The changing world of skinning communities

How does the community continue to thrive in a mainstream world?

Monday, February 11, 2008 by Draginol | Discussion: OS Customization

Skinning first started getting popular around 1999. Back then, it was mostly about skinning Winamp and WindowBlinds.  Today, people expect to be able to customize virtually every aspect of their PC experience. From the moment someone boots to the time they shut down, everything a user sees they now anticipate the ability to personalize somehow if they choose to.

In the beginning, the content came from the community. The software itself was developed within the community as well. A given program would go through many beta iterations and technically savvy users would report problems they had, post their system info, and work with the developers to fix the problems. 

Because the community was essentially a partner in the production of the software, the software was relatively cheap. $10 to $20 was the typical price for any customization program. After all, if the user base was actively part of the development process and they were the ones providing the bulk of the content, how could anyone justify charging more than that?  And, as a practical matter, community participation drastically lowered the cost to develop skinning software which in turn opened the door to lots of freeware and shareware developers, working out of their houses, to create cool stuff.

When Windows XP came along in 2001, things began to change. Skinning became much more mainstream. The ratio between consumers of software/content to producers of software/content changed dramatically.  Once skinning went mainstream, users expectations began to change.  The number of people willing to create content dramatically decreased as a % of the user base.

In addition, the community that once would provide in-depth reports on bugs evolved into a community that increasingly would provide reports like "This is broke, it don't work on my computer. How could you release this buggy mess????" The same community that produced incredibly talented skinners increasingly became a community of consumers waiting for someone else to make things for them.

As the skinning community became more consumer-centric, the costs of providing software and content for that community increased. In many respects, the "community" of year year is long. Now it's a "market". Increasingly, unconsciously, even internally the word "market" has begun replacing the term "community".  The "skinning market" differs from the "skinning community" in that the former expects the software developers to do it all while the latter sees themselves as part of a team with the developers.

The net result is that most users simply want to buy a product and get really high quality content and not mess around with "community" content. Which, naturally, means that fewer people, as a % are willing to use the various editors and tools to create community content.

Similarly, today's users often become irate at the notion of running into bugs in software marked as betas. Very few users are willing to even try out betas and give feedback. Moreover, some people who do try out betas and do post expect that every issue they consider important will be quickly addressed and will stop contributing feedback if their particular issues aren't responded to in a timely way.

So what does this mean?

I predict we'll see the following trends:

  1. Content will begin to be provided as an additional optional service. For example, a user might buy WindowBlinds for $20 OR have the option to buy WindowBlinds Plus for $40 which includes a 1-year subscription to WinCustomize.com.
  2. WinCustomize.com subscriptions will continue to evolve to where content becomes increasingly the value-add users get.  Discounts on "Master Skins" and free content from Stardock Design will become the norm.
  3. Users who contribute help in testing betas, giving feedback, generating content, helping in the community will get free subscriptions.

That's the 3 thigns I think will happen in the future as the skinning world adapts to becoming mainstream. In my mind, that's the best way for skinning to grow while saving its own soul.

Hopefully, people aren't taking what I'm writing as "complaining".  What I am doing is making observations about how the skinning world is evolving over time. The mainstreaming of it is altering the perceived relationship between the people who make stuff and the people who use stuff. The unspoken social contract between the two was traditionally that we developers make our stuff cheap and in return the users make the content and help us track down problems in an open and symbiotic way.  But that relationship has changed to being more akin to a traditional producer/consumer relationship. Which is fine if that's what the...market has chosen.

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PoSmedley
Reply #41 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 8:59 AM
Just out of curiosity... Do people that buy the Enterprise version get a tutorial, more or faster support or their own place to post?
ZubaZ
Reply #42 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:01 AM
I think the lack of new skinners is partly due to the lack of guidance.
That may be partly true.  Mentors, documentation/tutorials should help.  But the fact is that making a skin is a LOT MORE work.  New skinners can be overwhelmed.  I think that's one of the reasons that community suites seem to be becoming more popular (I'm including the maxstyles crew here too).  A complete suite can take FOREVER.
kenwas
Reply #43 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:03 AM
I hear you Po. I agree with the need for true step by step documentation. The issue is that I have not seen this type of step by step documentation with any software other than ones that cost hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars. Am I wrong? Professionally written docs cost big bucks. The handbook that comes with Vue Infinite is such a document but then the program cost $795.00. Same for any of the serious 3D programs such as Max or Cinema 4D or my favorite Modo. Maybe it could be sold separately for those that truly wish this level of in depth documentation.
ZubaZ
Reply #44 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:14 AM
Maybe it could be sold separately for those that truly wish this level of in depth documentation.
I would guess that the biggest cost to Stardock is in the the writing.  And it would likely be expensive.  Selling to a small subset might not recoup the costs and be a PR nightmare. 
PoSmedley
Reply #45 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:15 AM
But the fact is that making a skin is a LOT MORE work.


Made more difficult without the instructions.

New skinners can be overwhelmed.

My point exactly. Updates to an instruction manual that doesn't exist is frustrating and only useful to people who already know how to skin.

I think that's one of the reasons that community suites seem to be becoming more popular (I'm including the maxstyles crew here too). A complete suite can take FOREVER.


And most suites I have seen start with the blind. The Troll Suite and Birthday suite are prime examples. Everyone who wants to participate has to wait for the blind to begin to take shape so they know what to base their particular piece of the suite on. In the Troll suite...and this is my point...they had to wait for me to make them and then AVMAN to transpose and edit whatever I sent him, prolonged by the fact that I don't know what the restrictions are on image sizes, designs, transparencies, etc. he did a great job. But if I had had instructions/tutorial (again...so we don't lose focus...an OFFICIAL STARDOCK TUTORIAL) I would have known and wouldn't have had to rely on someone else to assemble it for me.

I enjoyed the project...but felt guilty as AVAMN had to do all the real work for me and jealous/frustrated because I couldn't do it myself.

I keep trying, though. My fear is that I will just get frustrated before anything comes outr way in the shape of what so many would like to see, and I'll just say f*** it and walk away from skinning all together. Unfortunately, I have always been one to bang his head against a brick wall a little longer and harder than most, but even I get tired of getting nowhere.

vStyler
Reply #46 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:23 AM
Po, Everyone, Using skinstudio really isnt that difficult if you keep a few things in mind. 1 Each part has its own image.. divided into states. 2. Each image has margins which u need to set ( Trial and error.) 3. If need be..go thru each section one image at a time, Import an image.. set margins..move on to next section. Sooner or later.. you will finish it. It may take months.. but hey.. no one said it wasn't hard work.

Theres not THAT much to it. I wonder why people seem to think its so difficult.. I can't skin ANYthing else really. Its one of the few things u dont need to know ANY code to skin.

The main thing that scares people off I think is the expansiveness of it but that really is just.. head down, coffee, smokes, whatever.. and keep going till you get to the end.

The little tips and tricks.. you pick up , earn along the way. There really isnt THAT much TO wb. Probably one of the easiest things to skin.

If all else fails.. post here for assistance.
PoSmedley
Reply #47 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:31 AM
I would guess that the biggest cost to Stardock is in the the writing.


You gotta spend money to make money. The things being talked about here...lack of new skinners, more users..., less testers, etc... You have to invest to change what you don't like. That doesn't mean raise the price.

If you're unwilling to try and bring those people in closer but more willing to make cuts and streamline, I fear the outcome. I don't see how cutting out other programs will change the status/number of new skinners/testers and such.

It sounds like downsizing. Streamlining. Lets concentrate on the areas that make money for us.

Even when you get to that point, then you have to increase the profits from those areas to make up for any you would lose from those cut. You have to heavily promote what you've kept. You still need to bring in new folks. New talent. new ideas to keep it alive and fresh. If you don't and you don't make the information needed to bring in these new people available, then you have to consolidate your resources and push and restructure to get as much profit as you can out of what you have. In the end, that would leave even more people out of it.

Why doesn't someone do a Poll and ask "Why aren't you skinning?" "What would you like to know how to skin?" "What is holding you back from skinning?" Maybe then you could get a more accurate picture of who is in the community and what it is they want to do here. Unless of course, the road ahead is all laid out and ready to be paved. Perhaps this isn't a plea for more community support but a 'guide' to whats to come.

ZubaZ
Reply #48 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:34 AM
Why doesn't someone do a Poll and ask "Why aren't you skinning?" "What would you like to know how to skin?" "What is holding you back from skinning?" Maybe then you could get a more accurate picture of who is in the community and what it is they want to do here
As a percentage of the community . . the poll-takers are tiny.  And I'd guess they are the same folks that post in the forums.
PoSmedley
Reply #49 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:39 AM
The little tips and tricks.. you pick up , earn along the way. There really isnt THAT much TO wb. Probably one of the easiest things to skin.


Would you know how to strip, scrub, rinse, seal and wax a floor if I handed you all the equipment? It's 5 chemicals, 2 mops, a bucket, a side-by-side scrubber, and a vacuum. You would need to know exctly, in detail (How many kinds of strippers are their? Nuetrilizers? Waxes? How many solids in each wax? Why do you use this one and not that one?)what each chemical was and what it did. How to apply each chemical.How the side-by side worked. Where to start and how to finish. An explanation of each step. You would need to know all the things that could go wrong and why you can or can't do this or that. Or why doing one tiny thing wrong can ruin it or send you back to square one. It's all easy. very easy. Everything down to the chemicals names seems very self-explanatory and simple. Common sense. Yet, if you don't do it exactly as it is supposed to be done, you have a mess. Teach. Step by step. From start to finish. I could teach a 12 year old how to do it. But I would have to teach them. And if it was my floor, I would WANT to be the one to teach them. I wouldn't leave it to a dozen other people to explain each step their own way.
PoSmedley
Reply #50 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:43 AM
As a percentage of the community . . the poll-takers are tiny. And I'd guess they are the same folks that post in the forums.


Yeah, but the answers certainly would not be from people ALREADY skinning. They would be from the very people you want to start skinning.
Island Dog
Reply #51 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:45 AM
This is great. Like I said, some of the tutorials have been a help. But we need a full and complete one, in one place, from start to finish from the designers of the software. Why should it fall on the folks trying to figure it out?


Documentation and tutorials can be two separate things.  We have a full step-by-step SkinStudio 6 tutorial in the works for users soon.

However, it would be great benefit to the community as a whole if people write about their specialities, or the tricks they use to obtain certain things.  I mean for instance, someone J.Aroche writing a tutorial about CursorFX tricks, things like that.


Alternate Setting
Reply #52 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:51 AM
Bear with me Po' for a couple of days - I'll commit here & now to creating a thread that appeals to those who want to skin, but have lacked that final push.

vStyler
Reply #53 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:52 AM
Well I understand your point, I guess different people learn differently. If I have no reference material, I roll my sleeves up, dig in , bite down and dont let go until I figure it out. Pit bull mentality I suppose. I am still learning WB but to learn enough to finish a skin can be done in a couple of weeks I believe If one sets their mind to it.

I'm no outdoorsman but lost in a forest.. I'd find a way to eat.

I think there is a huge misconception about how hard WB is to skin. People should realize that their first skin isnt' going to be a masterpiece.

Photoshop is far more complicated.. I'd say the reason most people don't skin isnt the fear of putting a skin together but a lack of graphic design knowledge.

One other thing to know.. which you mentioned is.. your going to go back to square one.. again and again.. its part of the process. It can't be avoided.. even with step by step help. I did it many a time.

Most valuable thing in making a WB is patience. Imo.
PoSmedley
Reply #54 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:08 AM
One other thing to know.. which you mentioned is.. your going to go back to square one.. again and again.. its part of the process. It can't be avoided.. even with step by step help. I did it many a time.


What can be avoided is the inabibilty for some one to not be able to get past step 2 or 3. Whats easy for you is not easy for everyone. No mater how much effort they applied. For some people, some things require more explanation and instruction.

No matter how you try, you can't get a square peg into a round hole (short of altering one or the other) and when you constantly get stuck building a blind, that's what it feels like. That feeling is only compounded by the lack of resources to explain how to do it. Eventually, a lot of people just give up.

As far as photoshop, hell, if I knew what I was making and how I had to make it for a windowblind, I would be more than happy to load the graphics gallery with stuff for folks to work from and assemble themselves if they wanted. It would be awesome to have a thread similar to the 'Rare Icon Request' where folks could request parts for a blind or a taskbar or start window with their picture in it, or whatever. I have a template for a start window. I wanted to use it for my 'Shut Up And Kiss Me' blind (another blind I got stuck on). It was mirrors. In the main one, I wanted to enclose an extra file. A template that anyone could use to put a picture of their sweetheart on and then copy and paste it into the blinds folder, replacing the original so they could have their sweethearts pic in their start window. But because I can't even make a simple rectangular start window that looks they way it's supposed to, I'm stuck. And I think it would have been a pretty cool skin, if I do say so myself. Very personalized to each individual.

I can't be the only one who gets or is stuck like this. And I wouldn't be the first or last to give up and never bother again because I can't find the resources I need to get through it.
vStyler
Reply #55 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:13 AM
If you like, feel free to add me on MSN if you use it, I'm not opposed to helping someone who truly want's to learn.   
PoSmedley
Reply #56 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:25 AM
If you like feel free to add me on MSN if you use it, I'm not opposed to helping someone who truly want's to learn.


How about accepting my invitation to join me and anyone else who joins in on building the Birthday Suite. I have started a thread and posted the first graphics in the Gallery thread. The taskbar is odd and can use the guidance of a Master (and anyone who wants to help) I don't even know yet that the images will work. IT's going to be s step by step thread and hopefully myself and others will benefit.

The main concept is that 'we' build it without having someone else do it for us. You could explain and critique and most importantly, tell me where I am going wrong.

Thread... WWW Link

Graphics Part One - WWW Link

Avman is on board, but I extend the invitation to anyone who wants to try and build it or wants to play instructor. Perhaps we could set up times for all or any when available to get on messenger or even do it in IRC.

vStyler, PM me. Tell me when is good time for you in the evening to get on messenger or IRC (which you prefer). We can work it out and I will post it in the thread as an invite. We can work out the details in PM or IM.
navigatsio
Reply #57 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:13 AM
Well I understand your point, I guess different people learn differently. If I have no reference material, I roll my sleeves up, dig in , bite down and dont let go until I figure it out. Pit bull mentality I suppose. I am still learning WB but to learn enough to finish a skin can be done in a couple of weeks I believe If one sets their mind to it.

I'm no outdoorsman but lost in a forest.. I'd find a way to eat.

I think there is a huge misconception about how hard WB is to skin. People should realize that their first skin isnt' going to be a masterpiece.

Photoshop is far more complicated.. I'd say the reason most people don't skin isnt the fear of putting a skin together but a lack of graphic design knowledge.

One other thing to know.. which you mentioned is.. your going to go back to square one.. again and again.. its part of the process. It can't be avoided.. even with step by step help. I did it many a time.


Ditto...must be a Capricorn (the stubborn goat) thing.
vStyler
Reply #58 Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:07 PM
...must be a Capricorn


Jan 13   
Disturbedcomputer
Reply #59 Sunday, February 17, 2008 7:01 PM
Theres not THAT much to it. I wonder why people seem to think its so difficult.. I can't skin ANYthing else really. Its one of the few things u dont need to know ANY code to skin.



Why doesn't someone do a Poll and ask "Why aren't you skinning?" "What would you like to know how to skin?" "What is holding you back from skinning?"



"Why aren't you skinning?"

"What is holding you back from skinning?"

The very first thing that you (We) need to know is, Adobe Photoshop. Need to know how to make the image before I could even begin to make a Windowblind skin.

And no, please don't give me a link to a Tutorial even though they say this is for beginners to advanced user.

But then when you start reading it states (this Tutorial assumes you have some knowledge. Well then it’s not for beginners then.

Or some Tutorials will say this is a step-by-step Tutorial sure it is, only if you all ready know what to do when they skip a step

vStyler
Reply #60 Sunday, February 17, 2008 7:15 PM
I never have understood why people assume that there have to be tutorials available to learn something. Open PS, Open SKS... start clicking.. sooner or later.. IF u stick to it.. you will learn..I swear.

It's how I did it, I may have looked at 3-4 tutorials in 8 years.. It takes time, effort and patience. In fact most the time tutorials can confuse more than inform, they tend to take simple things and make them look harder than they are.

Trial and error is what its all about....going back to square one..over and over...at least to gain basic knowledge.. THEN start looking for more specific tutorials.

When you have ripped the little hair you have left out.. try posting here, someone will help.

Im the biggest idiot on the planet and I figured it out all by my lonesome.

Cmon y'all !!

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