Kind of Confused

Click the "Gallery" tab and "Top Skinners" is on that page.

I did see that Boss, but I mean like for each specific category like it used to be. You know like The Top 5 WindowBlinds Authors in the WindowBlinds section, Top 5 BootSkins Authors in the BootSkins section, etc.

Ok,I see what you mean.

Yeah, I want to see my name in lights in the top 5 of the Logon Gallery right behind Adni like it used to be.

I'm just kind of worried about the slowing down of Skins produced and uploaded as a result of no Top Authors Box. I don't know if it helps StarDock/WinCustomize alot or little when it comes to multiple Skins production, but I do know that most of us who do Skinning, keep up on it to have that name in the box. Of course you'll get the occasional or usual ones that put a Skin or two up just to have a few people download it, but serious Skinners who actually put forth more effort for more downloads, kind of compete with each other so to say, to try and get their names up there or to keep them up there. I've gotten use to seeing regulars in the past up in the BootSkin side's Top Author's Box like UncleRob, Hog56, DSLV, Cavan1, Shamik Mitra, and I know they've put forth quite some effort. Before I ever did any skinning, when I only downloaded Skins that is, I would look at the Top Authors, see who they were, and check out their Skins. I just recently put up a couple of Skins again in the BootSkin category and was going to work my way back up the ranks into the Top 5, but I guess it doesn't matter now.
I'm just afraid that without that Box, the better Skinners will slowly fade away, leaving only the occasional novice style Skinners, ultimately downgrading the whole site as a result. Please don't take this as a complaint. I love this site. I really do and always have. That's why I wish StarDock and WinCustomize to thrive. That's why I share this as a concern not a complaint.

Well, for me, I create my work because I enjoy it and have fun doing it, I'll upload it if I think it's good enough that others might like it, and after that, I'm working on something else. The whole ratings thing and top authors thing doesn't have any effect on what I'm doing next. Sure, I'll look at them, but good or bad doesn't make any difference really. If I liked it enough to upload it, nothing should change my opinion of it.

As for the 5 top skinners in any given library, many are only there because they upload a LOT of skins and get decent downloads, not necessarily because they create really good skins.

Just my opinion.

*Stardock/Wincustomize is not affiliated with and has no prior knowledge of the statements made by this individual.

The opinions expressed in the above forementioned article are entirely those of the author and his constituents and do not necessarily represent the views and/or opinions therein of StarDock, WinCustomize, and its affiliates.
This is cool.
I've been up too long.
I'm gonna have to go to bed.
P.S.
Constituents is probably not the appropriate word to use in that context, but I'm tired and it just sounded good.

Hey guys,

If you click on the title bar for Top Authors on the Gallery Page, it will take you to

https://www.wincustomize.com/top.aspx?type=authors&sort=1

On that page, you can sort by then individual galleries; Window Blinds, BootSkin, etc.

Hope that helps you find what you were looking for.

Thanks Dean, that's it.

This is really good feedback. Thanks!

As for the 5 top skinners in any given library, many are only there because they upload a LOT of skins and get decent downloads, not necessarily because they create really good skins. Just my opinion.

WOW, I think that's a blanket statement if I ever heard one - opinion or not.
Not necessarily because they create really good skins?

Boss, How do the decent download numbers get achieved without creating a good skin?
I take pride in my work and I'm sure that every skin author on this site shares the same sentiment, obviously art is very subjective but it almost sounds like you're saying that everyone is blind and download happy. I've been working the bootskin side for the past 3 months with alot of success and I've just dabbled into windowblinds recently something I intend to get more involved with along with some other skinning projects. My work in bootskins has afforded me the skills to wet my feet in other areas. 16 colors is limiting, if I can create decent looking skins in 16 colors, I'm determined to do alot better with a full color palette at my disposal. I'm also making an effort to improve older skins that I've already submitted, I want every skin in my gallery to be an awesome skin. My download numbers, my rankings and my competition with other skin authors is the impetus for that kind of action.

Top authors get their rankings because alot of people like their work and download it. That would have to be because the work is good. If the work wasn't good people wouldn't download it - that's a statement I'm willing to stand behind, I think it's very accurate.

SkinnedAlive makes several excellent points. I believe the rankings are important. I don't get to meet any of the people who are browsing this site and downloading skins face to face, my only interaction with them is the download itself. I think taking away the visuals that the rankings provided will probably take something away from the site. Competition breeds excellence, complacency breeds lax attitudes & boredom. If the rankings don't mean anything to you Boss, so be it - but I did look forward to them. Obviously it's a personal competition and there are no prizes to be won but the spirit of competition itself made me want to do better and excel at what I was doing, without that "incentive" I think that skin quality may in fact suffer as SkinnedAlive mentioned. You may still have a few skin authors that occasionally upload skins but it won't be the same as it was previously. I remember reading one of the site's goals (on the old version of the site) that they wanted more skin authors to produce more content, better quality content. Without providing those metrics (everyone loves numbers) I think you will see an eventual decrease in the number of skin submissions and possibly a decrease in quality in those submissions.

There are ways to find that data on the site but the site does make you work "harder" to access that data. Improving the site design is important but making it harder to access certain site features that people looked forward to may turn off alot of people. I now have several website link shortcuts on my desktop to access certain features of this site that used to be readily available on the previous site design. I know how to access these features on the new site but it requires to much effort to locate them by clicking through links on the various pages to access this info. I think that's a step backwards - making it harder to access certain site features doesn't seem like an improvement. Maybe it's just me, I also see that certain pages tend to be a little advertising aggressive - again maybe that's just me.

However that being said, the site is still only a couple days old, and there are lots of improvements that will come out soon due to all the feedback we've submitted. In which case I would love to be proven wrong and find that this site is 100% easier to use than the last version of the site (which wasn't half bad IMHO).

There I said it, let the beatings begin.   

My opinions: 
Making skin for yourself is the best reason for doing it.  Ratings be damned.
Making skins for money.  Good motivation.  Ratings help advertise.
Making skins for ratings and downloads.  meh

Could the site offer methods to appease these three reasons, sure.  Does it have to be done right away?  Not so much.

The biggest new feature of the site that can appease a lot of the issues?  Your personal site.  Sell it with the best you can do.

/me plans on looking at both unclerob's site and skinned alive later.  I'll probably leave a comment in the guestbook too. 

If the work wasn't good people wouldn't download it -

Considering 'good' is a subjective term, how do you determine something is 'good' unless you download it 1st?

i personally don't let comments decide what I'm gonna think. I might peruse them, but as always I start with the screen shot and decide if the colors, style, etc., might be something I want to give a try.

I have my settings to view all so I don't miss something (now if the site could speed up my rural dial-up I could spend less time in the forums and more in the gallery...). I've found some skins that didn't rate high or have tons of favorable comments that I kinda like. They may not be the best skins but going through the artist's list, they are the best from that artist.. so far.

People do read what we post!   

unclerob,

We all have our opinions and whatever works for you is fine. Whatever it takes to motivate you to create better skins...competition with other skinners, seeing your name in the top 5, that's great.

My "competition" I suppose, is with myself to create something I like enough to post. A whole lot of what I create ends up in the Trash because there's something about it that doesn't feel quite right. The quality is no better or worse, but I just don't really like it. It could get tons of downloads, who knows, but it's just not something I want to post.

Boss, How do the decent download numbers get achieved without creating a good skin?

Logons or Bootskins are probably the best examples, although not the only ones.

Create 10 boots using walls from the top video games, or 10 logons using a Vista logo and some green plants and I guarantee you will in the top 5 skinners listed regardless of quality. The boots can look like garbage in use or not work, the logons can work with only one resolution, but they will get a ton of downloads based on the content. And the top 5 skinner ratings are for the past 30 days so you CAN get in the top 5 with them. It's not nearly always the case, but it definately DOES happen.

It's a bit strange here, but people don't comment much and when something doesn't work, most of the time they will just move on to something else and say nothing. I've seen logons with over 1000 downloads that threw up errors and wouldn't work. Or there was a problem with the file upload and there is no file to download. And not one comment.

But the site is what it is...it has ratings, it has competitions, it has titles, and a lot of people thrive on it. I just personally don't. I just create for fun, no big deal.

I help when I can in the forums, teach a lot of people by email when they ask, and that is what I enjoy to do, simple as that.

Like I said, whatever works for you to learn more skills, create better skins and be happy with what posted is what counts.

People do read what we post!

uh huh.

And if your reply had been any longer I was gonna ask if you also post from Jamaica under a pseudo name

People do read what we post!

Sure do....which is why my name's [for one] on the list of 'recent forum activity' so much...

To improve a site, comments NEED to be read...and are.  What is often forgotten/overlooked, however, is that this interaction at WC Forum level is only a relatively small part of the 'whole shebang'.

Wincustomize.com currently has over 2.65 million registered users, very few of whom comment/interact here, but are that ubiquitous 'silent majority' that accounts for most of these downloads that generate fame/popularity/prominence, aka 'the download numbers'  FOR these skinners.

Site revisions are aimed towards aiding this user-base enjoyment of the skinners' content because from them will likely come the 'next generation' of skinner and/or forum user so they're an important component of Wincustomize.

What is just as important are the current 'skinners', old and new, whose motivation/s for posting works here can be as diverse as the skins they produce, however all reasons are equally valid.

Each general user, and/or skinner/content provider hopefully gets FROM this site at least as much as what he or she puts INTO the site.  This is the logic behind download limitations/subscriptions/user-level promotions  - all the bits and bobs of what Wincustomize has evolved into over the [nearly] 6 years of life.

The intent is that Wincustomize.com be THE 'place-to-be' if you are A/ a skinner, or B/ a person wanting to find a skin.

Now, references to Bootskins vs Windowblinds leading to top-skinner popularity [or not] is that underlying 'feel' of elitism...that skinner a's bootskin is inferior to skinner b's Blind because a bootskin is simpler than a Blind [to create].

The truth of the matter is that each person is a 'skinner', and, truth be known, most of the 'highly regarded' Windowblinds [as example] skinners started with simpler projects, yes, even ports of others' work.

Next time someone thinks 'he is only a logon skinner' [etc]....reword it as follows... "he is a fellow skinner".

That's what 'community' is all about....

preach it brother jafo

GOSH DARN IT MASTER JAFO!
Layman's terms!
Pretend you're writing for a newspaper and you have to readjust to a 5th or 6th Grade Level for us Dilly Dally 'ole Flam Dongle Deed Dummies!
I just spent 20 minutes reading your comment 4 times, and I'm STILL NOT SURE if I got the gist of it.
Looks like I'm gonna have to hook you up with Stephen Hawking so you can both take over the world while we're all trying to figure out what BOTH of you are saying!
Ah heck, I'm guessing I probably created a monster in starting this post.

GOSH DARN IT MASTER JAFO! Layman's terms!

haha...

Perhaps I could pen an article re expectations of 'community'....using words of one syllable, sentences of one word, paragraphs of one sentence and articles of one paragraph, typing slowly.....

....or I can run the existing one through babelfish...

LOL
Now you're talkin'!
When it comes to Ed Edd and Eddy, you're Edd "a.k.a. Double D".