I have read countless times on the importance of forum skins. I don't have any custom skins on any of my forums yet.

I was going to have one designed/coded for one of my forums, but then wondered if implementing a major change like that would be more negative than positive for my community.

It's been my experience that longstanding members don't like change.
Your thoughts?

Dunno. I think they're a little bit important. More of a pain in the *** sometimes though. But, every time I start thinking that I should invest more in my forums' skins, I see another one that's become very successful but using the default forum skins.

Well I am a bit biased But I also believe content and community is what determines success. A fresh look is not a bad idea sometimes and to head off discontent, I would recommend perhaps running a poll on the designs you narrow down to and let the community air their opinions that way...and give them some ownership of the potential change.

I think a skin isn't totally necessary unless it's just plain ugly. Like John said, I also believe that content and community is what makes a forum successful.

I have to admit, I love to see a forum with a great skin, and it actually does put me off if a forum just has the default one (maybe thats just me being girlie!!) The skin here is great, and there are lots of them about to choose from at good prices. I'm not saying I wouldn't use a forum without a nice skin, just that I think it shows that the owner has put alot of effort into it if they do install one. nline2long:

No many like changes ...
You can add new skin and keep the old one as default and inform them of the new one

I think that if you make a major change, simply leave the one you currently use as an option - that way, everyone's happy.

The standard forum skins are often very ugly, and I bet that definately scares away more visitors than a skin change.

I think an update like that is good for your website/forum. It is important to stand out from the crowd, if you have the standard skin your site look like everybody elses.

//Andreas

A unique look is always best. Personally, I wouldn't really join a forum with the default skin of any forum application. Just puts accross to me that the owner of the site has put no time or effort into the site.

Originally Posted by Karl Evans

A unique look is always best. Personally, I wouldn't really join a forum with the default skin of any forum application. Just puts accross to me that the owner of the site has put no time or effort into the site.

I totally agree. It really shows if the owner has put any time or money in to the site. My experience is that a visitor will probably not join a forum like that.

//Andreas

If the question here is whether or not to introduce a custom skin because of the fear of people not liking change, I would say not to worry about that - it is true that some people do not like change, of course...but a nice custom skin is almost always change for the good - and most people will agree...even those who don't like change.

Now, whether or not a custom design is necessary for a forum...that is debateable. In most circumstances, it's definitely not going to hurt...but if your audience is not incredibly tech savvy, don't get yourself too wrapped up in the need for a custom skin...as many internet users wouldn't know the difference between a free skin and a custom one if it slapped them across the face

Sitepoint.com just updated their skin, and, while I looked the older, classic skin, the new one's more usable/practical.
You can always try doing what Lee's got and offer to people to pick the skin they want, where you can include the original one.

Originally Posted by Lpspider

I think that if you make a major change, simply leave the one you currently use as an option - that way, everyone's happy.

I was going to say the same, and tell all members in advance about the change and show the sneak peaks of the new skin

Good Post

Good Post

I just used the default skin where I customized it so much that it now doesn't looked like the original skin at all.

I am a web designer and programmer so doing this was rather straight forward.