Still lessons to be learned...
Sunday, March 4, 2007 by Cyberworld | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
We are used to call WC as a community...still does this really apply to the site?
A definition of community could possibly be the aggregate of persons with common characteristics such as geographic, professional, cultural, racial, religious, or socioeconomic similarities. Communities can be defined by location, race, ethnicity, age, occupation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The main bonding element of communities is communication, hence the likeness of the words. And from what my experience has taught me is that in WC there is a serious lack of it.
People don't actually come here to socialize, they come here to download skins, themes and other skin related stuff. Very few comments, very few forum posts and very few post replies in comparison to other communities. If you do need stats here are some:
WC Stats:
30 037 Posts
384 915 Replies
Founded: 2001
DA Stats:
689 502 Posts
14 534 399 Replies
Founded: 2000
So i guess there are still lessons to be learned... 
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Reply #22 Sunday, March 4, 2007 1:32 PM
The whole thing was meant to be "very" sarcastic.
Do you really think I would stop submitting skins? Right.....
Just because I'm a Master, doesn't mean I have to agree with everything.
This is a community. We're a big family. I'm the sarcastic one.
Reply #23 Sunday, March 4, 2007 1:42 PM
For your other concerns...
There is a forum bug thread here somewhere, if you have noticed any problems please post there as the developers are always wanting more info.
Just a bad time... For every person leaving because they can't get their way there are a dozen who never stayed more than one visit due to seeing that person trying to bully others and being elitist. People should have a right to express an opinion without being abused or feeling demeaned. The site needs to be more welcoming to new people.
PM system is in development. I see a PM when I click on someone's nick, and a couple of us have exchanged messages, but I don't know if it's still experimental or where it is going.
You will never have a rating system which satisfies everyone. The rating system is here to stay and you just have to accept some people are never going to be happy about it.
More active means ratio of people posting v uploading, not site traffic, which of course would be vastly different due to the different sizes of the two sites.
Reply #24 Sunday, March 4, 2007 2:14 PM
I never said that.
I didn't say that either.
Why do you think sarcasm works? You could try mildness at first.
Oh...
I may not be who you are, but that doesn't mean you can treat me or anyone else like that.
Reply #25 Sunday, March 4, 2007 2:31 PM
Okay...i'll see to it later.
One of the worst from what i see...sad..but inevitable.
Glad to hear this. I hope it gets implemented soon and is not a Subs only feature.
I know that. Sad, but necessary i guess.
Didn't understand this 100%, but i'll take your word for it...although i thought site activity is counted by traffic.
Reply #26 Sunday, March 4, 2007 2:43 PM
From now on, I'll be totally serious and point my finger when I say something.
In no way did I treat you a certain way. Is your skin that thin? Guess I need to go into rehab for hurting someone's feelings....
I was trying to lighten the mood. Sorry for being humorous.....
This is why I hardly ever make comments. Say one little thing and people will crucify you!
Reply #27 Sunday, March 4, 2007 2:53 PM
I caught your sarcasm & enjoyed it. Thanks for the laugh.
Reply #28 Sunday, March 4, 2007 3:02 PM
I understand this and there is no need for apology. I could choose to play along or not. I chose the latter. No way my skin is thin... I just didn't want to get off subject with jokes.
Rehab sounds fine though...
Reply #29 Sunday, March 4, 2007 3:33 PM
ditto.
It'll be better as we move on out of the shitstorm. Change is what life's all about. Best I can do is behave so that in the future I can look back and say to myself that I acted with some dignity and honor in the situation.
Time to pick up the pieces and see what we've got.
Reply #30 Sunday, March 4, 2007 4:45 PM
I'll agree with that.
Heraclius philosophy. 
Reply #31 Monday, March 5, 2007 12:10 AM
Cyberworld, I think you are comparing apples and oranges.
WinCustomize is a skin site. You are comparing forums to forums. Why not compare instead the # of comments the typical upload gets here to the # of comments the typical upload gets on dA.
People come here to share skins and themes. The forums are not the main source of interaction on the site.
Reply #32 Monday, March 5, 2007 12:17 AM
Reply #33 Monday, March 5, 2007 12:26 AM
Certainly Zubaz, but in terms of interaction, it's skinning comments where most of the discussion comes in.
Few forum posts get more than 10 responses. But most popular or remotely popular skins get 40 or more comments.
deviantART gets 30 times WC's traffic (it covers all art, whereas we specialize on customization). It's top art entries get no where near 30 times as many comments.
The current 3 most popular skins on Wc for the past 30 days got 232 comments, 59 comments, and 50 comments.
On da, their 3 most popular art pieces in the same time frame got 500 comments, 326 comments, 0 comments, and 161 comments.
Both are very socialable sites with a lot of activity and socializing. dA is a better designed site for socializing because it focuses more on that aspect than WC has traditionally. But WC is hardly low on socialization.
Reply #34 Monday, March 5, 2007 12:38 AM
...Gotta agree with that!
Reply #35 Monday, March 5, 2007 2:35 AM
i agree with that at 100%. and i add deviantart= all arts (with the best of and the more silly) and prints, resources for arts, and he is clearly build to promote people's arts. Here is clearly a site designed to share stuff and forum to learn teach help others/by others in friendship. And i think friendship is here.
Reply #36 Monday, March 5, 2007 4:46 AM
This is not quite correct. A browse through most popular skins indicated that the 3 most popular (popularity by views and not comments) art pieces for the last month and not last 3 months got 812, 912 and 917 comments respectively and those are works uploaded within that month.
My top commented skin has 20 comments. In fact all my 326 skins have received a total of 1117 comments within a timeframe of 6 years. That's 3.42 comments per skin. The respective comments ammount for my DA account is 27.65 comments per skin.
Please do take into account these facts:
6 Years at WC = 1135 given comments / 1117 comments received.
1 Year at DA = 5773 given comments / 2406 comments received.
30 times more. And that's not because i am being more active. It's just because the site permits it.
Bear in mind that within those 1117 WC comments received are counted my replies too (which are at a ratio of 1:3), whereas in DA is purely the comments received by other users.
That is true.
 Bottom line I just hope WC gets more focus on that aspect too. It's important for the artists mainly and the viewers as well.Reply #37 Monday, March 5, 2007 5:30 AM
Quality is the key, not quantity.
Reply #38 Monday, March 5, 2007 6:49 AM
1 Year at DA = 5773 given comments / 2406 comments received.
Cyber....I think that shoots yourself in the foot.
Think about it...you gave and received one for one on Wincustomize....and we all know how it can be quid-pro-quo with comments....yet on Devart you gave out more than twice as many as you received...seems a bit one-sided as 'community' goes, don't ya think?....
Reply #39 Monday, March 5, 2007 7:37 AM
Think about it...you gave and received one for one on Wincustomize....and we all know how it can be quid-pro-quo with comments....yet on Devart you gave out more than twice as many as you received...seems a bit one-sided as 'community' goes, don't ya think?....
Sorry that needs some clarification i guess:
a. I removed approximately 120 devs as part of gallery clean-up thus losing about 2000 comments.
b. I make forum threads where people share devs and i offer critique and advice.
c. The comments received apply for comments given to my devs alone, not the replies to comments i gave to other people devs.
Does this clear things up? DA as Brad admits to his honor is more active on this field. No doubt about it.
Reply #40 Monday, March 5, 2007 7:40 AM
Don't get out of focus. I did not comment on content quality factors. I refer to site inter-user interaction. And only that.
And yeah i would looooove to see WC being more like DA when it comes to commenting and forum system.
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Reply #21 Sunday, March 4, 2007 1:32 PM
I'm just expressing dolefulness. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'd never urge people to abandon site. If that is what you imply.