Skin Standards? Options

[Shelley464]

Hi there!

First of all, I have to say that this is a kick-butt site. It's easy to navigate and use and a great source for skins.

Secondly, I just wanted to voice a concern. I get confused sometimes by what standards the skins are being accepted under. It seems that what one mod would accept, another wouldn't. In the end, it's almost a matter of who you get reviewing your submission. So, I'm not complaining and in no way think that you guys hate me when I get rejected. :P It's just that I see such a broad spectrum of skins on here and see no line of standards, which makes it hard to understand what is considered good on the whole. Just a bit of feedback. Thanks again for a great site!

[*StanleyThePanda*]

Well was the skin that was rejected/accepted the same one? or was it different?

If it was the same, it was probably because you submitted it twice.
If it was different, then that would be why one was accepted and one was rejected.

[Shelley464]

I'm just talking in general with the skins I see made by others as well as the many that are accepted or rejected of my own in the past. From the (limited, if I'm being honest ) experience with this (awesome) site, some mods accept one kind of layout while others choose another. Thanks for replying, by the way...I guess I'm just saying that I can't see a clear standard, but who am I to say? I'm really happy with this site...it's great!

[*Libertie*]

We don't really have a "by the book" set of rules when reviewing skin submissions. The staff members are trusted to use best judgment. It's tough sometimes though, deciding what to accept and what to reject. There are some submissions that look really good but are just too default to let pass. On the other hand, there are some that have really impressive code that aren't very attractive visually. We try to be as unbiased as possible, but when it comes down to it there's ultimately one person (which his or her own unique opinion) making the decision. So I understand what you're saying, but we are different people. :)

However, that decision isn't necessarily set in stone. If you feel like one of your skins should have been accepted, feel free to say so. Any skin that has been can also be deleted if it was accepted but isn't good quality.

[Shelley464]

Thanks so much for your guys' feedback to my feedback. It's nice to know you are out here listening in and thanks for working so hard!

[demolished]

By browsing through layouts, you'll understand the standards better.

[*digital.fragrance*]

It's kind of cool to have different people accepting/rejecting different skins - it helps createblog have a unique mix of cool looking skins. I guess what I'm trying to say is, variety is the spice of life

[sweetabandon]

Wow interesting topic. I was wondering about this myself. In a sense, this method of submitting layouts is unfair. I believe that if there are several mods who are in charge of accepting or declining layouts then they should ALL decide the fate of that layout. I don't think it's right that one layout could be accepted by one mod but rejected by another mod just because they have different standards. Which brings me to another point. No matter what, there should always be a standard for submitting anything. At least some basic ones..that way people wouldn't waste their time submitting a layout that's doomed to be rejected anyway. It would also help to have some type of comment on the "rejection letter" that states why a layout was declined. That way, the user will not repeat the same mistake.

Obviously, I've been rejected, but these (I hope) are constructive suggestions and are not plain insults. I agree with Shelly464 when she says that this site is awesome. I visit it practically every week, and that's a lot considering the lack of free time I have.

Bottom line: If there are no set in stone standards then everyone should be allowed to have their layout posted on this site.

Possible scenario:
"Why didn't you accept my layout?"
"Because I didn't think it was good enough."
"What's wrong with it?"
"It doesn't suit my taste, but it might suit his."
"What are your tastes?"
"Don't worry I don't hate you.."
"Wait, you didn't answer my question..."

Now I have considered how createblog might have limited space and that's why they cannot accept all the layouts that are submitted. I also know that it takes up too much time to have every single mod review one layout. These are merely suggestions to better the procedure. Thank you for reading this. lol I doubt anyone will.

[gelionie]

^ if you think that your layout was rejected unfairly, you can definitely ask for the reason and I can promise that we will tell you.

There is, of course, a standard for layouts. It is hard to say what is that standard really, because that would limit creativity.

[*mona lisa*]

We currently don't have a system that lets us add in a personal statement as to why the skin was rejected. It's automatic but very soon, we will be able to do that.

It's hard to have a written set of rules or standards for accepting a layout. There are so many different types of layouts, different styles and such that makes it difficult to do so. I don't really understand what sort of "standards" you want written in stone. We have a set of guidelines that should be followed when submitting a layout; they are located in each design forum. Eg. Click for the Xanga rules.

[Shelley464]

Thanks to everyone for your responses to my suggestion! Someone brought up the idea of letting those reviewing the layouts say why it is being rejected and I think that would help in many cases. I guess I'm just hoping that the reviewers will not only pick digitally insane ones that have used numerous brushes and such, but that the simpler layouts will be considered as well. I just prefer the cleaner, simpler layouts. Thanks again for everyone's responses!

[jennyjenny]

Yeah, honestly, I like a lot of simpler layouts and I guess some people like the defaultish ones. But I guess you can't just accept every layout that people submit, and I don't think it's fair that maybe if one person looks at your skin they'll reject it because they don't like it, but what if another mod liked it? i know it would take a while to garther up everyone and take a poll to see which skin should get rejected, though. this is oddly confusing.

[nothing_plus_thi...]

i agree with the idea that the people doing the rejecting give short explanations as to why the layout was rejected.

you all say that rejections shouldn't be taken personally and that they should be used to help you make your layouts better, but how are we supposed to do that if we have NO idea what we did wrong in the first place?

[*mona lisa*]

Uh, I'm sorry but do you not read?
You can PM the moderator back (without being rude) and ask why it was rejected. They may not always remember exactly what was wrong with it because of the number skins they have to look through. As well, how many times has it been said that moderators being able to write a personal response will be implemented very soon??? Not just in this thread, but in previous ones.

This matter has been discussed a while ago. Is there anything else about skin standards that can be improved?

[nothing_plus_thi...]

you know what? whatever.

there's a lot you could do to fix the way this site works. but suggesting things obviously doesn't get anything done. so there's no point in me really saying much.

This post has been edited by nothing_plus_this: Dec 31 2005, 03:32 PM

[*mona lisa*]

i'm really digging the double standards on this site.

you tell us not to be rude to the admin/moderators, yet you can stick in wise cracks all you want?

i'm sorry if i'm a little discouraged by your current setup here but i've TRIED to PM the people who reject my layouts, asking POLITELY if they could give me a reason or two. and i have yet to get a response that meets my STANDARDS.

so, unless you can make sure our questions and requests will be/are answered, don't be rude when we repeat them.

When the same point has been put across through to us several times before? It gets tiring after a while hearing the same thing over and over. The implementation of your idea was something that moderators had talked about earlier. And it wasn't directed solely to you. That was my fault for not saying so, but it was a general "you". And I'm not being a wise crack...
As well, what can I do if you don't get a response back that is up to your "standards". What might be your standards, may I ask?

To your edit:
This is the purpose of the Feedback forum. We want to tell us how to improve this site so any ideas that have not been discussed would be highly appreciated.

[nothing_plus_thi...]

my standards?

they're very minimal, i assure you.

like, AN ACTUAL RESPONSE?

i'm sorry if i seem bitchy/crabby/whatever, i just don't like dealing with this sort of thing. i try to be nice, and i get ignored. and i don't dig that.

[*mona lisa*]

my standards?

they're very minimal, i assure you.

like, AN ACTUAL RESPONSE?

i'm sorry if i seem bitchy/crabby/whatever, i just don't like dealing with this sort of thing. i try to be nice, and i get ignored. and i don't dig that.

Well, moderators are supposed to respond to you for that. They probably forgot, but they should still PM you back saying that.
And if a moderator ignores you, you can take it up with a Head Staff or an Admin if a mod is unwilling to listen.

[*digital.fragrance*]

^ ditto - don't just get angry or mean - get stuff done. PM a "higher up" to get a response - I've done that before, but not with layouts.

[demolished]

Yeah ! It's more to the point.

[nothing_plus_thi...]

yeah, good point. i will try that. but i don't know how another person, other than the person who actually rejected the layout, would know why it was rejected.

since i'm starting to think more and more that it's based on personal preferences and opinions.

[talcumpowder]

I feel the need to reply to this topic. Blah. If I sound bitchy, forgive me.
----
Okay, when we reject a layout and you want to yell at us asking why there are two things I'd like you to remember. One, when there's 50 skins in the queue and 20 are Xanga I will not remember your layout. Okay? So show it to me and I'll tell you why I rejected it. Two, I follow this for the most part. Then I have a set of standards I personally follow when submitting a skin so I apply those to other people's skin's too. They are as follows.
----
- High quality, non-grainy image. A good sixth of the layouts I reject lack this. Even MS Paint can have good image quality.
- Nice, readable text and hyperlinks. If I can't read it, then how can anyone else?
- A fairly decent color scheme. Purple does not go with brown and there's too much contrast in red&black.
- A decent sized image. A 900KB image isn't very practical. Your main image shouldn't go over 500KB usually.
- A non-default layout. You can not stick in a background, change the colors, and call it a day. Simplistic is good, but a layout like that will take you five minutes, tops. That's on a Myspace level to me. (Not including the div overlays!)
----
If you think that's too much to ask for, then that's too bad. Really, all I look for is a skin that looks decent and that has effort put into it. Cross-browser compatibility would be nice too.

[nothing_plus_thi...]

see, those standards are good. you KNOW what you're looking for, and you are able to list it in a coherent and to-the-point way.

shoot, shoot, shoot.
i'm sorry i didn't read clearly one of the above posts. so....asldkh;sg.

yep. it's early?!

This post has been edited by nothing_plus_this: Jan 1 2006, 10:08 AM

[gelionie]

^ //edit: oops you editted your post.




So do you think that we still need to say more about the standards of layouts?

[nothing_plus_thi...]

well, i guess there's not really much else you can do until the system allows you to customize the rejection notices. i think that would solve a lot of problems.

and, i think there should be a...minimal set of OFFICIAL standards listed somewhere. just...about image sizes, minimum standards type of thing. the mods would still be able to use their own best judgement. we'd just have something a little clearer to go off of when we make layouts to be submitted.

yeah?

EDIT:
if something like this already exists somewhere. PLEAAASE don't get frustrated with me. i'm not a forum person. i don't do forums very often, and sifting through threads and topics just runs my limited supply of patience ragged. so, i apologize in advance. :]

This post has been edited by nothing_plus_this: Jan 1 2006, 10:15 AM