vB Styles? More like Plains

[Pickalo]

And now they don't. What happened? I'm not exactly sure. When did it happen? Some time around the creation of vb 3.0. When http://www.ravio.com dissapeared they really started going down the drain. You take a look at the crap inside the graphics forum these days? They should be called plains, not styles because they aint got no style! I've seen a few decent styles over at transversestyles, and even some at vbskins, but the rest of the sites I've seen are a joke. Anyone remember vbPanel? They had some skill. Anyone who is designing for 3.x, do me a favor and go to vbulletin.com and download vb 2.3.x, get yourself a bundle of skins, and figure out why yours don't compare.

/end of rant, sorry.

[TheMusicMan]

OK, so if the styles are so bad why don't you get off your butt and design your own...?

Not the most tactful of posters are we...

[smacklan]

You should look a little harder, I think, as there are many sites out there doing work as nice or better than the examples you give. My understanding was that ravio disappeared because the owners were not doing things on the up and up O_o

[Pickalo]

Aye, I would have included vbCore as well but most of those styles are custom. I asked for a quote not so long ago but there has been no response. I would design my own skin but I simply don't have enough time on my hands right now.

[Forum-Style]

Theres loads of sites around, just need to check, but if you like style then look no further :P, hit the sig. And if you like to see vB editted in every way just wait a few weeks and see what the next style comes out as.

[Bubble #5]

Originally Posted by Pickalo

You take a look at the crap inside the graphics forum these days? They should be called plains, not styles because they aint got no style!

I couldn't agree more! I do know of a new site opening up that will be doing everything very much differently, and when I hear more I'll send you a link :bunny:

MusicMan, everyone has a right to voice their opinion. Just because Pickalo voiced theirs does not mean that they're 'lazy'. Maybe they just have higher standards. Have a great day

[SmashinYoungMan]

I simply wish more people would make an effort to create their own skins. I'd rather see an original sucky skin than slight variations on the same super slick one a million forums over.

[TheMusicMan]

@Bubble #5: Of course he does, most certainly. I more than many, respect that right of opinion, please believe me. I simply consider the manner in which his opinion was expressed could have been better articulated.

I'm sure doing that would have gained a more positive response from some of the designers around these parts. Posting in the manner he did I am sure will quite possibly make them think otherwise.

If a request for designers to release 'better' styles was the objective of the post, then surely a pragmatic and politely worded post would have opened the doors for a more positive response from any of the many designers out there in dot org land reading it.

[Bubble #5]

Originally Posted by TheMusicMan

I simply consider the manner in which his opinion was expressed could have been better articulated.

Point taken, but the same could also be said about most (or at least a lot) of posts on the net these days.

Posting in the manner he did I am sure will quite possibly make them think otherwise.

Probably, but then that would be their loss of an opportunity, not his

surely a pragmatic and politely worded post would have opened the doors for a more positive response from any of the many designers out there in dot org land reading it.

You would think, but this has to be at least the 14th or 15th time that I've seen someone complain about boring, dull, run of the mill skins on the net within the last couple of years, and no one has yet picked up the anvil and siezed the moment. There's lots of people who know how to use Photshop these days, so that's not the issue. The problem appears to be that they're all stuck in the mud doing the *yawn* "same old - same-old". As mentioned above there will be some major breakthroughs in this area, but not from anyone currently making skins. Perhaps it's about time for some fresh innovative thinking to open up the doors and to show what's really possible in this area. I can't wait :bunny:

[TheMusicMan]

You know... I totally agree with you. I too am after a fresh new approach to the way my main site ir percieved, and the way I am attemptig to accomploish this is to have already started working with an experienced - though non-vb - coder.

I don't want my site to look as though it is based around a forum (vB) - and even though many attempts have been made by several coders to produce Drupal and Mambo gateways etc, these don't fully do the job I require.

So, the designer/coder is looking in detail at my design and user requirements, and will then design a new fresh style/layout for this, only then will she code it for vB.

Hopefully the result will be a front page that doesn't look too much like the site is based around a forum. We'll see...