Shaking up the Community Skin?

[Hairy]

I have noticed that there have been a few posts recently with suggestions for the Community Skin, so maybe we could shake things up . Below are a couple of suggestions that I think are easily achievable and could help make the Community Skin more accessible and easier to maintain.

A default theme for the Community Skin
I'm wondering if there is any interest in some members getting together and producing a default theme for the Community Skin? Perhaps those more comfortable with graphics doing that and those more comfortable with formatting taking the opportunity to review the formatting, with others willing to offer feedback and maybe try different layouts?

Having HD and SD themes (i.e 1080p HD widescreen graphics and SD 4:3 720x480 graphics)
Since I started messing around with graphics and themes for the CS3, I've been really disappointed in how poor everything I've done so far has looked on my SD CRT TV. This was compounded recently when, after I (effectively) finished a new theme which I thought looked pretty good on my HD LCD computer monitor, I loaded it up on my CRT TV and it all fell apart, all the subtleties were lost and it looked a bit of a mess.

One installer which contains the Community Skin, (HD+SD) default theme and the Community Skin plugin.
This would make the Community Skin easier to maintain. It would really just be updates for compatibility, because the default theme and the plugin would remain pretty constant. Additional themes and graphics could then be downloads (on the wiki) maintained by their creators. These could be simple zip files with a script (?) that copies the relevant files to the "...Plugins\SkinPlugin\Resources" folder.

What do people think?

[Captcol]

I like the ideas, but have none of the required knowledge or skills to help out here, although I will happily reap the rewards of your guys work when it achieves high WAF.

I am in awe of all those that contribute to gbpvr and of the demi god Sub.

might just be abit early in the morning ...

[roy]

A default theme for the Community Skin

I think this is a good idea. Maybe come up with a few choices and have a poll to determine the winner.

Having HD and SD themes (i.e 1080p HD widescreen graphics and SD 4:3 720x480 graphics)

Makes sense. I sometimes have to tweak things for viewing on MVP, which can not display the subtleties that shine through on HD or PC.

One installer which contains the Community Skin, (HD+SD) default theme and the Community Skin plugin.

Definitely would make it easier for most I think.

Additional themes and graphics could then be downloads (on the wiki) maintained by their creators. These could be simple zip files with a script (?) that copies the relevant files to the "...Plugins\SkinPlugin\Resources" folder.

This procedure would need to be documented clearly for any theme contributor.

my $.02

[GoodGuys]

Hey, don't forget us PAL users - SD in 720x576 too...

GGF

[zehd]

One installer which contains the Community Skin, (HD+SD) default theme and the Community Skin plugin.
This would make the Community Skin easier to maintain. It would really just be updates for compatibility, because the default theme and the plugin would remain pretty constant. Additional themes and graphics could then be downloads (on the wiki) maintained by their creators. These could be simple zip files with a script (?) that copies the relevant files to the "...Plugins\SkinPlugin\Resources" folder.

What do people think?

One issue that has turned me off in the past, is when there are updates, you basically have to download a whole package.

While I think it's better to have the skins and plugin in the same package for first time installs, I think an incremental updater is a better idea. And I also think that the different skins should be optional and selectable BEFORE you download, or perhaps, have the skins in an all in one package, and broken apart. That way if there is only one skin that is getting updated, you only have to update one skin...

[dshoup]

And I also think that the different skins should be optional and selectable BEFORE you download, or perhaps, have the skins in an all in one package, and broken apart. That way if there is only one skin that is getting updated, you only have to update one skin...

I second that...there are a couple of skins I have customized myself and it really is a pain to have to go back in and copy skins or customize the new version back the way I had it.

[Etacovda]

I'd happily contribute to the graphical side of things

[Fatman_do]

Keep the ideas comming. I have opened a development thread for Community4 here.

[Fatman_do]

Hey, don't forget us PAL users - SD in 720x576 too...

GGF

I would think the SD skins would cover this, with the exception of legacy plugins.

[Fatman_do]

I second that...there are a couple of skins I have customized myself and it really is a pain to have to go back in and copy skins or customize the new version back the way I had it.

Are you tweaking the xml's?? If so, maybe making them be read only would fix this problem for you. The installer will only overwrite the files if I include newer ones.