New skin?

What do you guys think?
This thing's been around forever, honestly feels pretty stale and boring at this point...
Could really use a little shake-up👍
Like maybe something like this:

I feel the same way about this—honestly, I think it should be even darker. Maybe even pitch black, or something closer to what we have now. 🤷

come on guys, cast your votes 🙂

But honestly, it doesn't make much sense if you're using Chrome (I mean, there might be something similar for other browsers, I couldn't tell you for sure!) because anyone can just grab Extension Stylish and whip up their own custom skin for the forum.

Here’s what mine looks like right now:

Waste of time. This is easily the best skin out there. On other forums, everything is just incredibly annoying.

I am certainly in favor of changing the site's style, though I cannot bring myself to support using those pre-made free options. In my view, a premier platform like Reddit—one of the leading sites in America—shouldn't be settling for some cheap, free skin. We should either stick with the current default vBulletin look or invest in developing something truly unique. Given how quickly things tend to get handled around here, I find myself leaning toward simply keeping the original layout.

reddriver35 said:I don't know about you, but I disagree. This is easily the best skin available. On most other forums, the interface is just an absolute headache.

A classic, through and through.👍

reddriver35 said:It’s pointless. This is easily the best skin available. On most other forums, everything is just incredibly irritating.

I second that. 👍

This specific skin is essentially what defines this community. It's what makes this site what it is. The real question isn't about the design itself, but how the users here would react to such a massive shift. Sometimes, I think it's better to avoid these kinds of experiments altogether.

Karen Jones68 said:But that doesn't really hold water. Anyone using Chrome—or maybe something similar for other browsers, I couldn't be sure—can just grab Extension Stylish and build their own custom skin for the forum.

Here’s what mine looks like right now:

There's also something for opera that works like Stylish was built for Chrome, but I can't recall the name off the top of my head. :/

Brian Edwards6 said:A total classic.👍

😁

fadedmarlin402 said:I'm with you on this! 👍

This skin is basically what makes this site work. The real question is how the users would react to such a massive shift. Sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.

Honestly, this forum doesn't need anything except for some better servers.

The current skin works because it’s easy on the eyes, and that matters.

Sure, we can polish things up, but let's keep the core structure the same.

If the owner decides to upgrade to a newer version of vBulletin, I doubt anyone will actually care.😁

reddriver35 said:It’s useless. This is easily the best skin out there. On most other forums, everything is just incredibly annoying.

I'm inclined to agree.
Everything feels clean and easy on the eyes.

Personally, I can't stand those dark themes they try to push.

fadedmarlin402 said:This skin is basically what defines this entire forum. The real issue is how the users would actually react to a change like this. Sometimes it's better to just stop playing games with these experiments.

Nobody is saying there can only be one single skin. Just implement a menu with about ten different options—including this one as the default—and let everyone pick whatever they want. Save the preference in a cookie and then everything will be fine.

Out of everything I’ve tried, this one is definitely my favorite for the eyes ☕.

I think this one is fantastic!

Jacob Foster11 said:Nobody’s claiming there should only be one single skin. You could just implement a menu with maybe ten different options—including this one as the default—and let everyone pick whatever they actually like. Save the preference in a cookie and call it a day. Everything stays peaceful in the States.

I'm aware that any legitimate CMS, including vBulletin, offers users the ability to toggle between various skins. However, I’m not entirely sure what kind of strain that puts on the server or how much it would impact overall load times. Theoretically, it shouldn't be an issue, but you never truly know until you test it.

Jacob Foster11 said:I don't think anyone is saying there has to be just one single skin. Maybe we could just add a menu with about ten different options—including this one as the default—so everyone can just pick whatever they like best. We could save their preference in a cookie and then everyone stays happy.

Exactly. On another forum I use, I actually get to choose between four different skins. There's dark mode, light mode, and two extra ones. 🙂

Matthew Wilson50 said:Exactly. On this other forum I use, I actually get to pick from four different skins. There’s a dark one, a light one, and then two others. 🙂

Are you talking about a vBulletin forum, phpBB, or something else entirely?

I really want to keep this whole old-school, vintage vibe. 🙂

briskbison41 said:Are you talking about a vBulletin forum, phpBB, or maybe something else entirely?

It was probably some other site, I'm not quite sure which one since I haven't visited it in about six months. I don't think I even added it to my bookmarks.

I was just using that as an example regarding skins.

Jacob Foster11 said:Maybe just include a menu with maybe 10 different skins—including this one as the default—so everyone can just pick whatever they actually like.

Seems like a good idea, I guess. 👍