Jafo Jafo

Rating skins

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Rating skins

A screenshot is NOT the skin

from WinCustomize Forums

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]...;)

21,649 views 88 replies
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for all this info. I am new as you know, and I have been rating some things just on looks. I will not do that anymore. Just the ones I use. I will still rate screenshots. Sorry.
Smile!
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
phoon, i'm somewhat taken aback by your comment. i am the first to admit that i port, not skin. i've always said that. but for you or anyone else to insinuate that i don't know enough about how a windowblinds skin works and, therefore, am not qualified to rate a skin........well, i find that a tad bit insulting. i literally tear each blind i convert apart in order to find ways to better the skin. i also modify virtually every blind i download. heck, even stealthos, which i consider to be the ultimate blind, isn't perfect for my use. i realize i don't know the inner workings of a blind to the extent that mikeb314, voo, hippy, treetog, essorant, gabriel, pixelpirate, and some others who i consider the elite blind skinners but i do know enough about it to rate a blind. i didn't take your comment as a personal attack, my friend, but i was surprised
Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, I guess can't rate anything as I'am not a skinner. Heck, I don't even port.

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
here is the bottom dollar. If it does not catch the eye, your work is in vain but it can still have the most excellent code you ever seen. Does not catch the eye the rest is hopless. The same is true for the opposite. It can catch the eye, but does not work properly. So both has to work hand in hand.

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Gads.. I'm soo sorry about the porting comment. I submitted it before I wanted too.
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 from JoeUser Forums Top
I agree with Jafo. Creating a screenshot for the skin upload is necessary but can't begin to show how the skin looks & works in actual use. From my perspective, criticism of any sort, constructive or otherwise, is of no help to me as a skinner unless it comes from someone's observation or experience of actually loading up the skin and using it for awhile. I could care less about ratings, but I do care about useful feedback to help me improve my skinning ability and knowledge. Don't get me wrong, if ratings serve as an incentive to creative skinning, we all benefit from better, cooler skins; it's just not a personal goal.

Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top

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 from WinCustomize Forums Top
to the uninformed, phoon is a good friend of mine. what he said in his post above, i did not take as a personal attack. to be honest, the wording in my post was way out of line and much too strong. i owe phoon an apology.
Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top
my ears hurt
Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top
my eyes hurt
Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top
my nose hurts
Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BX is calling Dr. Nick to cure you people
Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm still just wishing my "rating feature" actually worked
Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Good to see #41 onwards treating the topic with disdain and/or contempt.

Strange....when it's every skinners' rights/reputations, even your own, that are being marred by ratings misuse.

Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I made a suggestion up in post #25. There is no way to make everybody follow the rules and there are many many many people in the world that don't have respect, have common sense, and obey rules. So, where there is a system, there will be someone that will want to break it. If it's Spam or misuse of a ranking system. Like any other system, those who abuse the system should be punished in some way. My idea just makes it like they never exsisted on the site. They abuse it to the point that they get banned, their ratings just won't count.
Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i say those who are judged to be abuseing the system, get their ratings priveleges revoked.
Reply #50 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Would it be possible to change the system to say a muliple rating system?

Something like:

Screen Shot (1-9)
Usability (1-9)
Appearance (1-9)
etc?

Im not sure what others or what would be put in there, but this would give the rating system a little more depth, Have 4-5 items that you need to rate, and these would have to do with the actual USE of the skin.

Just my 2 cents.