skin care revival package

[Paddy]

Re: skin care revival package

Had a look at the new Skin site, my initial reaction is that I like it :D Skimmed through the replies made (didn't read all of them, too many words :p ) and agree with some of the comments. It seems simple enough to use and if adding reviews and administrating it is easier for Razgo, then it definately gets a thumbs up.

My only complaint is the lack of download stats. The only way to check which are the good skins is the rating system, but only a handful of the skins have been reviewed and most only once. If you could add a counter and a Top 10 downloaded list like the old site, it would make it much better for new members to scan. Especially if (hopefully in the near future ) there are hundreds of skins, then you would want to know which ones are generally regarded as the best without having to check them all out!!

[BestRip]

Re: skin care revival package

look at winamp 5 default skin. i think it is great!! but does that make me want to use winamp? uh, no

I think this is great!!! It'd look real bad if the dAP administrator actually was using winamp...:D I'm not trying to over emphasize any importance of the skins for dAP... but since they are there and the point is to have a site for them it could be made as optimal for all parties as possible???
I have 2 main points I want to make on that subject...

number 1. That all of the skins be as easily available as possible...

number 2. That the site despite the rather slow action (new reviews, new skins and so on) could be formed in ways that still attract attention. (How about a suggestion box?)

I wonder if it would be possible to have a kind of revolving display of skins on the front page where you could visually scan say 5 to 7 skins at a time and move on to the next group at your own pace

This idea or the idea on random displays of skins would be great in making the skin site come more alive I think. A new set of 5 or 10 skins every hour, randomly chosen? This would be a great change from having a static rarely-changing first page.
Also I liked the surveys on the "old" skin site. (BTW. there is a quite interesting poll on the one "Do we like the skins download section?")

[Spoons]

Re: skin care revival package

it is ok to emphasize the importance of the dap skins and dap skin management. don't get me wrong here. the skins are a very important part of dap. it is how we all manage the process of intergrating the skins into the general public is the key issue here.

what i would like to do is find, build, breakdown, define the components needed to establish and bridge the skins from dap to the skin community.
a bridge that is easy for noobs to walk across and for potential skinners to have a clear path across the bridge also.

random skins work like they change when you refresh your browser or revisit the site again. so not everyone will see the same skin as everyone else.

[BestRip]

Re: skin care revival package

Ok so we're actually headed in the same direction, apparently... Cool!!!

what i would like to do is find, build, breakdown, define the components needed to establish and bridge the skins from dap to the skin community. a bridge that is easy for noobs to walk across and for potential skinners to have a clear path across the bridge also.

First of all I don't understand "noobs" (is that a newbee, a novice?) but then again I'm not sure I follow the rest either... sorry... :D
If what I think you mean is to make dAP skins easily available in a desired manor... (or something similar?) then GREAT!!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!
Think suggestions, surveys and other FUN stuff on an attractive site with random rotating displays of ALL dAP skins would be a GREAT start...

[Spoons]

Re: skin care revival package

yes by noobs i mean novice / new dap user etc...

If what I think you mean is to make dAP skins easily available in a desired manor

well that's the bottom line. it has always been the intention to achieve this. i know it has been hickly pickly over the last couple of years and it is still trying to find it's feet.

i guess i only want to focus on one thing at a time. but the first focus has to be at the bottom somewhere to build a base.

i mean do we focus on the skin site itself first? so there is a skin home and then look at building the bridge? that's probably the best way to go. as you need the house first so the steps lead somewhere.

[Craze]

Re: skin care revival package

This is turning out to be a really good discussion. Although at times, it has looked like "Razgo vs The world". I hope Razgo knows how much we All love him and applaud his efforts to date!!! :komisch9:
I have nothing but great respect for Spoon, Razgo, the skinners, reviewers, and anyone who is making a contribution in any manner,...seen, or unseen. And I want be an encourager to all of these fine folks for the things that they are doing...and doing well.

One of the things that has been brought more into focus throughout this discussion is your goal and intentions of making this more than just an ordinary Skin site. A Skin "Community". I think everyone is in agreement with you. It needs to be professional and functional. I also think that this endeavor must be a combination of both, some sort of a Skin Gallery and Skin Reviews...going hand in hand...one not working real great without the other.
When viewing some of the suggestions on the various forum wishlists, I think of some suggestions as already existing. The poster may have been too new, too lazy, or just haven't found all that the products offer yet within the existing menus. But too, some are valid and plausible. I don't know about how doable they are though. I hope we're not in that mode here.
Whatever changes are ultimately made, keep it simple for yourself, then the user. While I can get anywhere I want to go within the site through the available links, I still find the idea of showing as many skins as possible on the opening page (or even a linked page)...and the download stats (not viewing stats), as a desireable feature.

I, as a skinner, am very impressed with the new flexiblity in adding and managing a skin. I can make any changes to my comments or any part of of skin and see instantly, those changes on the webpage. Hopefully this is making life easier for you too. (You were super helpful in helping me with any questions I initially had.)

There have been many suggestions made recently. I'd like to offer a few observations to the group if I may.

Yes, there are a limited number of skins that are currently available and new additions are slow coming. The reason for this is that dAP ain't WinAmp...and neither are the skins for dAP. dAP broke the mold as a player and the Skin Designer breaks the mold in the skin arena by it's complex, yet flexibility in creating whatever it is that a designer can dream up.
Building a dAP skin is not just changing colors of a lot of already existing pictures and then throwing them into a WinAmp type mold. There are literally hundreds of self made pictures go into any dAP skin, and arranged in any manner that the designer can think of. That's a lot of work for anyone who has taken the time to offer a free contribution to the world's best free player.
And basically, these contributions are an act of love, and a desire and willingness to share them with others. How many are willing to give of their time in this manner? [We all have jobs, a family, school, and other interests to balance].
My latest and most complex skin, DualPro, took over five months to create and get most of the bugs out. And I'm still just learning how to skin. I applaud all skinners for their contributions.

In the "reviews" arena: while there are just a few reviews currently out there, perhaps some skinners need to also become reviewers in order to get this part going. That would involve using other skins for a while besides our own and then writing about them. (Hopefully in a non-competive way). It has also been suggested that we as skinners write our own reviews. It may be a bit tacky in reviewing our own skins, but maybe an overview of what our intentions were in making the skin would be good reading, generate some interest, and persuade others to give them a try.

Hang in there Razgo. We're all with and for you.

Craze

[BestRip]

Re: skin care revival package

Very well put Craze!!! I agree fully...

[Spoons]

Re: skin care revival package

thanks craze, i never really thought everyone was against me but there is a language learning curve going on all the time as we are from all different parts of the world. yes i am the one on that big island called Australia lol.

yes it was my intention to help kick off a skinning community. and it came very close to realizing it in a big way until the plan fell through, although nothing to do with my part, it was the collapse of another area beyond Spoon's and my control that it fell through. but that's another story.

for the time being though my focus is not 100% on the skin site yet.