Please explain "MODERATED" content

If the particular OS is XP, then it could be due to volume. As more and more XP wallpapers get submitted, the moderators get more and more picky so as not to flood the category with them. So a crappy one could get in at the beginning, but a decent one may get moderated out after a while.

Thanks for the explanation. Well, it was an XP wallpaper ) It's a bummer though that I couldn't share it with the rest. I guess I can try to post it on another wallpaper site then.

You're absolutely right TurdFerg. That has happened with XP related walls and skins. Moderation also involves making subjective judgements as to the quality of the work, the usefullness as a desktop wallpaper, the design, color scheme, etc. Also there are objective criteria like how well executed the artwork is, is it your own work or just a cut and paste with some filters, etc. etc.

It's not easy making the decision to reject a person's work and we all take this responsibility very seriously. Often times a piece will sit in the queue and be evaluated by all of the moderators before a decision is made. I would urge wallpaper artists to try to live with their piece for a while on their own desktop before submitting it. We get a lot of submissions that have a description like "I just made this in 2 minutes, whatya think?" Another very common problem is people sending a thumbnail for a preview which is automatic rejection (though we always send an email explaining the problem). Look through the collection for some clues as to what does get accepted, and spend some time working on your artwork. Try working in larger resolutions than 1024x768 and include a few resolutions in your zip file.

If you get an email saying your piece was rejected and the only reason given is "Moderated" don't think your carreer as an artist is over. Try again with your next piece or rework the original. Although I'm willing to discuss the reason a piece was moderated with anyone It's impossible in most cases to reply with a lot of specific information as to why the piece was rejected. There are so many submissions that when you get the question sometimes you can't remember the specific piece being reffered to well enough to be fair about it. But we try to be fair and helpful whenever we can.

In your case R. Ess - I don't think I saw your piece so I can't say why it didn't get in.

Robert...
Perhaps the main point to note is that Wincustomize.com is not 'another wallpaper' site, it is a skin site, accompanied with some wallpapers. The idea of 'moderation' is to keep control of the size of the wallpaper section so that it doesn't swamp the other sections.
Many sites are now including some degree of control over walls as they are inundated with them.
Eg, Customize.org is flooded with wallpapers and not a heck of a lot else of late...

As a matter of fact customize has been so flooded with walls lately, that people start to resent them.

Man, sounds like we need a site dedicated exclusively to wallpapers )(jk - I'm aware of bandwidth and storage costs) With 900+ pieces it is only second to WindowBlinds skins in volume. I can see where a "skins" site could quickly loose it's focal point by becoming a wallpaper-centric site, at least dues to volume. So I guess this is where you - the moderators - come in to make sure that this does not happen.
(suggestion: maybe post some friendly greeting message asking people to slow down with the wallpapers?)

As far as the artwork I've submitted, well, I did study to see what was most popular as far as wallpapers go, how many downloads it received, and what the concepts behind it were. This is how I figured that there must be a relatively large demand for XP-type content.
I didn't want to copy someone else's ideas, but it gave me an inspiration to challenge my skills with newer tools. And yes, it did take more than 2 minutes to make
So, not all is a loss. It was a good experience and I've learned something new.

Robert...the problem we have at the moment is that anything....that's ANYTHING at all with 'XP' in its title will be downloaded in massive numbers by the general populace who are convinced that if they just have the letters 'XP' on their desktop somewhere they will not need to buy the OS, and will already look '1337' and up-to-date like their peers [who have done the same thing anyway].
Try uploading a wall called 'eXasPeration'....cos that's how we feel at the moment...

Oh man, Jafo, I feel bad for you guys. Well, hopefully it will calm down soon enough...until Redmond releases another OS )