Custom forum skins vs. Free ones

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ltn1dr

ltn1dr

Call me Andy
Jun 27, 2006
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Washinton D.C.
a2-network.com
Does anyone here think that using free skins for your forums has any impact on how successful your forum is?

I'm a little unwilling to spend $300 on a site that I don't think will make $300 in its first 3 months of existence, (I'm horrible at making money from keeping forums lol)
 


Just use a free one or design your own. Most forums are usually fairly easy to skin with just some basic knowledge.
 
ltn1dr said:
LOL @ the design my own. I'm horrid with anything that entails coding in any language or graphics designing or anything.

The top header logo on http://textforfree.net was the first and last image I'll ever try to make LOL
Click to expand...

Maybe you can find a free one that you like and make some minor modifications to it, just to differentiate it a bit.
 
Custom is better, ofcourse, but good content can compensate for the lack of unique visuals.

If you do all the other things right, a free skin won't slow down your success too much.
 
theNOTO said:
Just use a free one or design your own. Most forums are usually fairly easy to skin with just some basic knowledge.
Click to expand...
Well if you think it's easy to code a custom vbulletin design then what's not easy :p
 
MisterX said:
Custom is better, ofcourse, but good content can compensate for the lack of unique visuals.

If you do all the other things right, a free skin won't slow down your success too much.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

It also matters a whole lot on your audience...an audience of webmasters are going to pay closer attention to the design than a bunch of grandma's who rarely surf the net...In fact, I would say that most internet browsers wouldn't know the difference between a custom design and a free, shared one...assuming the custom design is not highly customized. That said, if you've got the funds and are willing to invest in your forums...do so on a custom design - they really can leave a huge impact on your visitors, especially if they are tech-savvy
 
I would agree that it really depends upon the audience. If you are targeting the site at any market other than webmasters, graphic designers or the like, then I would think that a free one would be just fine. If you are that bothered by it, then buy a custom one as soon as you turn a profit.
 
I'd get a free skin and wait for traffic to build up.

Once you have enough cash you can skin the forum to match the rest of your site.
 
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