Rather than clutter the sticky thread, it seems sensible to have a discussion about the issue separately...the sticky thread will be better to refer people to if it's kept as "pristine" as possible.
I'd like to offer some observations as someone who's been coming here for years to grab the odd skin, and since Christmas trying to contribute.
My first efforts to upload anything here were wallpapers, and were rejected. Quite rightly in hindsight. The
process though was confusing.
Most other sites will take any ol' junk (they took some of mine!
).
This place is different though, and that means rejection is likely - especially as people learn what sort of thing is acceptable and what makes them of a good enough standard.
I've had many years experience of submitting things to various sites, and so when the "awaiting approval" wallpapers just vanished, I could guess what had happened and went hunting through the small print and forums to confirm my suspicions.
The point is that I hadn't realised what the process would be
in advance, and I could easily have been confused enough to look for a forum to ask "has my wallpaper been rejected, and if so, why?"
This wouldn't have been prompted by arrogance, but by ignorance of the quirks of this particular process.
It should be remembered that it is only with experience that people will appreciate why some of their efforts don't meet the grade. It should also be remembered that someone's work may be artistic and very skillfully done, but it can get rejected just because of it's unsuitability as a wallpaper.
I agree that pre-discussion of a submission with people prepared to give useful constructive critisism (even in the face of possible rebukes) would be very useful to increase the standard of submissions before the moderators ever have to cast judgement.
The Skinning Discussion forum could be used for this, but from my experience, people won't tend to look there until they've already tried to submit something. Besides, I don't think most people contributing a wallpaper would think of it as "skinning".
So, what I would suggest is that the upload for wallpapers is treated differently in the following ways:
1 - when clicking on the "upload and then wallpaper" option, if someone hasn't contributed in the past, they should be guided to a page with BIG TEXT saying "This site maintains the highest standards for wallpapers and hence a great many have to be declined. Please ensure you read the guidlines and the tips about what to avoid (here 0). If you would like someone to offer constructive comments on your contribution in advance of submitting it for concideration, please go (here 1). Once you are sure your work is as good as you can possibly make it, then go (here 2)"
2 - the screen then says "Please do not be offended if the kind offer of your work is declined to be included on this site. This should not be taken as an insult as the moderators taste may just differ from your own. If you're work is taken for inclusion, you will hear from with a confirmatory e-mail. If you do not hear from us, and the submission has stopped being listed as "awaiting approval" then it means that it has not been accepted. You are welcome to submit future works." and then people can upload.
The constructive comments bit could be a thread on the skinning board, or a board all to itself which only people who are prepared to suffer any abuse from the newbies need ever look at, and which could have a restricted access to to prevent people who just want to say "it sucks!" from annoying everyone.
.....This is sort of how I managed to muddle through on my own, as I figured that my first efforts were substandard so I determined to make sure I made something good enough next time. I then looked to the forums to ask if there were a place to ask for feedback on the things which were still being rejected...I'd missed wherever it might suggest asking the admins, as I thought that would be needlessly bothering them. A kind admin offered some feedback which was really simple: "this is not an art site, it's a skinning site", and that has hopefully guided things I've done since....somewhat
So...what I'm suggesting is that people should be guided a little more into only submitting the right sort of things, and to help them improve, guiding people to some place to ask for polite feedback would be useful.
So...I agree with a number of the people above
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Where's me winky? (rhetorical question only please don't answer that, 
) (I'd use a winky here but it's broken 
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