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Features for WinCustomize V4 Suggestion Thread

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Features for WinCustomize V4 Suggestion Thread

from WinCustomize Forums

We're getting close to starting on re-creating WinCustomize.

Here are some basic features we want:

Users will have their own domain: User.WinCustomize.com

Their account will include things like their skin gallery, recommended skins, posts they've participated in, Skinner Groups, etc.

The main site itself will be streamlined in one way but expanded in another. Streamined in that there will only be two columns instead of 3 and less "Stuff" on the main page.  Expanded in that there will be multiple page modes. For instance, the top authors and skins will be on the "Most Popular" tab and have vastly more information and details on the top skinners and top submissions so that more people get highlighted and the most popular authors get more kudos.

Speaking of kudos, whenever someone posts or responds or is present in any way, the various awards they've won on the site and other distinctions will show up. So if you have  a featured skin, you'll get a little 16x16 medal for that. Get the most popular skin for the day, same thing, reach a certain milestone in downloads get another and so forth.

People who help others will be able to be highlighted more by admins by getting special tags by them showing that this is a "super user". This is a step beyond the regular access levels we already have.

The forums will be vastly expanded and yet kept very simple. It will function much like the JoeUser forum here. It won't LOOK like that at all. The functionality is key though as it will be different than other sites. Each higher level is a superset of the content of the more specific levels. For example, the "General" forum will have the newest articles listed from all the sub-forums. As you click on sub-forums, the topics get more specific. So if you JUST want to talk about wallpapers, no problem, you can go to the wallpaper forum. But those popular topics will also show up in their parent forums and so on.  This is the opposite of the way most forums work on most forums, sub-forums are largely useless and empty because what you post there is read by few people.

The whole site will be recoded in ASP.NET and be vastly faster than what we have today.

There will be a lot more admin and moderator tools to police. Right now we're kind of stuck with having to kick someone out entirely  with no in-between ways of warning people.

One of the tabs will be dedicated towards the software used to customize the desktop.

One of the tabs will be dedicated towards tutorials on creating stuff for the different sections.

The purchasing of premium skins and themes and suites will be much more integrated into the site and top authors will have a streamlined way of being able to offer the occasional premium skin.  But to be able to qualify for submitting premium (i.e. non free) content you have to have already contributed a lot of free content (i.e. we don't want skinning to end up a paid thing but we want authors to have a way of being able to justify their rather time consuming hobby and be able to afford new hardware and software).

WC subscribers will have a host of special features only available to them such as on-site blogging, integration into JoeUser.com onto their site, skin recommendations, and other goodies. One goody of interest is that articles on skinning, a kind of "live magazine" will be able to be done. Subscribers will be able to submit the the live WC Magazine (one of the tabs) so that others can read thoughts on skinning. Admins will still be able to moderate this to determine whether a given article is "featured" on WC Mag live as opposed to listed.

The rating system will be totally overhauled. Instead, ratings will be weighted by access level. The higher your access, the more weight your rating caries. It will be on a star system also (1 through 5 stars) instead of a point system since more people are familiar with that. Existing ratings will be modified to fit this (we track who rates what so the weighting system can be retroactively applied).

The most popular page, btw, will be tracking skins based on most popular for the MONTH, WEEK, as well as day. The Weekly most popular will be the one most highlighted instead of the daily one.

So those are some of our ideas.  Are there any features not mentioned here that you would like to see?

47,355 views 152 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
For logons, DX themes, walls, etc. Can they display what the resolution is? Have some check boxes when uploading for the different res's.and it gets displayed in the author info. It stinks, stanks, stunks, to find out after downloading and installing that the res is not the same as yours.


I'm with NightTrain2002 here. This is a great idea.
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
And when someone uploads a screenshot, they should HAVE to have skin details about what they are using. Its annoying to see an awesome screenshot only to see "This is my awesome desktop!" and no idea what skins were used in it.
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I think someone mentioned something about adding some statisics to the download counter so the author could have some more detailed info about who was downloading his/her skin/wall...

What happened to that?
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
One small request, please. When there are new "theme skins" for the site, could you please have at least one that has a white backgroud to it? (For those of us who see thru bi-focals and need a sharp distinction 'tween colors of font and background! ) My eyes would appreciate it!

Also, perhaps you could have a spellchecker on the messageboards....if possible.....just to give Jafo a bit of break, now & then!

Glad I'm a subscriber now. Thank you!

Blessings to all.....lovesblessing
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
How about an Email account (message center), AV's, and Personal Photo area for the USER.WinCustomize.com section.


I hope the new forum is setup like the current Message Board (only add AV's).


Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Nah, dont add av's...The MessageBoard's lack of them is what sets itself apart from other boards...I like it that way.
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I like the messageboard the way it is, well the GUIOlympic one is good too I agree with no Avatars or Signatures....They're just useless clutter. This board is easy to read and post....Very user friendly
Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sounds good so far.

While you're cleaning up, how about:
1) an ultra lite theme (á la DevArt's lite theme). Although, judging by appearance, the site as it is now, seems to be much lighter than in the past
2) collapsable boxes (á la DeskMod)
3) personalised front page, or would that be username.wincustomize.com?
Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
#25 by Wizop Koasati - 5/1/2004 5:35:08 PM #15 by webgizmos - 5/1/2004 6:34:43 AM hmmm.... sites that mess with my setup, are bad sites, and also sites I don''t visit twice. Leave my cursors alone, and if I show up here unskinned (however unlikely), I want to remain that way.


Well yeah I see your point...some people would get bent out of shape over something like that...but then again some don''t. How about an option button to temporarily skin your windows that would reset after you leave the site. Some effects I''ve seen on cursors aren''t really something thats changed on your system...it''s just an effect done with javascript containing a logo or something along that line and it disappears as soon as you leave the site.

But hey...no biggy...it was just a thought in the way of promoting skins.


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[Message Edited]
Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree that signatures can get a little cluttered, but the AV is more of a "Symbol" to the artist (skinner) plus this is a Graphics Community why not show it with Graphics. Most sites have a option for "no AV's"

IMO, Avatars and Signatures are way of 'skinning' your user name.


...webgizmos: Yes, The effects of the cursor's is nothing more than JavaScript, and does not change your computer settings. Sounds like a good Idea to me, maybe cursor artist with trails can compete for 'display' of the week or something. I'm sure artist would love to know that their trails are being used by millions of people for that week.
Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top
No, dont add javascript cursors. Id rather keep whatever cursorXp configuration Im using at the moment.

How about skinners are the only ones who get the av''s?
[Message Edited]
Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah, please no javascript cursors with those annoying little trails....if you want to see them go buy CursorXP
Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah, please no javascript cursors with those annoying little trails....if you want to see them go buy CursorXP


I have CursorXP Plus and know what it has to offer, many people don't...."Out of Sight, Out of Mind" I believe It would be a cool Idea is all.

How about skinners are the only ones who get the av's?


How about with a certain amount of Kudos "Special AV's" appointed. (larger)(animated) Idea's are countless.


Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I guess I better start practicing then .... 'cause I want an AV if they become available, that is IF they will be for skinners only ... that just doesn't seem right to me
Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If it ain't broke why fix it?

/me had to say something stupid!!!
Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top
a light weight version of the site! i have a 56k modem at home, and if i am downloading something i cannot load this site normal practice is for it to time out before all of the parts have been downloaded.

when it does work, waiting 5 minutes, literally, for the main page to load... this is not funny

also, a light weight message board view. i really don't need side bars full of links, taking up screen space just to browse the message board. again this adds quite a bit to the load time of the page.

avatars and sigs, i have seen one site, which will remain nameless, where over 80% of some threads were the avatars and signature lines! one person had a picture that must have been 600 pixels tall in their sig line talk about breaking up the flow of the thread!

beyond this, add something interesting and worth while for site subscribers. easier said than done i know. what i do know is that Stardock Central recently surprised me by telling me my site subscription was nearly up. this was a surprise because i had clicked on the WC tab by mistake for the first time in 6 months. at the moment the honest truth is that i see very little point in renewing my site subscription. i am going to keep my OD subscription, but what do i get from my site subscription? the bottom line seems to be nothing *sigh* this is a discussion for a separate thread should anyone want to go into this in more detail with me.



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Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am looking forward to the changes mentioned. Some surprises as well as some things it has needed for awhile. I primarily use SDC for viewing skin updates and that can be ive based on the programs you skin, but glad the site will have it as well finally.

I agree with what someone else said that often screenshots do not include enough info about the skin. The screenshot should be about that skin and only that skin, unless its a suite. Often a WB theme will show a rainlander skin(or other such program that interally skins) but make no mention of it. Clean up those shots and show a real desktop also. Some I think try to be too cute and show things so different you don't get a good feel of the skin.
It would be kewl if animated images could be uploaded in some cases. It would give skinners a better way to show what a skin can do.
I agree on keeping the absence of avatars and sigs. I cannot stand sites that use them, it just messes up the flow of the board.

If I think of anything else I'll add it.



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Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It all sounds awesome! I could personally do without the AV's or having having my cursor changed, though.
Spellcheck idea might be good, some posts are hard to figure out just what they meant to say.
Can't wait to see the changes!
Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If it ain't broke why fix it?

kona0197 had to say something stupid!!!


Not so stupid I like the messageboard the way it is and I am on the just say no to avatars and sigs bandwagon
Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top
no signatures please! OR, a signature that can be a maximum of 1 line.
Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top
how about a direct link to babelfish, people from all over the world here ya know. And it can get very confusing.
Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top
STFU /me hits satans child with his keyboard
Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top
A way of portraying which moderators and admins are currently logged in and possibly registered users.



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Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yeah, great idea #48, then also add a message system so we can bother them with our 'urgent' questions why our dolphin walls were rejected