Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

WinCustomize changes coming..

After the GUI Olympics is done we will be starting to make some changes to WinCustomize and looking at adding new sections.

One of the first changes is going to be figuring out a way to merge the WinXP section back into the main WindowBlinds section. Skin authors should always upload their skins to the WindowBlinds section (NOT the WinXP section - it'll get copied there automatically if you say it supports XP) so that the categories are resolved.

But it does bring us to one issue that we would like to have your input on:

For new users, visiting a site where we list by the program name rather than what it does is daunting to newbies.

When people visit a site, they are looking for themes, skins, and icons to change their GUI, their desktop, their icons, their favorite MP3 player, etc.

When they visit and see "WindowBlinds", for instance, they get confused (which is why we provided a WinXP Skins section when XP was released to help new users).

But ideally you would have sections with names like:

Visual Styles
Icon packages
MP3 player skins
Desktop shell themes
Start bar skins
Logons
Cursors

that sort of thing. But we're not sure how to go about that since we odn't want to confuse the people who already know what programs they need to use.

Any thoughts?

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I'm not sure if this makes sense or not as this may make things more complicated. but what about offering simple and advanced modes?

Simple mode lists them by what they do and would prominantly display some information about what it does and what program they need as well as how to install the skin (sort of a friendly standard mini-faq/tutorial for each category). Yes I know that currently some information is displayed at the top of each page regarding the current app, but the message board stills gets its fair share of "I downloaded X but don't know what to do with it" posts.

Though this doesn't necessarily address how things are categorized which is the crux of the problem you described.

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Chirs is right. A faq would help too! Also you could make it user definable (like an "advanced" setting for normal app lists).

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paxx

Join Date 03/2001

I'm not sure that calling sections by what they do instead of by what program they need would be any simpler for the newbie, since they would then not know what program they need to make it work.
No, I think the best way to go is to offer a big HELP or FAQ button at the top.

Crae: go to your "My Account" page.

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MadIce

Join Date 05/2001

+18

I think it is a bad idea. It would be better to have the section named to the app that does the skinning. A tradional Windows theme doesn't need that because Windows does the skinning itself. But themes for DesktopX just run under Windows and are skinned by DesktopX. Don't give people the illusion that they need just Windows and that DesktopX (in this example) is not involved. This is misleading.

Another approach could be that you divide the sections in groups that have headers like "Desktop themes" which lists DesktopX, NextStart, etc. One would have to select DesktopX to see the DesktopX themes, but one at least knows that it is a Desktop theme and that something called DesktopX is involved. At the top of the page one could have a line that helps a newbie with a simple link like "What is DesktopX?" or "How to get NextStart" which directs to web sites that tells more about the app, how to download it and (when applicable) how to register it.

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MadIce

Join Date 05/2001

+18

To be more clear: The "What is DesktopX" or "How to get NextStart" line should be at the top of each page that lists the themes/skins of a given app.

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craeonics heads to "edit account" page
craeonics looks around

Damn, this is a mess is small Mozilla windows.

craeonics wonders what paxx is aiming at

What I meant with my previous post is that newbies will get a categorised listing by default and can change this to a list of apps via preferences.

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MadIce's got a point, by the way.

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paxx

Join Date 03/2001

Crae, my understanding was that you would like to be able to customize the apps that you see on the left. You can from the My Account page.
If that's not what you meant, my apologies.

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GreenReaper

Join Date 05/2001

+32

If you're going to make sections like Visual Styles, make sure it's always got the name of the application in - eg "Visual Styles (WindowBlinds)" or "Icons (IconPackager)". Having it otherwise is misleading because there may be other software that provides, say, Visual Styles on which WindowBlinds skins will not work.

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I like the idea that Madice suggested. I would make that the simple mode that unregestered users see. Have the advanced mode drop the catagoreies. Also add a giant blinking box that reads "GO HERE IF YOU ARE WONDERING HOW TO USE THIS!!!" or "YOU MUST HAVE XXX TO USE THESE SKINS, GO HERE TO GET XXX"

. I would also make one of the catagories "ap skins" for things like Trilion (hint, hint) and Winamp. A real message board would be helpful. You could have a section that is essentially "Did you really read the FAQ? I didn't think so. Go read it before posting questions." RTFM

Of course I am always good at ignoring that.

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I like having WinXP skins as a separate category, though, because that way I can tell easily whether a skin will decorate the taskbar or not. I would imagine that it would be confusing for a newbie to find some skins skinning the taskbar and some not.

Maybe call the "WinXP skins" section "Windowblinds skins for XP"? It would be verbose, but accurate.

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GreenReaper

Join Date 05/2001

+32

. . . except that people might think they only work on XP.

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paxx

Join Date 03/2001

Just make it a subcategory of Windowblinds skins, for goodness sake, like the ones there are right now. Windows XP features could be an option, and UIS 1 could be another for people looking for fasts skins...

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