15 must-have sections
Friday, May 3, 2002 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Once upon a time WinCustomize's stated policy was that it would only contain the most popular apps as sections. Sections that weren't popular would be removed.
Over time, common sense grew and we realized that you can't really do that -- have a section and then remove it. What about the hard work of skin authors and such who took the time to submit something?
So we took a different route - we only would DISPLAY the most popular sections and the others would be dsiplayed by clicking on the header bar ("library") so that you can get to the other sections.
So, if you were in our shoes and had to pick say 15 sections to have on a skin site - ANY 15 sections (whether we have them here or not) what would they be with the criteria based on POPULARITY (i.e. no breaks for a "unique" freeware app please).
Where popularity is determined by a combination (pick your own way of weighting the factors in this combo):
1) Users using the program
2) Activity of skin authors
3) Legitimacy (i.e. app needs to be actively developed and developer of app must publicly approve skins being made with its format).
4) Uniqueness (should matter some, i.e. how many skinnable MP3 players should a site have?)
Here's what I'd pick to get things started:
1) Wallpapers
2) Windows Media Player
3) WinAmp
4) WindowBlinds
5) ICQ Plus
6) NeXTStart
7) Coolplayer*
8) Dashboard*
9) DesktopX
10) WinStyles
11) IconPackager
12) ObjectBar
13) Litestep
14) LogonStudio
15) CursorXP
Others that are right up there:
a) Trillian
Talisman
c) Hoverdesk
d) Screenshots
* WinCustomize is the official skin site for Dashboard and Skinplayer so they will always be part of any top 15 list.
Stardock apps that aren't listed:
1) PocketBlinds. Just isn't getting enough skinning support, has been a release candidate for a long time.
2) WebBlinds.
3) SkinStudio widgets
Other possibilities:
Beatnik (we have a section for this but lack of activity took it from the default home page choices)
SkinMem
Quick Notes
Yahoo Messenger
BTW, you can select which sections to display from your settings. So you can have as many or few that you want.
Over time, common sense grew and we realized that you can't really do that -- have a section and then remove it. What about the hard work of skin authors and such who took the time to submit something?
So we took a different route - we only would DISPLAY the most popular sections and the others would be dsiplayed by clicking on the header bar ("library") so that you can get to the other sections.
So, if you were in our shoes and had to pick say 15 sections to have on a skin site - ANY 15 sections (whether we have them here or not) what would they be with the criteria based on POPULARITY (i.e. no breaks for a "unique" freeware app please).
Where popularity is determined by a combination (pick your own way of weighting the factors in this combo):
1) Users using the program
2) Activity of skin authors
3) Legitimacy (i.e. app needs to be actively developed and developer of app must publicly approve skins being made with its format).
4) Uniqueness (should matter some, i.e. how many skinnable MP3 players should a site have?)
Here's what I'd pick to get things started:
1) Wallpapers
2) Windows Media Player
3) WinAmp
4) WindowBlinds
5) ICQ Plus
6) NeXTStart
7) Coolplayer*
8) Dashboard*
9) DesktopX
10) WinStyles
11) IconPackager
12) ObjectBar
13) Litestep
14) LogonStudio
15) CursorXP
Others that are right up there:
a) Trillian
Talismanc) Hoverdesk
d) Screenshots
* WinCustomize is the official skin site for Dashboard and Skinplayer so they will always be part of any top 15 list.
Stardock apps that aren't listed:
1) PocketBlinds. Just isn't getting enough skinning support, has been a release candidate for a long time.
2) WebBlinds.
3) SkinStudio widgets
Other possibilities:
Beatnik (we have a section for this but lack of activity took it from the default home page choices)
SkinMem
Quick Notes
Yahoo Messenger
BTW, you can select which sections to display from your settings. So you can have as many or few that you want.
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MikeB314
Reply #22 Saturday, May 4, 2002 9:58 AM
Reply #22 Saturday, May 4, 2002 9:58 AM
I second EzPop. I don't really know how popular it is, but I use it every day. There are certainly a lot of skins for it, and they are quite small. As Hippy said, it is the only skinnable email checker as far as I know.
Jafo
Reply #23 Saturday, May 4, 2002 10:06 AM
Reply #23 Saturday, May 4, 2002 10:06 AM
Screenshots could simply 'time-out'...leave them active for a week or so, then they auto-delete.
That 'should' be helpful for band-width, AND be useful for projects in progress, etc....
That 'should' be helpful for band-width, AND be useful for projects in progress, etc....
jcg
Reply #24 Saturday, May 4, 2002 12:20 PM
Reply #24 Saturday, May 4, 2002 12:20 PM
Regarding screenshots, I agree with Jafo. I usually delete mine after the theme goes up anyway. If the stated purpose of a screenshot is to showoff your new modded desktop, which I think is a great idea, after a week or so it falls so far down the list I doubt anyone would drill down far enough to see it. If its to get comments on a work in progress, once the theme goes up what's the point of leaving there?
treetog
Reply #25 Saturday, May 4, 2002 1:22 PM
Reply #25 Saturday, May 4, 2002 1:22 PM
Brad, I don´t know why, but as far as have seeing, HVD themes are around the half file size of the DesktopX themes, so, I believe they would be less bandwidth consuming.
Yes, EZPop would be a great addition too, it is a small app (so, low bandwidth), very practical, popular and usefull.
Yes, EZPop would be a great addition too, it is a small app (so, low bandwidth), very practical, popular and usefull.
treetog
Reply #26 Saturday, May 4, 2002 1:23 PM
Reply #26 Saturday, May 4, 2002 1:23 PM
doh! I forgot something important about EzPop, it´s fun to skin for!
craeonics
Reply #27 Saturday, May 4, 2002 2:10 PM
Reply #27 Saturday, May 4, 2002 2:10 PM
Listen to Jafo and Hippy.
By the way... craeonics drags a dead horse out of the ditch
...did I see HoverDesk up there? What happened to the "HoverDesk competes with Objectbar thus will have no section" argument?
By the way... craeonics drags a dead horse out of the ditch
...did I see HoverDesk up there? What happened to the "HoverDesk competes with Objectbar thus will have no section" argument?
Koasati
Reply #28 Saturday, May 4, 2002 3:01 PM
Reply #28 Saturday, May 4, 2002 3:01 PM
Why not take Bill Sawyer's idea a step farther, and is you can d/l the skins elsewhere,........ no section.
That would eliminate a lot of bandwidth.
That would eliminate a lot of bandwidth.
grayhaze
Reply #29 Saturday, May 4, 2002 3:21 PM
Reply #29 Saturday, May 4, 2002 3:21 PM
I'll probably get beaten to a pulp for suggesting this but, Sonique? I think there's a pretty large user base out there, and a huge number of fantastic skins. With Sonique 2 on the immediate horizon, I think the popularity of this MP3 player will get a big boost.
At one point I actually used to use Sonique exclusively, but had to give in to WinAmp due to the WBAmp plugin for WindowBlinds not supporting it.
At one point I actually used to use Sonique exclusively, but had to give in to WinAmp due to the WBAmp plugin for WindowBlinds not supporting it.
Frogboy
Reply #30 Saturday, May 4, 2002 7:14 PM
Reply #30 Saturday, May 4, 2002 7:14 PM
On a slightly different topic, is anyone interested in doing an objective review comparison of Sonqiue 2 vs. WinAmp 3 vs. MS Media player?
Woodbridge
Reply #31 Sunday, May 5, 2002 7:48 AM
Reply #31 Sunday, May 5, 2002 7:48 AM
in no particular order)
WindowBlinds with webBlinds & Skin Studio subsections
ObjectBar
DesktopX
WinStyles
WebBlinds
Icons
Trillain
Windows Media Player
EzPop - Something I use as much as WB
Logons
Cursors
HoverDesk
Those are the progs I use (not all at once) WB and EzPop are on all the time, CursorXP and IconPackage icon are used most of the time. Progs Like Trillian and WiMP are in use often. Since I plan on buying Hoverdesk after my next pay packet it would be nice to see a section for it here even if it only links to another site but I can see the problems in doing that (the poor sever you link to would take a battering)
WindowBlinds with webBlinds & Skin Studio subsections
ObjectBar
DesktopX
WinStyles
WebBlinds
Icons
Trillain
Windows Media Player
EzPop - Something I use as much as WB
Logons
Cursors
HoverDesk
Those are the progs I use (not all at once) WB and EzPop are on all the time, CursorXP and IconPackage icon are used most of the time. Progs Like Trillian and WiMP are in use often. Since I plan on buying Hoverdesk after my next pay packet it would be nice to see a section for it here even if it only links to another site but I can see the problems in doing that (the poor sever you link to would take a battering)
Frogboy
Reply #32 Sunday, May 5, 2002 5:05 PM
Reply #32 Sunday, May 5, 2002 5:05 PM
You've listed WebBlinds twice so you can add another section.
How come people aren't tlaing about Talisman? Far be it for me to be promoting a "competitor" but Talisman is pretty neat.
How come people aren't tlaing about Talisman? Far be it for me to be promoting a "competitor" but Talisman is pretty neat.
Woodbridge
Reply #35 Sunday, May 5, 2002 8:06 PM
Reply #35 Sunday, May 5, 2002 8:06 PM
WebBlinds is so good I put it in twice.....opps 
I can't spell Trillian either...
Talisman and LiteSTEP I've not used so I can't comment.
I can't spell Trillian either...Talisman and LiteSTEP I've not used so I can't comment.
Frogboy
Reply #37 Sunday, May 5, 2002 11:05 PM
Reply #37 Sunday, May 5, 2002 11:05 PM
In the skinning primer I wrote that any real skin site has to have litestep.
Litestep is immensely popular. Many of you know we track all sorts of stats. Litestep gets a LOT of search engine hits each day for instance.
Litestep is immensely popular. Many of you know we track all sorts of stats. Litestep gets a LOT of search engine hits each day for instance.
AJCrowley
Reply #38 Monday, May 6, 2002 3:14 AM
Reply #38 Monday, May 6, 2002 3:14 AM
The only ones I really care about are the bigger Stardock ones (WindowBlinds, DesktopX, IconPackager et al), LiteStep, CursorXP, Wallpapers (should be even more heavily moderated) and Winamp. Programs such as Yahoo Messenger aren't truly skinnable, it's more a replacement for the listbox background and button glyphs from what I've seen. Another neat choice would be Sonique (there are some really great Sonique skins).
There are in my opinion too many skinnable apps out there that don't really need to be skinned. Programs that would be covered by WindowBlinds in particular (As the famous sociopath Kelly McNeil once said while trying to touch his elbows behind his back and bite his own ear, "Consistency is king").
There are in my opinion too many skinnable apps out there that don't really need to be skinned. Programs that would be covered by WindowBlinds in particular (As the famous sociopath Kelly McNeil once said while trying to touch his elbows behind his back and bite his own ear, "Consistency is king").
craeonics
Reply #39 Monday, May 6, 2002 4:17 AM
Reply #39 Monday, May 6, 2002 4:17 AM
Ah, but freeform rules supreme. WindowBlinds is still restricted by windows rectangular model, so any app that relies on that will be consistent, yes, but still very very boxy.
Ofcourse you (may) have a point when it's about skinnable note apps and such.
Ofcourse you (may) have a point when it's about skinnable note apps and such.
paxx
Reply #40 Monday, May 6, 2002 10:08 AM
Reply #40 Monday, May 6, 2002 10:08 AM
I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "programs that can be skinned by Windowblinds don't need to be skinnable" argument.
Some people seem to forget something: not everybody uses Windowblinds.
And besides, listen to Craeonics.
In my opinion, there are and never will be enough skinnable applications.
I don't see why we should be limited to 15 applications. Programs such as Beatnik, Colorpad and Kewlpad are ridiculously small, so I don't understand what it would save to get rid of them. I agree that there should be a limited number of apps listed by default, but we should have the option to have them show if we want to (like it is now, although those less popular apps could be unchecked by default).
Some people seem to forget something: not everybody uses Windowblinds.
And besides, listen to Craeonics.
In my opinion, there are and never will be enough skinnable applications.
I don't see why we should be limited to 15 applications. Programs such as Beatnik, Colorpad and Kewlpad are ridiculously small, so I don't understand what it would save to get rid of them. I agree that there should be a limited number of apps listed by default, but we should have the option to have them show if we want to (like it is now, although those less popular apps could be unchecked by default).
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Reply #21 Saturday, May 4, 2002 9:34 AM