have the confidence to develop their own skin and pre-mades for newer fora.

[Christ Love]

I myself don't know how to design a template and I don't even have a clue as to what I would need to do so, so I tend to use premade templates. However, I don't use just one. I take different features from a couple different ones and also customize them to my own preferences so they aren't completely un-original.