Discussion: Forum Makeovers

[📚 Dianne 📚]

blueghost said:

Back on topic. I believe that to us men, skins are like girls. If their pretty you want to see more of the skin. If not, you hardly give them a second look.

Hmmmm, interesting...so you don't stay and see what the content is within a board that is unattractive to you at first glance? You can miss so much good stuff that way.

And you do that with girls?

[HoudiniDerek]

cats57 said:

houdiniderek said:

Now MY question is - would this; the need to keep the board static, be because most my base posters are over 25 and the content of the board deals with a very old fashioned LOL! topic???

I don't know, perhaps if I had a sports board or a RPG board I might feel the need to keep it fresh. After all, there are a lot of boards like those and very few like mine.

I agree that it depends on your membership. On most forums I am on, they might change the banner every couple of years...and that suits us all just fine. We like the look and we are happy with it, so why change it? I think the idea that you HAVE to change all the time is overrated. It always depends on what people want.

I agree with this, and thank you for helping me make my point. So many times I've been a member of long standing with a board...gone away for a couple of weeks and the next time I go to it, I wonder if I'm at the right place, because they've changed the whole board!

That can make it tough on members, especially if they see no need for the change or if they think it makes the forum worse. About the only thing my one forum changes (I am not staff just a member) is the banner...and on April Fool's Day there are drastic changes for fun.

I get the idea that offering up a choice of skins to posters is a good idea, but what about changes to the board itself? For a while when mine was new, I had to make a lot of changes and it confused many of the posters. Luckily, they stuck with me and actually helped me make many of the changes, so they really feel as if they are part of the "team". Now I feel, as they do, that the board is comfortable, kind of like a favorite pair of shoes.

I am not sure skins are necessary...but if they have input...and if it works, I think using it is great...as long as it is something the majority of active members see as useful. After all, you don't change the lacings on your favorite pair of shoes all the time do you?

I suppose many of the posters, are correct in the idea that some changes are needed, like adding chat, shout boxes or like I'm doing now and setting up through an affiliate, a store that links with my site.
But to change the entire board after only a year would seem (to me) as if you just can't land the 'good idea'.

I don't think those are NECESSARY at all. To me, those are makeovers that hurt forums...of course, it depends on the forum. I think changes that can be made are skins, banners, etc...no need for much more if you have an active member base around the content!

[BlueGhost]

cats57 said:

blueghost said:

Back on topic. I believe that to us men, skins are like girls. If their pretty you want to see more of the skin. If not, you hardly give them a second look.

Hmmmm, interesting...so you don't stay and see what the content is within a board that is unattractive to you at first glance? You can miss so much good stuff that way.

And you do that with girls?

What can I say, its an instict as a guy to like girls.

[angelicgirl]

I think change is a good thing. I have many skins for my members to choose from. I've been trying to come up with a new default skin for my HP forum, but so far I haven't been able to make anything that is near as good as what I have now. I try and come up with new plots for the RPG, or new ideas to keep members interested.

Like for example, I didn't change the skin recently, but I did change the layout, made it more organized and took out things that weren't being used or weren't needed. My members said it made them feel refreshed and organized, and so I always try and do things like that on occassion.

I have been on forums before when nothing was changed, and I left because I got bored. -_- So, I think change is definitely a good thing, you just have to find the right balance, because changing it too often can leave members feeling a little confused, or so I have experienced previously.

[Quaalude]

I say leave things as they are as long as you can , take note of what others say , make the necessary changes as needed . Why Ruin a Good Thing . QC

[Gamoc]

Oct 15, 2007 17:10:17 GMT -8 Quaalude said:

I say leave things as they are as long as you can , take note of what others say , make the necessary changes as needed . Why Ruin a Good Thing . QC

I know that your post is short, and that I shouldn't reply to it, but...

No one said you had to get rid of it. There is a code for Dif. Headers/Footers for dif. skins in the SoCal code database that was you can keep it up and put up a new skin that could possibly be liked even more by the members. People are so afraid of change that they lose potentially bored members because the members have a problem with something that the admin doesn't want to change it, fearing that it will make it worse. Although it could ruin a good thing, if you did an adequate change, the members might like it just as much, and if they don't, they can always go back to the old skin.

[Sanguinarius]

I admit it....in my forum we are skin crazy. I make a new skin with new gradients and buttons frequently. I have a great staff that allow me the time it takes to make new skins and graphics. Mine are all pretty simple with simple coding icluded. I do take the time to constantly take out the trash and do some house keeping. Categories are cleaned up and organized based on how we grow and what the needs are of collectors. I do find that the overall membership is grateful for the time and effort we put into the "make overs" of organization and skins. Good coding alows them to customize options, in their profiles, for themselves as well.

All of these things allow for growth and add interest to a forum.

[sarveshlodha13]

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[rosebud]

I've seen make-overs change when the season does where the colors or the theme of the graphics of the board tend to match the season. I think that's a good time in between to changing theme's.

I also personally like the feature where I am able to choose my own theme as many time as I want.

All in all, I think the make-over should be based on how well your layout is and the theme of your board.

If you're forum isn't active, the problem could be the skin. That might not be the problem, but it could be one of them if new members aren't coming to your board. Then I'd recommend changing it.

[Vicky]

Change is always good. It keeps the interest in the proboard, and I think after a while having the same old layout can get dull and boring. Often if my proboards die, I think about changing the name or starting afresh, and then I think it's nice to have a change because the returning members are more likely to stay about this time rather than leave if they see something different that interests them more than the previous design.

The thing is although change is important and good, it shouldn't happen too often. If it happens too often people won't remember the forum, or find it a comfortable place to use since it's not letting them get used to one idea. A gradual and possibly annual change would be the best thing because it helps people get used to the first idea and skin, and then they can help to input the change you're making to it.

[Princexx]

I feel that change is good. But only in small, gradual changes. I mean, if you do too much at the same time, then people might be shocked and not like the changes that you've made, then they won't come back. I feel that you should get at least a few layouts done every few months, or weeks. However often you feel that you should, but it doesn't make good for the site to do it more than a few times a week, otherwise the new layouts won't be used as much, and they will just be wasted.

[lukeyboy94]

yeah i think its a good idea i especially like the way they are made for special occasions that is cool!

[Matt [Malfoy250]]

Aug 3, 2007 4:36:00 GMT -8 Enchant said:

Do you think it is necessary to occassionally give your forum a makeover? Do you think it is necessary to do so, when you have multiple skins? I have seen changes from colors, designs, content to going so far as a name change.

In my opinion, change is good. Many times I have seen a forum die out, because the admin felt that nothing needed to be changed or that having multiple skins for its members was sufficient. The common thought of " if it isn't broke, don't fix it" seems to be a reason not to as well. I think on occassion, this might be true, however....I think that a forum can get dull and uninteresting if it never has nothing new to offer.

I often change my layout, at least once a year...the main reason is, at first it is original, but after awhile, other forums start looking like it. I like to have my forum unique....What are your thoughts?

Change is definently good every once and a while. Infact I just updated my main skin on Thursday night to make it fit more with the current plot. I personally like skins that reflect apon what the forum's plot is, because it gives a feel that you care enough about the appearence about your forum to give it a theme and abide by it.

[VanillaOrchids]

I like to change up the look of my forum from time to time. Over the summer I did a complete re-design ... even though I had 10 skins to choose from. Now I just have the one but hopefully will be able to add others, provided the coding allows me to. LOL

I just felt that it needed a change and because I thought that my old designs weren't so nice anymore. Plus, I feel I've gotten better with creating board designs so I wanted to see what I could do differently, do better. I also thought that maybe a fresh new design, some new boards and an over-all clean up would help to bring previously active members back to the board. However, I was wrong about that. I can't deny it .... MySpace wins. LOL (Some of my most active members have become addicted to MySpace and I rarely see them on the board anymore.)

[beev666]

how do i change the main name on my forums