well.. see... back at Mod HQ we have a special button for just the occasion.. tho we rarely use it as it can be life altering..

WinCustomize has never really done much traditional advertising.  Much was word of mouth and with social taking over most marketing these days, we try to post and share as much as we can.

I'd like to see more users help in sharing, but whenever I bring something like that up, I get the usual anti-social networking comments.

That really is disappointing...I've found that the social media (used correctly) have allowed me to get to know folks from here (and others) a good deal better.

Spreading the word about WC would be something I'd hope everyone would want to do.

I do it on Facebook...which I thoroughly enjoy! 

Us customizers should absolutely spread the word (And picturez) as much as possible, however when people drop off in a more or less large number a little Ad-campaign would be a nice addon to the now more scarce "word-of-mouth" as the community has decreased in numbers. 

Not sure where you get your "large numbers" from, but the type of advertising your speaking of gets people to buy the products.  Recruiting skinners is whole different matter.

Yeah, of course you know this best Spence it´s just how it feels having been around for a couple of years seeing downloads go down overall and fellow-skinners not being seen for longer and longer periods.

-My hope is that with Win 8's general Looks even more people will discover Wincustomize as we can really make THE difference if people wants a customized look to their desktop (and they do, they just don´t know about us...yet) 

You been Zubished.

I don't know that we need to recruit more skinners, given how many are on the books already.  What I think needs to happen is to give skinners who have stopped/quit/given up more incentive to want to skin again.  I was rather hoping something would come of the suite suggestion in the 'Where's Hippy' thread, but nobody has taken up the cause as yet.  I mean, if we could get some of those guys and gals interested in a suite, then maybe another, and another, just maybe the skins will start flowing again.

Now I know that Stardock is a business designed to make money, otherwise it wouldn't exist, but I wonder if making the tools to skin just that bit more affordable in these harder economic times might actually get more people into doing WBs and Icon packages, etc.  I'm not suggesting to just give them away or anything like that, but maybe apply a handsome discount to SkinStudio and IconDeveloper now and then to those customers who only have one or two standalone programs to jazz up their desktops.

Another thought comes to mind, and I know that it may be contentious to some, given it has been a touchy subject in the past, but maybe master skinners could do 4 or 5 master skins and then have to do one free before their next pay-for skin.  The reason I suggest this is that the majority of WBs going up in the gallery these days are master skins, and given so many are still experiencing economic difficulties/hardship, I wonder if things might pick up more if there were more free WBs and IconPackager skins available? 

I'm hoping that I don't get crucified for having suggested it, because master skinners should be compensated for their hard work and achievement, but I just feel that making things a bit easier financially could help lift WC as a whole, and that, my friends, benefits us all.  Yes, perhaps a bit of advertising could bring more members, but making it attractive when they get here is the key to greater participation and turn over.

Orright, come hail or shine, I'm pressing the 'post reply' button now... hopefully my suggestions don't create me any emenies.

Perhaps... some people that have W8 don't WANT to use Start8 just to make a good Windowblind. Many people actually like the new interface and would rather have something that customizes IT, rather than the old school.

For those that are still on 7, well... skinning took a big hit when XP dropped as the major OS as you just couldn't skin all the parts like you could XP. The fun aspect of it dropped a lot too as it got more complex.

Logons - Junk since XP went away. All the logons do is apply a wallpaper. You can't customize the look of your logon like you could with XP.

Icons - WHY... IP will bork your system in a heartbeat.

DX - Dropped

Right Click - Dropped

OD - Webgizmos was the predominant king. Jim is giving it a good shot though...

In a nutshell.. it's just too damn complicated for too many people now..

I don't think that'd make any difference at all....most Masters tend to upload 'freebies' anyway...and others redefine them...ie...release Master skins from 'Master' status - free to all....

Generally I find that skinning is a product of necessity.  When the OS is a 'dog' people will explore ways to improve it...either function and/or appearance.

Like it or not, 7 was sufficiently 'OK' that more people just left it 'as is'....and then when MS buggered 8 all of a sudden there was a REAL need for developments such as Start8 and ModernMix [and other people's options] and a rediscovering of 'modding'.

Historically, the MS OS was a bit 'clunky' and others investigated 'drastic' alternatives such as 3rd party shells - doing away with Explorer entirely [one of the reasons still that so many users here run Powerdesk or Dopus, etc. just to get away from explorer, even file-wise].

The current spate of MS trying to find itself is a real dampener on new development [of existing programs] as no-one is sure whether the next MS about-face will be good or bad for whatever is on the books....

Hard to agree with that comment. I only went back 36 WB's. As far as paying skins there are only 10 out of the 36. From the 26 free skins there are 7 that are Master skins that are free.

I think the main problem is the amount of smart phones and small tablets being used now.

As the Buddhist monk cashier once said, "Change comes from within."

Well I guess my question is answered then.

-Keep sharing the love 

Okay, so maybe I was a bit out there with regard to master skins, and it's not that I don't want masters to earn something for their time and effort.  I was just putting out some thoughts that may boost user participation, which in turn could inspire skinners to up the ante and enjoy their work more.  I think what prompted the idea were the various complaints from people who resented having to pay more to use skins after purchasing the software.

So it wasn't the best idea I've ever had, and the response tells me not to have it again. 

Let's just hope my memory holds up better than my... uh.... my... uh... my.  Oh what was it again?

Is that anything like the constipated mathematician... who worked it out with his pencil?

 Have you checked out the stand alone prices lately? Stardock has drastically lowered prices on the older stuff, and has a very good price point on all of the new stuff. Remember the higher priced ODNT sub that got reduced to a much lower price with the same apps included? I do. Renewals are cheaper as well.

As for hard times, yeah, I would know about that first hand, but those Master skinners may have needs for extra income as well (things are tough all over)and have a huge time investment in their talents and a good amount of cash in equipment and in many cases, the graphics programs they use. I don't begrudge any Master who wants to make a buck or two. There are still plenty of freebies available for us, imho, and some rival the Master skins in quality and originality.

Well, against my new found better judgement, I will suggest, at risk of laughter, a new project, community based, but this time we upload to a few sites to advertise it, promoting the Stardock name throughout. Post a little info at a few sites with links to the project, offering previews of progress,then offer the final work at WC first, see who comes for it, then maybe share elsewhere.

Or, just sit back and hope people find us. I know where I work, and it is a large place, a thousand people at least, and Windowblinds is not very well known, I have yet to find a fellow user, very sad.

Well, up for any thing I could contribute , so, I will wait to see if we get a brainstorm going.

Lack of new downloads aside, I am very much skinning still, just doing so many apps now, it takes longer, work coming soon.

Would previews draw attention, I usually do not preview because I like to  finish first, cause I change things so much while making a skin, but would post some screens.

FYI: my newest skin has a xion, rainlendar, docks , tabs, tiles and the main skin, Callled, "Tactical".Mesh textures, ammo clips, utility pack, bowie knife, some time soon, I may get it done. Cheers all.