I don't want to push any ideas I have, but the HotList thread has an odd name which does not cover its contents and does not attract very much attention from the established skinners. However, new skinners seem to be pleased with it. I would therefore like to give it another go and concentrate on ideas mentioned in that thread.

There is a rumor that the idea of the Experimental section (explained below) has been brought under the attention of the admins. It would be nice if we can find some skinners that really want this and show their support here. That would make it easier to sell it to the admins.

The number of visitors keeps growing and this site has been improved a lot. However, it looks to me that skinners do not have an efficient way to communicate here.

The proposal that I have is fairly simple. I would like to see a so called "Experimental section". That section looks much like the "ScreenShots section". It would feature the following:
- It has a screen shot.
- It has a comments section.
- It is intended for all WC supported apps and wallpapers.
- A skin or wallpaper can only be uploaded by using a ZIP file.
- There is no download count.
- There are no ratings.
- There is a limit of 3 monts or so to keep it on the site.

The idea is also mentioned in the HotList thread which you can find at this https://www.wincustomize.com/msgboard.asp?id=142898&BID=WC&page=1#toppage

Skins in the spotlight do have a high download count, a high rating or are a Featured Skin. That _may_ give the idea that skinning is all about some kind of competition. The old school started skinning just for the fun of it, they loved to experiment and push the limits. Skinz.org may have been an important milestone, but I do remember Stardock's news groups to be full of people doing just that. A skin usually wasn't created in private. Instead people would upload a beta of the skin to binaries and people would comment about its color, the fonts used, the shape of the images, the look and feel, how to use the lastest WB techniques to the max or whatever.

Recently I noticed a shift towards support on the news groups. People are using it to get help about a specific product. I am glad to see that people are still willing to beta test Stardock's software, though. But it looks like the skinners are moving out.

I think it is natural that both the news groups and the WC site are moving more towards end users of skins and its software. Afterall there are more end users than skinners. The experimental section may be a location for skinners to learn and experiment gain.

People now test and experiment with skins on a much smaller scale. Examples: I will mail Transmutate to ask what he thinks of a wall that I have made or send my WB skin to the GreenReaper to test it, or Phil sends me his latest DesktopX creation. That is all very well and I love that people are willing to help eachother in this way. The only additional input one has is after releasing the skin. That leaves hardly room for new skinners. They do not have these contacts yet.

Times have changed and we cannot get that feeling back, but we have this fantastic site here that may allow us to get some of the advantages of the old school skinning (whatever that may be) back.

Sometime ago virophile and me were talking about that. We came up with the following idea: Create an extra category in the Library called "Experimental". It is designed for established skinners to experiment new techniques or test their betas and to help new skinners to create skins. That section is not related to a specific app, but it is limited to the apps supported on this site. In this section there should be NO download count, NO rating, but there should be a preview, the skin should be downloadable (no automatic installation is required, they will be ZIP files) and people should be able to post comments. The section should be open to site members and Stardock customers.

The "no download count" and "no rating" requirements are very important because we are not competing at this level. The "no guests" requierement is important because comments of the casual visitor is not what we are after and it may help preserve bandwidth. It would be fun to see how this would work. Maybe we can get some real interaction back. The message board is fun, but often is not about skinning at all. The Experimental section may bring that back.

The site works fine if you want to download the latest and greatest skins. The current lists help them to make a choise. Downloaders can sort the skins anyway they want. Nothing wrong with that. I feel this should go on like that.

Users can get help if they post their question on the message board. KarmaGirl and a lot of others make sure those questions are answered. Nothing wrong with that either.

The message board is also being used for entertainment and to socialize. That's OK with me too.

Skinners can upload their skins and frankly that is all they can do on this site. Now this worries me. Like I said before times have changed and so are the ways skinners work. You cannot change how they work, but you can help them in their creative process. The Experimental section and the HotList would just be an aid. Nothing more, nothing less.

Some skinners feel that they should be number one (and of course it is great if your skins are rewarded by high download counts and ratings), but not all skinners feel that way. A lot of skinners skin because they love to do it. Some others see it as an art form. Every skinner may have his or her own reason why to skin.

It is hard to get even attention for this thread, because skinners are a minority. Lately we have seen posts about hijacking the topic in threads. I would go a step further. I feel that lately the message board is completely hijacked by nonsense, politics and religion. Interesting and fun subjects (that should be there to stay), but they have nothing to do with skinning. It will drive skinners away from sites like these.

I am just trying to find ways to help skinners in their work they enjoy and the skins they give us for free.

If you think about it then it is an investment to new great and creative skins in the future.

/me hopes that it will get back some of the "community" feeling too