I agree

Medium skins. It keeps both parties unhappy. :)

Light skins for me. More chances for it to look better. :p

Seems to be a trend to me. Long time ago dark styles were the thing you saw on just about every forum. Over time they got lighter and lighter until most forums sported a light style and darker ones became more rare.

I like Dark styles, they are easier on my eyes. But I'll be the first to admit that lighter styles do 'look' better for the most part.

Well my forums in a dark skin at the mo, but it was equally as popular in a light skin, i think it totally depends on the content of your forum and your members opinions....

Well I am running a site dedicated to all the Metal Gear series so which type of skin do I have to use? I think it has to be a dark one but I'm not quite sure.

I prefer dark skins personally...but usually use light skins for more professional sites and dark skins for personal or hobby sites.

While I agree some forums, like gaming ones that are most likely used by nerds or computer centered people, forums that are used by the less than computer literate are better with lighter colors.

Hobby sites? Gimme an example...

lighter colors are by far more successful ... this is because light colors tend to put you in a better mood ... also, light colors reflect light for better vision (details) while dark colors absorb light (think of a black hole)

Light Colors:

• reflect light
• makes everything appear bigger

Dark Colors:

• absorb light
• makes everything appear smaller

(something like that)

there are times when a dark color is the better option...
for example, I did an ecommerce site for a client in black to showcase their military shields (brass/gold) ... another example, is showcasing jewelry on a black background