In your guys mind, what do you think makes a template "good"? Do you thnk that in order for a template to be considered good it should be a one of a kind? What type of ad placement do you think is best for proxy sites specifically? (EX. Around the URL bar etc) I am currently looking around and tweaking some of my own templates right now.
Whatever looks and appeals good would do. There is no such distinction on that line. Sometime heavy designs look appealing, other times they don't. Same goes for simple ones. Its about how the designer has placed everything up and how viable is the coding.
for a template to be good it must have the following: - load fast on even mobile device - be no larger than 1024 wide - be visually appealing and use colour, shape and location to help make navigation clear - use good typographic hierarchy to allow users to easily read your content - W3C standards compliant, so it loads reliably in all browsers - easily customizable - does most of the work in CSS and leaves HTML simply for markup Having said that, the goal needs to be set higher than your implmentation or we have no motivation to improve. Ad layout can break a template, but I think people often forget that there are sites without ADs at all, and they often look better. A template that has a good 'engine' and an attractive 'body' like a car, is FAR more useful than a pretty looking car with nothing under the hood. A little Javascript adds a LOT too.
Asking what gives something a subjective property is a little silly, no? I suppose you could say its when your design is both thematically and technically suited to your audience? Does that help. Of course not.
I think as long as it's valid, cross-browser, and is pleasing to the eye, it's a good template. Usability is also very important.
Fast Load time, cross browser compatibility, Edgy and eye catching looks, professional touch. and yes very important that it should convey the clear message about the website's concept.
For me : Nice color scheme, style something like hard technology, amusing fades, cool buttons, some flash ads of company (nothing much, when there is too much flahs ads it makes me angry) and thats all.
Fast Loading Not too many images Decent color scheme Good structure Displays content without messing anything up Not too busy NO flash at all