Forgot the download issue. I can only imagine getting thousands of downloads, and how nice it would feel. But, I also would understand, as someone already suggested, that people download for all sorts of reasons. I imagine a lot of them are like myself, download, look at it , delete it because the preview was better than the skin for one reason or another, etc. So, this makes user comments more valuable to me. If a downloader takes time to post, usually it is sincere. Now , as a skinner it is very discouraging sometimes, but not for the reason you may think. If the downloads are astronomical for one skinner, or several, who are known top skinners, I say to myself, I can't compete with that, wow. Several times I have considered not skinning because of the giant totals some skinners get. I have always assumed they were accurate, and that I just do not get downloads like that. Rightfully so, surely. but inflated totals are not needed to put things in perspective. Accurate totals would help there.

Thanks.

  Wise guy.

I thought you had a stash of e-motes tucked away someplace. I do for just such an emergency.

You wouldn't be a skinner if you didn't have your own emotes.

I agree Kitty, the fun is gone but the damage is done.

I'd like to mention also that "spun graphite" should have made the daily list on two occasions this week but didn't show up.

I've also had assurances that there are protocols in place to ensure that the counts cannot be influenced by an outside source, so the problem has to be on the site side of things. It just doesn't seem to be a concern of the WC management to maintain accurate tabs on the download counts or it would have been corrected by now.

At the risk of another promotion-less year, I'd like to think that Brad would step in and let us know what is up with this. After all he is the main man but his silence in these matters speak volumes of how he views those that provide the content to keep this site alive.

No, I do it to share. But if no one is taking, then I'm not really sharing. I can skin for me and just keep them. That way, I don't stress over what works and what doesn't, for whom, and whom not (was that right? ) . 

Plus, DX doesn't seem to be getting fixed either. A lot of stuff don't seem to be getting fixed. I have serious doubts as to DX 4 ever coming out of beta. And if it does, it'll be more of the same.

Also, I was thinking to test the widely held belief that if I backed off on DX, maybe some others would jump in.

It has been said, really, that I am the main reason no one skins DX anymore. For fear that I will bury them in the gallery. 

I think it's so sad it's not getting fixed. Yes, this isn't the first thread like this. How many years has this been going on?

Shame on Stardock. 

 Maybe this'll help. 

Jim, you make Dx because you enjoy doing them. Unless you want to go full time to windowblinds or something else don't give up what you enjoy. Ever think there is much more to making a DX than graphics? How about all the scripts that are needed and you have that knowledge. I wouldn't know where to start with a DX. So enjoy what you do and when the downloads read -0- than it may be time to stop.

As far as other people saying they don't make them because of all you make, don't worry about that. The gallery is there for anyone if they wish to make something. Ever think you are the king of DX and most of what you think you hear is just joking and if not oh well. Enjoy your DX themes.

Well crap, there goes another job down the drain.   It isn't all about the download counts, but as Vamps and others have mentioned, they are a needed indicator of how well received/liked a particular upload is. High or low, they do need to be accurate.

As for DX themes, I think it has a lot to do with computer users needs and likes having changed. Full themes may not get much attention now-a-days but there will always be a fanbase for DX and a need for widgets and gadgets. 

There is a excellent philosophy for any business that I've heard recently ... it is "Do it right, or don't bother doing it at all." Nuff said I think.

Sorry Vamps, didn't mean to hijack. Thanks guys. Let's get back on topic before Vamps makes an icon outta me....

Downloads are not everything to me.

Still a high correct downloadcount means that a skin is popular & as a skinner that would probably make you happy  people like what you created.

We all seem to agree that the downloadcount should be correct for several reasons. Can we agree on that ?

For me, any site feature listed anywhere (on any website) creates a reasonable expectation of it working and functioning as indicated.

Should something stop working as indicated, then it ought to be remedied, not because of a thousand reasonable reasons, but because if I advertise a green house with a yellow door for sale, it better be a green house with a yellow door.

(Ew @ the colors. hehe)

I have always taken this statement as fact and relied on it, but that is no longer the case:

Note: WinCustomize works to ensure its download counts are accurate. Some download sites inflate their download counts either intentionally or unintentionally. On WinCustomize.com, we take measures to try to provide you with accurate download counts. These download counts can be assumed to be fairly close to the actual # of individuals who have downloaded this skin, theme, wallpaper, or icon package.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the site to work as it should. I would be thrilled if the numbers were correct but realize that some of them are just too far out there to be correct. An acknowledgement and fix would be nice!

... in my first post #5 I reported the Wincustomize statistics (26.944 daily visits) and as we all know the Euphoria WB skin is leading the opening Front Page but now let's talk about WB, this are the results of 5 minutes research, I just can't imagine the TOTAL NUMBER of the WindowBlinds users ! 

" WindowBlinds has been downloaded over 10 million times (font: Stardock News, 28 March 2006) WindowBlinds 7.0 at PCWorld.pl and was voted "Best Vertical Market Program or Utility" in the 2006 "

" Stardock is excited to release WindowBlinds 7.2 today! WindowBlinds is the application to completely change the look and feel of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It has been downloaded over 16 million times on Download.com alone,"

" Since its initial release, WindowBlinds has steadily improved in capability, performance, robustness, and popularity. With over 12 million downloads at CNET's Download.com, WindowBlinds is the most popular desktop enhancement utility of all time. "

" WindowBlinds 7.4 Fileforum Pick (April 12, 2012) Windows 7/Vista/XP / ... / 344,486 downloads "

etc...

after all the "all time most popular WB skin" VistaPlus V.3 by Adni18 was downloaded 910.473 times !

So... for 100,000 skin downloads, only one in 160 users needs to download...

Assuming 16M WB downloads is accurate

"The domain download.com attracted at least 113 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study."

well if these numbers are not accurate there will be a lot of sites to be fixed !!

i dont think iv had a problem with my downloads,,saying that someone did say somthing to me on deviantart about it,,

I've been looking through statistics and analytics for the past few days.

To use Eurphoria as an example since it was mentioned here several times.  It's one of the top 20 visited pages on WinCustomize in the last 30 days or so.  It's easily getting thousands and thousands of views each day, so a high download number for that skin is perfectly normal.  

That's not the only one, but it's a great example.  

Some people actually promote their skins outside of WinCustomize, and we get tons of traffic from people doing searches on Google, Bing, etc.  

I know there some issues we'll look at, but don't discount the amount of people that are downloading stuff here.