Rating skins
A screenshot is NOT the skin
Friday, February 4, 2005 by Jafo | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
It beggars the question how someone thinks they can rate a Litestep theme, or a Dx theme ....or any equivalent 'complex' skin....WB, WA, WMP, etc when all they are likely to know of it is the screenshot....as they do not DL and run the work, or even have not ever used the program.
A screenshot is one happy snap of [as example, an LS theme...perhaps 1600 lines of hand-written code and hundreds of images taking weeks to create] ....yet some twit will go 'der...look at dat piccie...ho-hum' and consign the work to the depths of obscurity for no valid reason than their own ignorance.
Rate the skin/theme...not its 'pretty picture'.
If you are not genuinely knowledgable about a particular skinning 'field', take the initiative to opt-out of judging it at all.
You will only do the skinners and their work a gross injustice...[and raise people's ire]...
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Reply #22 Saturday, February 5, 2005 12:23 PM
Reply #23 Saturday, February 5, 2005 1:48 PM
I feel your pain. However, this topic has been openly discussed, complained about, battered on, belittled, bashed and brooded over for as long as I can remember.
Despite the change in the rating system, it still has the same flaws that it used to have. Many a fine skinner has left this community because of it as well.
I guess it is a necessary evil which we have to endure as no alternative has ever been to the satisfaction of the powers that be so far.
All I can say is that if you feel that your ratings have been slammed (by an aforementioned polecat) then email an admin. When it has happened to me, they have been very helpful in correcting the issue. Although I have a feeling this, this.. skunk-weasel in sheeps clothing (yes, I know who you are too) has passed near my barnyard again.
All we can do as honest members of this community, is to not stoop to their level and try to remember why we do what we do in the first place. Yes, it's a nice touchy-feely thing to have great ratings and high downloads, but ya know.. I get a lot of satisfaction from just looking at what I have done and thinking how gruelling and well worth it it was to have traveled that distance.. know what I mean.
Reply #24 Saturday, February 5, 2005 2:04 PM
| All we can do as honest members of this community, is to not stoop to their level and try to remember why we do what we do in the first place. Yes, it's a nice touchy-feely thing to have great ratings and high downloads, but ya know.. I get a lot of satisfaction from just looking at what I have done and thinking how gruelling and well worth it it was to have traveled that distance.. know what I mean. |
Well said
Reply #25 Saturday, February 5, 2005 2:21 PM
Everything you do on the site is logged already. It keeps track of what you rate, what you rate it at, your downloads, and much more. Well, to that code, write a piece of code that detects say a certain amount of low rating. I noticed that in our profile now, it shows our avg rating of skins. You can use this so if a avg rating is low, it will raise a red flag to be examined. Once examined and confirmed, if they are abusing the system, then they are either warned or booted then all ratings they made will be removed and readjusted. The problem with this is the size of a database, it will be huge if it logs what skin and rating each user rated. Unless it already does that.
To sum it up, a person gets out of line, it red flags/unless it was a tip off, warn or ban due to their activities (could give them a fair chance to explain for the low ratings they were giving people), Have their ratings reset (This will remove every rating they made site wide). Then when the site refreshes it doesn't use that low rating that they made.
It was just a idea.
Reply #26 Saturday, February 5, 2005 4:48 PM
Reply #27 Saturday, February 5, 2005 6:08 PM
Reply #28 Saturday, February 5, 2005 6:11 PM
Mackintosh ... no, it's not a broad swipe at all. It is aimed at those people who believe they MUST rate anything and everything so that they may become number one rater and obtain some obscure pleasure there-from.
This is how it 'works'.
A person browsing the uploads sees a screenshot, say, of Litestep......
He rates it an arbitrary figure...or worse, a figure based on his 'fantasy/imagination' of what he MIGHT be looking at.
He does not skin, or even USE Litestep....and has no idea AT ALL what it is.
But....in spite of its clever, complex coding, its hundreds of images set to a per-pixel accuracy, its de-bugging over weeks of testing....the screenshot looks 'bland'.
This dick-head rates the screenshot.
Then, he gets on threads such as this and claims there is nothing wrong with doing this...as every rating has relevance.
Not, dear boy, if it is the ONLY rating applied...and pushes the work WRONGLY off the scale...in EITHER direction...up, OR down.
IN THE CASE OF A SKIN SCREENSHOT IT IS A SIMPLE REPRESENTATION OF WHAT THE SKIN MIGHT BE/DO.
IT IS NOT THE SKIN.
People MUST rate the skin, not the skinner's competence to generate a screenshot.
That sub-culture here who enjoy creating screenshots of other people's works and displaying them for public edification....stick to the Screenshot section to do so.....that's fine.
When you venture out to the 'real world' of skin manufacture....show some respect for the people skinning FOR you and actually look at the object you rate.
Back to the Litestep shell theme example....the ONLY raters with any 'right' to pass judgement on an LS shell are people who at some time or another have either created them themselves...or at least have used the program and know what they are looking at. Looking blankly at the screenshot and saying 'don't like pink' isn't good enough.
Words to live by....
"If you don't use it....don't abuse it."...
Reply #29 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:18 PM
| the ONLY raters with any 'right' to pass judgement on an LS shell are people who at some time or another have either created them themselves...or at least have used the program and know what they are looking at. |
IMHO, the same applies to Windowblinds themes...
Reply #30 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:32 PM
Reply #31 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:42 PM
| Porting is NOT creating really |
Porting IS indeed creating no matter how you twist and turn it!
(That was quoted from Phoons post - from before he edited it!!)
Reply #32 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:51 PM
I do use and have used. Those things that I don't use, I don't rate.
I see you only quoted 1/2 of that sentence Phoon. I will continue to rate under the 1/2 you didn't quote.
I see Phoon edited his post to include all the sentence. Oh well.
Reply #33 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:52 PM
| Now this is only a thought...but, instead of a handful of people rating these skins, why dont all skins thats been accepted and put on display get an automatic rating of 5 or 6 |
Butch - all new skins get a rating of 6 to start with automatically...
Reply #35 Saturday, February 5, 2005 7:54 PM
The one thing you have to remember this is a general site. This for the most part is not a extremist skinning site. so those who are here want to participate and they want some quality too (which should be provided by your programs)They are not concern with the most excellent coding just as long as it works.
In saying all this you rating should be off popularity which begins with eye appeal. BUT if all you professional skinners have these complaints maybe you should start your own site and then your ratings would ajust for your standards or if you decide on using this site and start losing subscriptions (which will make stardock happy) NOT! For the most part everything I have read about WC.is for the general public not just the professionals so your ratings should not be determined by your rank because of the general public it would indeed make sense if it were only for the professionals.
so in basic laymens terms lighten UP! on everything so more people can get there skins accepted and if your going to submit it free it is going to be used by other people if it is free on the net it can be used copyrights are for money you can iron out all the laws you want to but in the general publics eye hey it was free so why not.
so some of the intellects here that run wc. make it sound you have to be some what technologicaly advanced in some degree just
to particapate and before you say who said....or when did we say..... look at the guidelines you use for excepting or Heck look at this artical and comments that says it clearly
Reply #36 Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:03 PM
In many cases, Porting is creating. Especially you Snidely.. I know how much you put in to your ports, and it shows. Yours are always a fine experience.
What I meant was.. those that port without spending the time to know the intracasies (sp) of what it takes to do a blind.
Sorry Snidely, Snowman, Kona, WOM, and anyone else that truely puts the time and effort into porting.
Now.. pass the salt. My foot tasted bland.
Reply #37 Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:04 PM
Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #38 Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:09 PM
| The one thing you have to remember this is a general site. This for the most part is not a extremist skinning site. so those who are here want to participate and they want some quality too (which should be provided by your programs)They are not concern with the most excellent coding just as long as it works. In saying all this you rating should be off popularity which begins with eye appeal. BUT if all you professional skinners have these complaints maybe you should start your own site |
Citizen wmsco this IS a skinning site....nothing more, nothing less. It was 'made' by, and for, the skinners and those who USE skins.
The underlying important point is you either USE the skin, or you MAKE [and therefore use] the skin.
Casual non-interested parties need NOT rate in ignorance.
Reply #39 Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:15 PM
As for 'Porting'...it's normal for the person creating the port to actually be using the source AND the outcome...so as a 'user' or 'creator' or 'porter' he/she is if anything doubly qualified to judge results.
Let's get some clear, incontrovertible analogy.
What idiot 'rates' or passes judgement on a Movie by looking at the Lobby posters...and does NOT actually see the movie itself?
Reply #40 Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:41 PM
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Reply #21 Saturday, February 5, 2005 11:57 AM