Should Wincustomize test skins out before accepting them?
Sunday, August 28, 2005 by Bash2cool | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Right now i think that Wincustomize just checks to see if skins follow the rules . I think wincustomize shouls test skins out before people find out that some skins aren't working.
For example: when i made my skins i always thought that they were working but when Cavan1 complianed to me that most of my skins aren't working, i just thought that he was mad cause of what i did or how i made my skin. (basicly i thought he was jelous) but i was wrong. he told me that most of my skins were bad so i checked them and it was true!
i was really disappointed that all this time i thought that all my skins were good meanwhile they were bad.
another exmaple: i'm not sure about this but i read that Meowy's skin (Forever on high) was not bad but not working something. (i forgot what happened)
Anyway sorry for the long story but do u guys think that Wincustomize should test out skins? Or should they continue doing what they do now and we check our own skins and find out if they're not working.
Please tell me what u think.
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Reply #2 Sunday, August 28, 2005 9:59 AM
For bootskins I unzip them, then open them in PSP. That way I can check the sizes, colour depth and palette. Saves endless re-booting which is a real pain (try it). Because of all the programs I have loaded a complete re-boot can take 10 mins+ from start to finish - multiply that by the number of bootskins in the queue... Until someone comes up with an easy way of testing bootskins some not so good ones will slip through the cracks.
I don't know what the problem is with the Meowy bootskin, other than the colour conversion being poor (hence low rating). I approved that one, my PC booted ok with it, so it went public.
And don't confuse 'bad' with 'not working' 
Reply #3 Sunday, August 28, 2005 11:20 AM
| we check our own skins and find out if they're not working. |
Reply #4 Sunday, August 28, 2005 1:30 PM
Reply #5 Sunday, August 28, 2005 1:38 PM
| For example: when i made my skins i always thought that they were working but when Cavan1 complianed to me that most of my skins aren't working, i just thought that he was mad cause of what i did or how i made my skin. (basicly i thought he was jelous) but i was wrong. he told me that most of my skins were bad so i checked them and it was true! |
Don't you use the skin for a little while to see if it works or not?
I have seen posts from time to time where artists come to the forum complaining that people are so negative in the comments. Sometimes the posts they point to are ones with good constructive criticism. I'm guessing that many people probably felt as you did and then also regretted it later. So many times what people say to try to help improve a skin gets taken the wrong way. I think some people have given up trying to help like that which is a sad thing. People who have the experience and are able to teach and who take the time to do so are probably some of the better friends you can find. They are also increasingly rare.
And speaking of friends, you might find someone in the community who is willing to test a skin for you. Perhaps you can form a co-op with someone and test each other's skins. I know a lot of people do that.
Reply #6 Sunday, August 28, 2005 3:13 PM
| Don't you use the skin for a little while to see if it works or not? |
This is something I don't think many bootskin skinners do. Last night I spent about an hour downloading and testing some of the new bootskins added. 2 had progress bar color problems, one of which had org. jpg as preview not a jpg of 16 color image. 1 was using full color bitmap for image so did not work, 1 had either Prog bar color or .ini layout problem so did not work. I left comments on all 4, 2 are now gone, hopefully to be fixed. The author of another did reply and is now aware of problem. I don't mind doing this but what gets me a little sometimes is that working properly is part of the upload guidelines. Let take the one with full color image, when downloaded by moderator it will not open and show in bootskin due to image, do not even need to reboot to see it does not work. There are not that many that flat out do not work, but download to open with bootskin or importing to bootskin would catch these, wrong screen image type, size, color depth, will not show in bootskin.
| Because of all the programs I have loaded a complete re-boot can take 10 mins+ from start to finish |
Hey Fuzzy, since you take more care to moderate bootskins by checking color palette, you could run msconfig, disable startup, test bootskins, run msconfig enable startup. Just thinking out loud.
Edit, if you have an always on internet service enable Firewall and AV after disale all.
Reply #7 Sunday, August 28, 2005 3:42 PM
Over time the read-write heads may become parked permanently - which means no more accessing data from that drive, including successful boots.
The old question of whether you should turn off your machine or not is partially based on the theory that if one only reboots occasionally to clear memory, the head accuator assembly in the drive won't wear out as soon.
If a moderator has to reboot 20 - 50 times a day, the drive life expectancy may be lessened by a significant amount of time.
With that in mind, it might be better to have authors test their own skins, or team up, as has been suggested - to alleviate the wear and tear on a few moderators machines.
Just a thought from the economics sector.
Reply #9 Sunday, August 28, 2005 5:56 PM
| Is it possibly time to enroll in a spelling class? |
A punctuation and grammar class could also help somewhat. No offence meant: it's just that a little effort, when put into editing your writing, can make a huge difference.
Reply #10 Sunday, August 28, 2005 6:18 PM
and is now soon to be released in the galleries..(save give a 5 day quarentine in the beta directory...then folks can read reviews and decide when they want to try it...only a suggestion 
Reply #11 Sunday, August 28, 2005 6:54 PM
Reply #12 Sunday, August 28, 2005 7:01 PM
| Aren't you supposed to test them yourself before submitting them? |
Yes but I feel that many people think that if it looks ok in bootskin preview it is working, this however is not correct.
Reply #13 Sunday, August 28, 2005 7:17 PM
| Is it possibly time to enroll in a spelling class? |
if u meant me then i can't enroll
Reply #14 Sunday, August 28, 2005 7:51 PM
Reply #15 Sunday, August 28, 2005 9:02 PM
| if u meant me then i can't enroll |
Reply #16 Sunday, August 28, 2005 9:09 PM
Well...we could always penalise people who habitually upload untested/faulty works....eg, 'demotion'.
I'm sure the uploader would 'soon' get the message....
I'm certainly not intending to reboot my computer for every bootskin....it's enough to have to do to test faulty LS themes and lose my entire GUI/shell....as infrequently as LS themes are uploaded....
It's the specific responsibility of the skinner/uploader to ensure his works actually work.
Reply #17 Monday, August 29, 2005 3:12 AM
| Most people, including myself, can deal with a lack of capitalization but the use of correct grammar, spelling, and puctuation can determine how your posts are received. |
You do realise that you spelt punctuation wrong?
Reply #18 Monday, August 29, 2005 3:27 AM
Reply #19 Monday, August 29, 2005 6:29 AM
| Why not ask Wincustomize to put new skins that are posted by all contributors into a directory called say "Beta"... |
That would be a nice idea,but a costly one too i suppose.
| Is it possibly time to enroll in a spelling class? |
Here's an idea i could use! I ain't much of a speller. And my grammar could use some sharpening too,as i often use greek grammar rules in english.
| It's the specific responsibility of the skinner/uploader to ensure his works actually work. |
I'll second that,it does take time to test a skin. Why not just test it yourself?
| Well...we could always penalise people who habitually upload untested/faulty works....eg, 'demotion'. |
That would be a first step to gradually raise quality and lower quantity.
Also you may post a thread for skin testing! I'm sure some volunteers will come up!
Reply #20 Monday, August 29, 2005 8:11 AM
| You do realise that you spelt punctuation wrong? |
Yes, I certainly did.
I noticed it as soon as I hit "Enter" but decided to not correct it since I found it humorous that I made the mistake while lecturing Bash. It was not intentional but humorous. I found it so, anyway. Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
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Reply #1 Sunday, August 28, 2005 9:27 AM
Take BootSkins per example, the admins will have to download, install and re-boot their PCs to see if the skin works. I don't think they want to re-boot their system 20-50 times a day.
It is up to each author/artist to test or find a way to test their skins and make sure they work properly before uploading them. And if any problem should sneak pass the eyes; there are always people that would let you know if there is a problem with your skin, just like Cavan1 did.