[Poll] Theme? Style? Skin?

[Kim]

What do you think they should be called?

I started out in forums on vB 2. something and got used to them being called styles... then moved to IPB and have gotten used to them being called Skins... But I also have always liked themes... hmmm

I know I read somewhere that the Devs have started out by calling them styles and it is a bit of a pain to change it now, but I just wondered what everyone thought.. would it be nice to have the common name for them be a bit different to other similar software?

 

[Allan]

Skin

Style = more vB
Theme = more personnal

 

[Steffi]

I think theme is fine.

Agree.

 

[Rinunez]

Who cares about the name? The important thing is how the skin/style/theme look

By the way, I voted for theme lol

 

[Shamil]

Personally, theme doesn't sit right with me. To me, the word theme is applied to something which is temporary. I prefer style - it's more permanent.

 

[Lisa]

Theme to me talks about what the site is about, not about how it looks... Skin/Style are interchangeable, although if I stated to a non-forumer that I was "skinning" something, they'd probably run screaming in horror thinking I was literally skinning something! hehehe So while I use "skin" when I'm talking to someone who knows web design/forums, I generally use "style" when I'm talking to someone who doesn't. I never use theme when talking about skins/styles but I will use it along with genre/niche when discussing site content.

 

[Been Told]

Personally I hate the term "Style" being used instead of "Theme". It's a theme, simple as that. And skin... This isn't Winamp and it's not 1999.

 

[Taylor J]

I am used to skin, so I voted for skin.

 

[TRACKER]

"Skin" sound good for me

 

[Mert]

All serve same purpose.

 

[Forsaken]

Theme to me talks about what the site is about, not about how it looks... Skin/Style are interchangeable, although if I stated to a non-forumer that I was "skinning" something, they'd probably run screaming in horror thinking I was literally skinning something! hehehe So while I use "skin" when I'm talking to someone who knows web design/forums, I generally use "style" when I'm talking to someone who doesn't. I never use theme when talking about skins/styles but I will use it along with genre/niche when discussing site content.

Often enough, I make my theme match the topic of the site, so they are one in the same for me.

If my forum is based around video games, it'll have video game aspects, reminding them of the topic of the forums.

If its anime based, it'll have aspects relating to anime.

 

[Cezz]

Often enough, I make my theme match the topic of the site, so they are one in the same for me.

If my forum is based around video games, it'll have video game aspects, reminding them of the topic of the forums.

If its anime based, it'll have aspects relating to anime.

I have to agree with this, but even though they share characteristics I think they are also also mutually exclusive...

I voted for Skin but to be honest I would be just as happy with style... Though I see a lot of people going towards Theme I do think a theme is more about the topic of the site as apose to the actual color scheme, layout etc...

 

[Shamil]

I voted style. It sounds more permanent. Forums don't change their styles often. Then again, a skin maybe permanent.

 

[Forsaken]

I voted style. It sounds more permanent. Forums don't change their styles often. Then again, a skin maybe permanent.

Skin grafting .

 

[Shamil]

Skin grafting .

Not on a forum though, it should shriek!

 

[Trekkan]

I voted for theme, but that's because of how I think things should work.

A skin is your colors and graphics

A style is your colors and graphics and design layout.

A theme is a step more than that, it's the colors, graphics, design layout, phrases and more.

At least that's how I like to think of things. So ultimately to me, I'd like to be able to apply a THEME. So say you used theme "Future" it had a sci-fi look to it, the phrasing used references to the genre, etc. I change the THEME to Fantasy and I get everything oriented towards that. Basically they are all encompassing and don't share anything but data.

 

[Paul B]

A theme is a step more than that, it's the colors, graphics, design layout, phrases and more.

This.

 

[Mike]

IA style is your colors and graphics and design layout.

A theme is a step more than that, it's the colors, graphics, design layout, phrases and more.

It doesn't encompass the phrases, etc. Personally, I think it'd be a nightmare if it did. I want my install to look like a pirate's treasure map, but I don't want the whole thing translated into pirate. It seems to make more sense to have those two things be separate (and they are).

 

[SneakyDave]

Come up with your own name and try to trademark it (*cough*ubb*cough*), like "aura". "Take a look at that Duke Nukem site's 'aura'".

 

[Trekkan]

It doesn't encompass the phrases, etc. Personally, I think it'd be a nightmare if it did. I want my install to look like a pirate's treasure map, but I don't want the whole thing translated into pirate. It seems to make more sense to have those two things be separate (and they are).

True, you don't. But that doesn't mean there aren't customers that wouldn't. =) If I had a crazy rabid Star Trek fanbase and all of the Klingon lovers wanted things in Klingon... why not? Sounds crazy to me (I don't run a ST site BTW. heh), but it's the flexibility I'm looking for more than anything specific. Phrases are the least of my worries and it's more of an example. Just that there are things in other software that have been kept static that I've always felt should be a part of the overall theme.

 

[RobS]

To me:

Theme = design of your forum.
Style = variation of a theme (eg. same layout, different colour scheme)
Skin = something you buy that isn't tailored to any particular software, but can be used for anything.

Oh and when you see all those "skin" sites offering forum themes, they're wrong, not me.