[Debate] Pre-Made Skins

[NS]

I think they are good for those who want a quick template, but I tried to use one and it was hard! I didn't even finish doing it, I just deleted the site. You have to upload everything to photobucket which took FOREVER - *sigh*

But I don't think it is truly that hard to make your site look nice in terms of skins. If you come here, just have a couple graphics made, put em up, get a couple codes, and WA-BAM! But that requires a lot more work than a premade skin does, but it just shows you how much the person is willingly to go for their forum.

[Gamoc]

I can definetely see how premade skins would be a good thing and a bad thing.

The pros of a Pre-made skin

Many people do not care about graphics or coding, they just want to have a forum that people will like. Since they don't really care about this, Premade skins would really help them to get one that looks nice. It can also be useful, since, like myke said before that they do help people who are trying to learn or people who don't have the time to make a skin.

The cons of Pre-made skins

Pre-made skins can sometimes draw away guests, especially when they have seen the particular skin that you are using many times before. I really would not want to be a member of a forum that has the same skin that I have seen on hundreds of boards before. I think that people need to try to make thier own skin if they can, or even get help on making a skin that is unique to their board.

There are ups and downs to pre-made skins. I really would never recommend using them.

[Mara]

A lot of this is really helpful, as lately I have been considering the possibility of a premade.

However, besides the fact of looking alike (which for some reason I never thought of before) I also feel that sometimes people are trying to put forth a false positive, i.e. making their board look better than it already is.

Also, I feel, in my own opinion for my own use, that I'd lose any of the cool creative things that I love about my board. I've worked very hard on it to get the colors I like.
So if I used something premade, I would never get back to what I originally wanted.

It's not worth sacrificing hard work just because someone may be lazy or wants their board to look professional or clean-cut. Sometimes, I just don't like the premade templates if they don't have an outside purpose (like for design boards).

[Miss Adventure]

I can agree that when someone works hard to create their own site's atmosphere it will show through. Doesn't matter the level of graphics. And in my browsing there have been times I've noticed it's not so much the look as it is the content.

My own site pulls in a lot of traffic because of our help topic section.

I've seen many pre-made templates and have tried them myself when I first started out, and I couldn't stand that the graphics were so common but I did appreciate the already coded aspect of them, because they DID help me learn alot of html and java scripts.

I think that if someone is creative enough they could use the template as a base and then go on from there, provided that the copyright allows for such a thing as modifying the look and adding to it.

Though now I really don't use a template and do prefer to make my own.

[smexie]

Me and a friend of mine have recently started a forum, and we hated that our board looked so bland, even though we had experimented with colours and things, so we surfed around and borrowed a template from a site (after asking pemmision and everything) and I think its fine. Obviously we would love to eventually upload a skin we have made, but what with us doing our exams, jobs, social life and various other things (not to mention we are incredablly inept when it comes to coding and things! ) we won't get around to it any time soon.

Yes, using a pre-made template takes some originality from the board, but members don't sign up because they like the boards skin, they sign up for content and quality.

[No]

I'm forced to use a pre-made, due to the fact that I, nor none of my mods have the skill or time to make a skin.

I don't have the skill, nor time, and my Co-Owner has skill, yet not enough so to make icons that would go well with it.

So we bit the bullet, and went with a nice pre-made skin, that I doubt is over-used (I've yet to see it used).

I think if at all possibal, you should make your own, though. I do not think that a forum looses any sense of "originality" due to it, though. I've seen many forums with wonderful skins, made by the owner of the forum, but the forums are still boring.

It's how a forum's run to me! But I'm getting off topic.

[BluAngel]

I have recently made my own skin. I found different coding that I felt would benefit my board, and actually ended up removing one code I thought I wanted. (The Split catagory one, the skin I made looked better with the catagories not being split.) It does take time and effort to make it... I don't have the skills yet to make the folders or UBCC buttons for it, so have had to resort to using premade one's that are available at different places with permission to use.

I have used premade's in the past, when I knew NOTHING about how to make a skin or how to add codes. I've learned from looking at so many, saving them to my pc and really seeing how different one's are made and then deciding to try my hand at it. It's taken me a long time to make one, rather really, two skins I'm proud of. One is extremely basic and the other took a little more work. It's worth it to try though. You can be proud of yourself for actually trying it, even if it doesn't work out. It took a lot of hit and misses, until I came up with two I am proud of.

[xoxKakiesxox]

do i think this is a good idea? well, of course. some admins maybe really dont have creativity (well, you know what i mean) and they dont want to create their own skins. pre-made skins would be great for people who are new to the proboards and who are not able to make their own skins.

i dont think its a so hot idea either. well, first of all, pre-made skins would take out the creativity that a custom made skin would give you.

---xoxkakiesxox

[†Mason Fett†]

I wouldn't recommend pre-made layouts at all. They just don't seem as good as if you make a custom normal skin. On a few sites that i'm on that have layouts, certain other codes are eliminated due to the skin (I'm guessing).

[ExPresident]

for someone who has no formal training in graphics like me, pre-made skins are really helpful. and I would really appreciate someone helping me do some magic in our boards. i even asked one my moderators to modify the look of our proboard to look like something that will, at least, jive with our hobby which is airsoft. i like something "military look". so if someone out there who is great in designing 'military style' i would really apprciate the help hehehehe.

[Kami]

So, what are your thoughts on pre-made skins. Do you recommend them, or not.
No, I don't. Often times, pre-mades don't fit any particular theme, and so gives no originality to the board. Also, more than one site could have the same premade, and thus the boards would have no outwardly distinguishing features. What I do recommend is looking at some premades to get ideas, or to learn how to make your own.

Also, should design and graphics boards use a pre-made skin from another forum?
No way. If you're a Design and Graphics board, why would you need to use a premade from elsewhere? Why don't you make it yourself -- after all, that's what your board does, right? I just think that G&D boards that use other forums' premades probably isn't all that good at what they do.

[webmastermarty]

I think pre-made are great. If somebody can't code, and have NO idea at all of how a layout is constructed or barely what one is (haha) then i think they should be able to get a pre-made one to help them out. If not, they'll just ending turning it into a deadly looker!

[Persephone]

I've never asked if I could use someone else's graphics, if I end up using them its usually because I've found them on photobucket. f someone ever wanted to use my graphics, I would say, ya okay whatevs.

Pre-mades are good for those who have no clue what thier doing.

[oceansprings01]

I have been an admin for a while now, and I am still learning how to make my site better and how rewarding it can be. I do not have photoshop or anything of the sort so I have to resort to using a premade skin. I never really realized how many people were against it. What's an admin to do if they are not skilled in skin design? I tried making my own skins before and they worked, but they were nothing compared to the competition sites. I'd gladly make my own skins if I could get some instruction, but for now I am going to say that premade's aren't that bad.

There's thousands and thousands of premade skins to choose from, so that still allows a wide range of flexibility and imagination. Picking the right skin can make or break you, and let's face it, nobody wants that basic 'default' design all the proboard site's come equipped with. If an admin chooses the right skin, it shows how much they care for their site, and how much their willing to do to make it look nice. Plus, if you can figure it out, modifying premade skins is a good option, as long as you still keep the makers credit intact.

Frankly, I do not see the harm in having a premade skin if you, like myself, do not have the talent or programs necessary to make a skin of your own. Sure, coming here and requesting help can be very productive, but it does not always work. We have to have some kind of backup to make our forums the way we want them. After all, isn't it every admin's goal to have a booming, ACTIVE website? That's my opinion on this matter.

[Skybird14]

Pre-Made Skins are a good way to get your board started off but it's always better to either learn how to make your own skins or get another member on your forum to design one. That way everything is tailored to suit your site.

I've never used a pre-made skins and in the early days of my first forum it was just a banner and a colour scheme but I'd put it together myself and I was proud of that. I don't make my own rank images but using a rank image set isn't the same as using a whole skin.