New forum themes to choose from! Here's a demo

[Winston]

Hi all,

I recently discovered something about themes and templates for this forum. Rather than me choosing a different one for this forum that affects everyone, I can merely install them and have YOU choose the one you want that will show only to you every time you log on! In other words, each person can choose different themes without affecting the theme that other posters see! It's a perfect win-win solution for everyone's different tastes!

And even if I chose a different theme as the default for the forum, you can still choose the one you like for your preference from your profile.

So I've installed additional themes from phpBB's website for you to select. The process was a lot easier than I thought, though I had to manually insert the same codes into each template for the ads to appear

To select a different theme, simply

1. Click on the "Profile" link at the top (while logged in).
2. Scroll down to the preferences section to "Board styles". You will see "Subsilver" as the default style. You may change it to one of the other styles.
3. Click Submit and then when you click on forum index, the new theme you selected will apply.

That's it! Right now, the new themes available are:

- Redsilver (with dark red category bars, my favorite one that I'm using right now)
- Neon (a dark blue shaded style)
- Blacker (dark background colors with light colored text)

So check them out and see which one you like best.

For demo purposes, I will set each of the new themes as the default style one per day, showing each theme for 24 hours, cycling through them all, just to give you a preview. I figure that if some of you are too lazy to check out the new forum themes, then this will at least force you to view them all just once Hope you enjoy the demo

I will start this demo today with Redsilver, my favorite theme. However, if you absolutely can't stand the theme I'm demo-ing, you can always go to your profile and select the normal theme again (subsilver) without having to sit through a different one each day. It's up to you.

(Note: If you are already logged in while viewing this post, you may not see the new default style until you log out, since your preference is already set to "subsilver". Oh wait, what the hell, I'm just going to override all user board preferences so that everyone will see the new themes without having to log in or out. After a few days when all the new themes have been demo-ed, I'll return the user board preferences to your selection.)

After the demo period, the forum theme will return to the usual subsilver. From then on, you can select the one you like best for your own viewing purposes without affecting others' choices. It's another win-win solution for everyone's different tastes

BTW, if you like, you can view a demo of all the themes and styles that phpBB has for this forum version and if you see something else you prefer that I haven't installed. Then request it to me and I will attempt to install it for you to choose from. Here is the link to the demo of all the themes.

http://www.phpbb.com/styles/demo/2.0/

From there, simply select each theme from the top right corner and you will be shown a preview of that theme. If you like any of them in particular, then post your request here to have it installed.

Thanks,
Winston (always looking for more choices to give you to enhance your viewing experience )

PS - After I post this, the default style of the forum will become Redsilver. Hope you like it Let me know what you think.

[Winston]

One more thing. Some of the themes, such as the Neon one, have difficult to see flags for new posts, making it hard to see if there are unread posts in each board. And some of theme also seem to not be reliable in showing you which board has new posts. In that case, when that theme is demo-ed, just go by the date in the "Last Post" column to see if there are new posts since the last time you logged in.

[Winston]

Hi everyone,
I hope you enjoyed the RedSilver theme that I just demoed. Now we will try out the Neon theme, a bluish style. Parts of it seem kind of bright, but it's a good mix up I guess So here it is. Whoala!

[Winston]

Well that neon theme was kind of bright for my eyes, and the "new post" icon was hard to see, so I ditched it and installed another blue theme instead that's nicer and has an easy to see red arrow as the "new post" icon. This theme is called "Aphrodite" Enjoy.

[Winston]

Hi all,
Hope you enjoyed the Aphrodite theme demo. Now we are demoing the "Blacker" theme, which is one of those dark background/light text styles. Hope you like the changeup and contrast. It's like a new surprise for you everyday heh? j/k

You know, sometimes though, the dark background theme has a relaxing calm feel to it. Especially when you play smooth jazz in the background while you're on here, which adds a nice ambiance and feel to the black forum

You can listen to smooth jazz through the yahoo radio at http://www.launch.com. Click on radio station and look for the smooth jazz channel. It's free.

[Winston]

BTW, if you like, you can view a demo of all the themes and styles that phpBB has for this forum version and if you see something else you prefer that I haven't installed. Then request it to me and I will attempt to install it for you to choose from. Here is the link to the demo of all the themes.

http://www.phpbb.com/styles/demo/2.0/

W: By the way, there are many more styles to choose from at the phpBB Hacks site as well, which can be demo-ed here:

http://www.phpbbhacks.com/templatesdemo/

[Winston]

Hi all,
We are now on the Warcraft theme template. What do you think? Nifty eh? I love how you can see the background in the main body, as though the tables were invisible and transparent, like they are floating above the background. Cool huh?

Sorry if this theme looks too much like a D&D game and makes the forum less serious or too juvenile. But you gotta admit, it's cool and pleasant on the eyes eh?

Plus I finally got rid of that grey body behind the text. That was not so pleasant to look at.

Hope you like it.

[wraith]

now the forum looks like a WoW forum.

[Winston]

now the forum looks like a WoW forum.

W: I know. hehehe. But is that good or bad?

[Winston]

You're right wraith. I'm changing the theme back to Blacker again. The sword, axes, and hammer icons were just too silly to have in a forum like this, that's supposed to be for mature adults. So much for that experiment. lol

[Winston]

Hi folks, get ready for the "Aliens" theme! Booooo Whoooo!






I can hear some of you probably thinking right now, "WINSTON! GET A LIFE!!!!!!!" LOLOLOLOL

[Winston]

By the way folks,
Some of you told me that you do like the black background/light text themes, such as this Aliens theme. However, one of you said that having a black forum did not fit the mood of this site and in fact gave off a dark gloomy feel to it rather than a positive one. Another said it looked very unprofessional and un-business-like and un-serious.

It does seem that black background forums tend to be more for young people or alternative crowds. Gamers tend to prefer black forums for instance, as well as music websites, and ones related to the paranormal or conspiracy theories.

But I don't find them dark and gloomy. The black background makes me feel more tranquil in fact, like a quiet calm night. And the colors actually look more pretty with a black background. After all, do you look up at the night sky with stars up there and find it "gloomy"? No of course not.

If black screens were gloomy, then why would Apple IIe use them back in the 80's? Back then, it was found that black background/green text was very comfortable on the eyes and good for long term work. That's why office databases written in DOS or Cobol had black backgrounds, and still do. You will find this in medical offices which handle large amounts of records that cannot be transferred smoothly to Windows.

So I guess this theme has an Apple IIe feel to it, which I miss.

[Winston]

Hi all,
Some of you said the black theme was too hard on the eyes.

So let's try this underwater "submerged theme" and see what happens eh? Hope you all enjoy the underwater feel. lol

Remember that in this theme, new posts are flagged with a pulsating light blue circle next to the topic.

[Winston]

Hi all,
Here's something for you to consider.

I know that for some of you, seeing different forum themes here can get upsetting to your comfort zone as soon as you get used to one of them. But in a sense, that's a good thing. You see, a comfort zone is the last thing you want when you're trying to relocate or break out of a rut. It's the kind of thing that keeps people living in a place where they're not happy, even if they know they'll be happier someplace else. Once you get into a comfort zone, your body resists change, even if you mind and will want it.

So in a sense, think of this as a form of "Zen mental training" to help you break out of your comfort zone, cause that's what it takes to live or travel overseas.

Besides, it's a bit like traveling abroad too. You see, when you are traveling and dating abroad, as I was in Russia for so long, you are constantly surrounded by new environments and places, so that you don't get into a comfort zone. And after a while, you adapt to that and start to thrive on the novelty of new experiences and new things to learn. That's what it takes, you see, to be a good effective traveler.

So I hope that seeing different themes here is a form of psychological training and symbolism, to help you get used to new and different things, learning to adapt to them, rather than falling into a comfort zone where change is subconsciously resisted.

I hope that makes sense to you and that it doesn't sound overly deep or anything. Get my drift? Just something to consider.

Regards,
Winston

[jamesbond]

This blue underwater theme is by far the worst ever! Please get rid of it, it does not have a bar that shows you the newest posts since your last visit also it is very hard on the eyes! The first black background theme was the best (not the aliens one, the first one with a black background.)