Severe lack of modern & clean premium themes for vBulletin?

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  • Computer Guru
    Member
    • Nov 2005
    • 95
    • 3.6.x

    [vB4] Severe lack of modern & clean premium themes for vBulletin?

    Hi,

    I recently purchased vB 4.0 and I'm rather disappointed in that I haven't been able to find premium vB themes that don't like they come from the 90s and are made with teenagers in mind.

    I'm astonished at how many Web 2.0 styled premium themes I can find for WordPress and IPB, but I cannot locate any makers of such themes for vB 4?

    If anyone knows companies that make premium vB themes that are
    * Modern/fresh with straight lines
    * Good usage of whitespace
    * Clean, refreshing colors
    * MINIMILASTIC PLEASE!
    * Very professional looking, no wild colors and images
    * etc.

    Basically, I'm looking for designs along the likes of the bbPress styles here: http://www.pagelines.com/themes/ and other clean themes elsewhere, it'd be much appreciated.

    I apologize if this post is in the wrong forum.

    Thanks!
    NeoSmart Technologies
    http://neosmart.net/forums/
  • setishock
    Senior Member
    • Jun 2005
    • 1334
    • 4.2.x

    #2
    www.vbulletin.org
    Click on the Styles tab.
    ...

    Comment

    • Alfa1
      Senior Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 4165
      • 3.8.x

      #3
      I think this may change after the stylevar overhaul. There are too many problems with it now. But the upcoming release vb4.1 should address this.
      I buy 420 forums

      Comment

      • Computer Guru
        Member
        • Nov 2005
        • 95
        • 3.6.x

        #4
        @setishock: I've been there and I've seen (many but definitely not all) of the themes there. Unfortunately, the themes that I've seen featured there are extremely tacky, and (no offense intended should anyone here have posted any of those themes), done without any thought given to color coherence, usability, aesthetics, contrast study, etc. They're "theme based" and made by people that are primarily vB hackers, not designers.

        @Alfa1: I look forward to 4.1 then. Second time today it's been recommended to fix a particular or the other with vB.
        NeoSmart Technologies
        http://neosmart.net/forums/

        Comment

        • DaPro
          Member
          • Dec 2003
          • 78

          #5
          It's sad, but being a web designer I have no desire to put any effort into creating good looking custom styles for vBulletin with it's current setup. The Stylevar is a joke and unless this overhaul is ground-breaking I don't expect to see much in terms of "innovative" vBulletin design work. IPB is looking great in terms of visuals, but it's lack of plugins is not something I want to deal with persay. Also, the hook system with vBulletin is top-notch, a step below WordPress. I really do hope vBulletin takes a lot of this into account with their next milestone release. Otherwise vBulletin will have nothing going for it accept decent functionality and plugins.
          SwiftModders - Professional Web Design Services
          I am sorry, but I no longer support vBulletin Integrations :(

          Comment

          • djnoz
            Senior Member
            • May 2003
            • 206

            #6
            With vB3 you had a lot more control over things because the CSS was minimal and not overly complicated. It used a single CSS file 5 kB in size which is easy to modify.

            vB4 has ~400 kB of CSS which means if you want decent results you have to put a disproportionately higher amount of work in.
            Matt
            Avatar Generator - The ultimate avatar and banner generation tool. It's a Google Image search mashup.
            Christian Gaming - A forum for Christians who like video games.

            Comment

            • EPCZ_Jack
              Member
              • Jul 2010
              • 56

              #7
              It requires work but can and will be done. Many are waiting for the 4.1 update, what on earth is the point in putting loads of effort into a theme that will have to basically rebuilt for vbulletin 4.1?

              If the 4.1 update fixes all the style issues and does as IB has promised then I would expect alot more themes to hit the market that actually change something other than the shade of blue. (not an attack on all styles, I released my own there and a massive credit to those who do release original work, but there are some others...)
              Also known as Jack12 on vbulletin.org

              Comment

              • Zachery
                Former vBulletin Support
                • Jul 2002
                • 59097

                #8
                Originally posted by djnoz
                With vB3 you had a lot more control over things because the CSS was minimal and not overly complicated. It used a single CSS file 5 kB in size which is easy to modify.

                vB4 has ~400 kB of CSS which means if you want decent results you have to put a disproportionately higher amount of work in.
                You just did more work in the templates.

                Comment

                • PureVB.com
                  New Member
                  • Sep 2010
                  • 4

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Zachery
                  You just did more work in the templates.
                  100% accurate, I have coded hundreds of skins for 3.x series and a few dozen now for vb4.. and always though what a pain it is BUT, your totally right, with vb3 it was more template edits, where as vb4 it is more CSS edits. The only reason I say vb3 styling better is because i cheated with template edits and had a skeleton file

                  VB Please don't shoot me, if I am out of place please remove this but Computer Guru we are new but please check us out as we feel we have a totally different style then most of the other skins out there and might be what your looking for.
                  Pure vBulletin
                  Adam - Follow PureVB on Twitter

                  Comment

                  • Zachery
                    Former vBulletin Support
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 59097

                    #10
                    Originally posted by PureVB.com
                    100% accurate, I have coded hundreds of skins for 3.x series and a few dozen now for vb4.. and always though what a pain it is BUT, your totally right, with vb3 it was more template edits, where as vb4 it is more CSS edits. The only reason I say vb3 styling better is because i cheated with template edits and had a skeleton file
                    Relearning takes time, though there are also issues with the new system.

                    Comment

                    • GTAce
                      Senior Member
                      • Sep 2005
                      • 172

                      #11
                      I have tons of experience skinning with vB and other forum software as well...vB3 was not bad. vB4 I won't touch with a ten foot pole, and no, it's not because it's mostly CSS edits. IPB 3 is mostly CSS edits, but it is a breeze to skin.

                      Anywho, as already mentioned in this thread, vB4.1 may solve a lot of issues that the vB4 styling engine has...and if it does, we will hopefully start to see more professionally done vB4 skins.
                      vB Skins. Superior Support.
                      Follow us @ForumFlux

                      Comment

                      • napy8gen
                        Senior Member
                        • Jul 2001
                        • 525
                        • 6.X

                        #12
                        I think the thread starter ask about where to get clean style. Maybe you can check mine. link at the footer
                        Get Our vbulletin 6 themes

                        Comment

                        • Computer Guru
                          Member
                          • Nov 2005
                          • 95
                          • 3.6.x

                          #13
                          I was hoping that now that 4.1 has been (long) released, the status of premium vB themes would have changed, but I was disappointed to find the same lack of high-quality, professional themes available.

                          I keep finding the same game/theme oriented designs, tacky looks, and generally unprofessional themes. Even worse is that none of the top-notch designers I've contacted will do custom theme work for vB 4. :x
                          NeoSmart Technologies
                          http://neosmart.net/forums/

                          Comment

                          • cpatel529
                            New Member
                            • Sep 2011
                            • 7
                            • 4.1.x

                            #14
                            This thread hasnt had any updates in a while but I am having the same problem. Anyone found any good solutions? I love how Wordpress has modern 2.0 themes but everything for VB looks outdated.

                            Im looking for a CMS theme and a forum theme that has Wordpress Look and feel (modern social media buttons, multiples columns/rows homepage layout, changing text on home page via select buttons, etc).

                            Chirag
                            Last edited by cpatel529; Wed 5 Oct '11, 2:52pm.

                            Comment

                            • cyburbia
                              Senior Member
                              • Aug 2001
                              • 441
                              • 3.7.x

                              #15
                              cpatel, I have to agree. In a couple of weeks, I'll be updating my site from 3.8 to 4.1.7, with the CMS. I've been tempted to switch the site over to IPB, though because it seems like it even its stock template is much slicker than any of the custom templates I've seen from VB.

                              I desperately have to update the front page of my site, and if the best I can do given the constraints of vBulletin is something with the appearance of a early 2000s Nuke-based CMS, I might have to reluctantly give up vB.
                              Last edited by cyburbia; Sat 8 Oct '11, 9:11pm.
                              Cyburbia Forums - a third place for urban planners
                              http://www.cyburbia.org/forums

                              Comment

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