Forum Skins

[mtnman]

I'm going to start getting the health forum up and going and wanted some opinions on skins, style, resources, etc... My biggest roadblock is what the users want, it terms of layout and usability. I fear what appeals to me is not the general liking.

I'm gathering input from articles and forum forums online (adminzone, vb.org, etc.) , but this place has kept me around for quite a while. That's primarily due to the content, but nonetheless I figured I'd ask and see what you guys thought.

MJ's UI post helped tremendously, though some things are still a bit over my head. This is all very new to me and is taking a bit of time to become web savvy.

Opinions on purchased skins vs. totally custom design?

General needs in terms of usability?


Thanks for everyone's input in advance!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

You can buy skins and modify them to your taste if you know CSS. I think this skin was $29 dollars but I modified the crap out of it. Here is what it looked like when I bought it:

http://www.forummonkeys.com/forums/demo/index.php?styleid=34

If you don't have the patience for CSS or template hacking, you will need to pay for the custom job.

 

[aptohosting]

For those that do not want to hack the template or just want it done right the first time.

Give me a call
1-866-404-9090 or email me at tom@aptohosting.com

Thanks
Tom

 

[Elliott]

Was there a reputation feature when you got it? How much would the design of a site like this one cost?

 

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[Elliott]

I've heard about mambo and phpbb, does anyone know/have opinions on these?

 

[AlwaysCurious]

Any of those CMS and forum software are skinnable to some extend, of course depending on the effort you're willing to put in there.

It´s a difficult task to choose the right system, but IMHO I would not choose by design first. Design is more easily to be adjustable than functionality. So my advice would be to first decide on the type of system you need, if a forum is sufficient or if you need a portal. Then gather your functional requirements for your site and choose a system accordingly. I always look for http://www.opensourcecms.com for comparison of features.

And only after that functional decision I´d go for skins and design. Those open source systems usually have support forums and design examples so you'll quickly get a gist what's possible and maybe what not. A great ressource for good web design can also be found at http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ There is plenty of inspiration in regular articles regarding layout, fonts, usability and so on.

 

[howard_two]

I'm going to start getting the health forum up and going and wanted some opinions on skins, style, resources, etc... My biggest roadblock is what the users want, it terms of layout and usability. I fear what appeals to me is not the general liking.

I'm gathering input from articles and forum forums online (adminzone, vb.org, etc.) , but this place has kept me around for quite a while. That's primarily due to the content, but nonetheless I figured I'd ask and see what you guys thought.

MJ's UI post helped tremendously, though some things are still a bit over my head. This is all very new to me and is taking a bit of time to become web savvy.

Opinions on purchased skins vs. totally custom design?

General needs in terms of usability?


Thanks for everyone's input in advance!

hey man...can you post a link to this UI post. I can't find it...:smx4:

Thanks.:smx6:

 

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[CMCarlin]

I second that!

 

[mtnman]

Sure.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=8756&highlight=your+website+sucks

And go here...

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=10280&highlight=dont+make+think

 

[howard_two]

Sure.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=8756&highlight=your+website+sucks

And go here...

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=10280&highlight=dont+make+think

Thanks man...I'll read it later.

BTW are you from Europe?

 

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[mtnman]

Nope, Florida.