WishList suggestions from a New-To-CommunitySkin user

[Daniel Bragg]

First off, I'd like to say Well Done. I browsed through the skins and was very impressed with the skill and adaptability of the skins, which attested to the skill and adaptability of those who created them. This is a great project, and one which (echoing another user I've read) would be a nice addition to the GBPVR project as a whole, but works fine as a plug-in, so it makes no real difference either way.

From trying out some of the various skins, it becomes apparent that some skins are more suited to some things than other things. However, it only becomes apparent when the skin is applied and tried for a while (although the Previews go a *long* way to making this easier). As the number of skins increases, finding the skin that meets a specific need becomes harder.

May I humbly recommend some discussion between skin developers regarding the common sorts of needs skins strive to meet, a list of other plug-ins a given skin may (or may not) specifically address, and room for a small developer comment to explain what cool or neat thing this skin does to separate it from the others (other than the obvious "I poured my heart and soul into this skin!" )

There is a _little_ room beneath the Skin Preview section that could possibly be used to document some of this. Not having (yet) developed any skins for GBPVR, I do not know what either/or/and options there are for skin developers, but I'm hoping that someday Sub (if he hasn't already) will make available some of the functionality to the CommunitySkin developers he's interfaced for the Slick skin. I find in that skin that (for example) the Video Library gets rid of the buttons, but makes available show titles and synopses. Some skins use thumbnails for the Video Library, others use the show filename. If this were to be documented on the Skin page, it might look something like this:

"Video Library

• No Buttons
  
• Thumbnails
  
• Show Title and Synopsis
  

This skin was developed because I wanted to have an easy reference for my home videos."

I know this would only be useful if the community of skin developers got together and decided what options would be good to document in that way, and it would be by no means be mandatory. Just thinking the option of doing so could be a good one to have.

Humbly and sincerely submitted,

Daniel

[Hairy]

McBainUK, the developer of the skin plugin, is currently working on a newer version, so now is a great time to suggest changes that you'd like to see .

As the number of skins increases, finding the skin that meets a specific need becomes harder.

I know from my end I'd find it very useful to know what are those needs. What do you look for (and what do you think others value) in a theme both aesthetically and physically (layout/formatting)

Cheers

[McBainUK]

lol, Daniel, your post looks the the CS4 todo list!
* Better user interface and previews, descriptions for Themes and layout options. (see preview below)
* Show metadata in Library plugins like the Slick skin does. (see some previews on the dev thread here)

And, to add to what Hairy's said, ideas/suggestions and feedback of any kind is always welcome. That's why it's called the Community Skin