VB3 skin contest

[TECK]

there are alot of good VB skiners here, at vB.com and vB.org.
i personally think it will be a good idea if jelsoft will initiate a contest related to the new VB3 look.

advantages:
- jelsoft will save alot of time.
- several skins available for download in "members area", when the project is completed.

disadvantages:
- access to the jupiter server(?) only to restricted users.
- evaluation by other users is not possible, until the "beta VB3 server" opening.

i personally know i will never be accepted in this kind of project, but i propose it to others, i believe is a good idea.
let me know what you think. thanks.

[Semperfidelis]

Sounds like an absolutely brilliant idea Nakkid
Doing stuff like this would make vb3 even greater than its already going to be.
Hopefully the powers that be will also agree.

[The Prohacker]

Why couldn't they just use vB 2.x and base their skin off of that, and let the developers adapt it to vB 3.x???

[TECK]

Originally posted by The Prohacker
Why couldn't they just use vB 2.x and base their skin off of that, and let the developers adapt it to vB 3.x??? it makes alot of sense on what you say prohacker. however, i believe there are alot of differences in VB3 look compared to the VB2 one.

[Fusion]

Not necessarily. v3 can be made to look exactly like v2, what's the real changes is underneath and that'll always work.

[TECK]

i understand now. thanks.

[XiXora]

many people base their skins on the default style and nothign hardly EVER changes. so basing it on a vb2 skin owuld be bad :p

[CeleronXT]

Is vB3 gonna look all that different though? The change vB1---> vB2 didn't reveal very many large changes....

[bigmattyh]

In vB3, you some of other considerations in planning your board design.

For example, in the threaded view, you will have a single post and a thread branch -- two things that vB2 hasn't seen. Many designers will want to work on the threaded view with the same level of attention that they've given the standard flat view.

[DirectPixel]

...vB3 won't have the *eek* purple color scheme...:D

...I could imagine an aqua vB skin.:D

[TECK]

Originally posted by bigmattyh
In vB3, you some of other considerations in planning your board design.

For example, in the threaded view, you will have a single post and a thread branch -- two things that vB2 hasn't seen. Many designers will want to work on the threaded view with the same level of attention that they've given the standard flat view. good point matt. that's one of the reasons i would like to see this idea comming true.

[bigmattyh]

I think one of the best ways to get real quality infused into the design is to open it up in contest-style. Offer the winners a year's leased license in exchange for their designs. If many people enter, you'll have at least a handful of excellent designs to choose from; if only a few enter, you may get one or two good designs, but you can always refuse to award anyone if no designs meet the standards.

All of this is done at no cash expenditure to Jelsoft. Also, it drums up buzz in the design community; artists love contests. It also creates customers in the process, not only of the people who would be new leased-license-holders, but surely the new designs would attract a new segment of design-conscious customers, who aren't necessarily the same crop of tech geeks (like me and just about 85% of the audience here).

[TECK]

thanks for pointing it out matt.
as a side note, i love to read ur cartoonist forums, specially the love story with the teen guy. great site you have there.

[heretic]

I'm very interested... once I'm done with my current skin I have a few ideas I'd end up publicly releasing, although I wouldn't want anything in return :)

[bigmattyh]

Originally posted by nakkid
thanks for pointing it out matt.
as a side note, i love to read ur cartoonist forums, specially the love story with the teen guy. great site you have there. Thanks, Floren! You'll have to check it out next week, too -- we're about to switch over to a totally new site, which, incidentally, is tightly integrated with vB.

[IDN]

well, vb3 hasnt been released yet, so the skin makers would have to see the current template code, which reveals features and this might no work so well

[JamesUS]

Personally I would wait until vB 3 is available in public beta. By all means start planning your designs whenever you want to, but hold off on putting them into templates until you have seen the vB 3 templates. There have been/will be a lot of major changes to them so it is best to hold on.

It's a great idea though - I would fully support this happening nearer to the release.

[Thomas P]

Originally posted by JamesUS
It's a great idea though - I would fully support this happening nearer to the release.

Great idea, sounds really good.
No hacks, no template mods - just skinning, so that the codebase stays almost untouched.
cu,
-Tom

[DWZ]

I must say, this is a great idea :)

I'm just no good with designing and everything, so this would be great

[heretic]

Originally posted by Thomas P


Great idea, sounds really good.
No hacks, no template mods - just skinning, so that the codebase stays almost untouched.
cu,
-Tom


for a quality skin I'd suggest leaving the option to template mods. the only eception is no hacks should be integrated.

The main problem with relleased skins/styles are hacks the author automatically put in.

but template mods would sometimes be necessary to make a good looking skin.


also, when you download a .style you always get a template with it :)

[Thomas P]

Yes, sounds reasonable.
I just think that jelsoft wouldn't go for this idea, because it'd be hard to support modified skins.

[heretic]

why would jelsoft support them? just create a seperate site like vb.org

maybe vbulletin.net

:D

[TECK]

Originally posted by Thomas P
Yes, sounds reasonable.
I just think that jelsoft wouldn't go for this idea, because it'd be hard to support modified skins. well, since there are involved only template mods (html code changes only) there is no need for support. basically there should be a file like vbblueskin.style and the graphics packaged. VB have already an style importer built in. so you do this: go to members area and download the zip file. extract it to your folders then run the updater. after that, you modify the new style templates the way you want.

[Thomas P]

My point was, if someone use vbblueskin e.g. and has a problem he'll come over here and ask for troubleshooting - while maybe vbblueskin causes that trouble - so why should jelsoft support skins made by others

[DirectPixel]

Then maybe have a site called http://vbskins.com ?:)

[TECK]

sorry thomas, i didnt see your point from the beginning. ya. you are right. well i will have several skins for download from my site that's for sure... is not that much support i see in this needed. is just basic plain html. no code chenges should be involved.

eiSecure, vbskins.com taken... :D

[DirectPixel]

http://www.vbskins.net ?