WinCustomize 2K9: Expanding focus
Thursday, March 5, 2009 by Frogboy | Discussion: Personal Computing
A new WinCustomize is coming and it’s a reunion of much of the original 2001 WinCustomize team with Johanne (Alexandrie) leading the UI design and Pat (T-Man) re-architecting the backend. This time, we have a crack team led by Matt (Orcnbeans) helping create a new way for the site to function that should make it lighting fast.
Much of the site will be XML based which also means that the site will be able to be displayed in lots of different ways (which obviously makes it skinnable).
One of the areas we’re going to increase WinCustomize’s focus on is that it we’re going to expand beyond just talking about how to customize the aesthetics of Windows but also the functionality of it. As Windows has evolved since 2001, so has customization.
Moreover, web technology has evolved substantially since 2001. In the age of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, we want to begin to let users make use of those technologies in interesting ways. We’ll talk more about that as we get further alone.
The new site design is a lot cleaner with an emphasis on fewer page loads.
The galleries are much more straight forward and focused on that gallery. This way, we can add features that are specific to a given gallery. A wallpaper gallery, for instance, will eventually support specific wallpaper sizes, color searches, etc.
The rating system, as previously mentioned, is gone, replaced by the Love/Like system to let people know which skins people love/like the most and letting us filter skins based on that metric.
Navigating galleries will be done through a drop down menu with each section being explained to users.
The Community features will get a major bump and more software will be made available to make it ever easier to interact with other users, find what you’re looking for, and more.
Stay tuned. We hope to launch the new WinCustomize.com later this month (fingers crossed).
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Reply #42 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:19 AM
Reply #43 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:24 AM
....sometimes humour doesn't translate/communicate well....
Reply #44 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:25 AM
I have to do that for my ex every month....by law. 
Reply #45 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:26 AM
It took a few minutes to realize he was yankin my chain! lol
I was gonna look you up, thanx, Zub.
Reply #46 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:30 AM
I wonder if we will ever see TYCUS back here. 
I think the DX question has been answered, and I couldn't even in my wildest imagination see XP skins going anywheres, really now folks, just step back and breath. 
Reply #47 Friday, March 6, 2009 11:35 AM
Absolutely! LOL....how about some SP1000? Seriously, though XP holds the lion's share of the OS market and in these times 
it'll be holding it for quite some time to come.
Excellent comment, Ed. I for one (despite having had Vista foisted on me with the new laptop) absolutely agree with you!
Wiz...it ain't a question of you missing it...it's vice versa your versa vice.
Reply #48 Friday, March 6, 2009 12:32 PM
Luckily, I don't get a Mayan calendar from my local bank or I might be worried.
(And I was also kidding about no DX, and Ex-P)
Reply #49 Friday, March 6, 2009 12:58 PM
Reply #50 Friday, March 6, 2009 8:47 PM
Bitter?
Nah, not in the slightest....
Reply #51 Friday, March 6, 2009 10:44 PM
I swore it but didn't stick by it thankfully. I now have a wonderful wife who puts up with all of my wonderful traits.
Reply #52 Saturday, March 7, 2009 10:26 AM
Reply #53 Monday, March 9, 2009 6:36 AM
Reply #54 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:53 AM
oh, i have a little request! can the subcategories get back? a good example is the Object Dock gallery, every time i want to find a background i need to go into every page one by one and sometimes the only thing i see are icons., if i'm not wrong i can remember that we use to have that gallery in order and choose the option for just to see backgrounds or filter all skins and see only icons.., i dont know why u pull it out... 
Reply #55 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:58 AM
I think Tycus' idea is a good one. Otherwise one would have to know the exact name of the skin to find it.
Also, maybe a little 'loosening' of the exactness needed in a search.
Reply #56 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 7:20 AM
Reply #57 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:26 AM
The next version is better though.
Reply #59 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 1:33 PM
I question about the skinnable part of the website. Will there be just a list of themes to choose from or can Wincustomize subscribers be allowed to create and upload their own themes for the website?
Reply #60 Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:34 PM
The UI looks great! A much needed cleaner look. Can't wait to actually use it. 
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Reply #41 Friday, March 6, 2009 10:46 AM
Don't leave XP users behind. It's still good until 2014. Besides according to the Mayan calendar and Nostrudomus we won't need to look beyond Dec.21, 2012 about 7PM. If we get hit with an EM pulse from a sun ejection we'll be worrying about skinning ourselves instead of computers.
Nice looking interface guys and girls, except for the no DX listing of course.