Do you find your eyes get tired looking at certain colours for too long? Do you like to read on dark or light background? If you wanted to join a certain forum because of its content would a theme like this one put you off? And finally... Do you think that funky themes look professional? I am working on something web 2.0 and funky. It has to be modern and original yet have professional feel to it. Your opinion will help a lot. Thanks guys!
I don't like orange, but it depends on the forum focus. If you're doing a forum for rock music your members probably want a happening layout. If you're doing a business forum you probably want a clean layout. I also believe the template will help bring members in if it is done right for the focus of the forum.
I think the forum design looks good. The orange isn't too bright and it doesn't blind you after a few minutes of looking at it
filjan But would you be put off joining the forum just because you did not particularly like the theme? Yea, im going for something business related. But it has to be different from anyone else.
The orange blinded me on my widescreen LCD. Way too bright. It looks like a solid, well made theme, but it also has a tacky, retro feel that wouldn't be appropriate for all sites.
This sounds really weird, but I really hate orange. So I wouldn't join because I don't like looking at the orange color. I am strange so I don't know if my vote counts.
I love dark themed forums. But nonetheless, the forum link you provided has a cute design aswell. From a psychological point of view, i'd say the design is a major factor on how the visitor gets his first impression on the site/forum. If the design sucks, it might put alot of people off. However, if the design sucks yet the site itself has a good reputation and content, people would join only for the quality of the content presented, rather than look at the design. I don't really like vB's default design, because i've seen it in too many places - yet i still registered, and got sucked into DP quite badly.
jquindlen I see what you mean. I was trying to see how long i could stare at that template and my eyes started to hurt. filjan He he and you liked DP green? DevilHellz This is what im trying to find out. PS: Same thing happened to me with DP. I was refusing to join because of the theme and now i even like it. jyoti-vats There are millions of silver and grey websites out there. I want to stand out... I have almost completed my design now. Funky, but not too bright Simple yet stylish.
I think it looks great. There are way too many forums out there. You have to create something that is going to stand out and stick in people's minds. Otherwise, they will fall asleep before they even read your content! The skin is important for getting their attention, but your content is what is going to keep them there. Make sure both are excellent. It's good that you have several skins available. If someone is really interested in your site, but just can't handle the orange color, they can always view it with a different skin.