Forum design, important or not?

[Meti]

Hey,

I think this is a rather interesting topic, I've done some research on this one and it seems that the design isin't very important. However; I still am not convinced that the design doesn't matter, but one thing made me think deeper yesterday.

Isin't content usually the king? I was thinking and I came to this conclusion, design sometimes makes the user register as he probably thinks "wow, nice design, I'll sign up" however the main reason of getting that user to revisit your forum is the content.

I had a look at Big Boards and found it rather interesting, as the top boards really have simple layouts, some based on the default skins of that forum platform.

Lets start an interesting discussion

[rhyswynne]

I think that vBulletin doesn't really lend itself well to customisation, as most of the top forums look the same. The most important thing for forums is the content, so why detract it with sidebars and the like

[Meti]

Still, you're able to turn vB into a very neat design. Minor CSS changes can really improve the overall look, and make it look custom.

However, I do agree with you about vB forums being alike.

- Meti

[RiverWire]

Personally i think VB looks a runs better as a more basic design, look at UKWW , DP and other massive forums they dont have much in the way of design but i like it like that ,there are other webmaster forums that have added loads of add-ons and graphics. Its just to much they look nice and yes i would probably sign up for the sake of it, but they just havent got the staying power.

Content and people are what make you stay in a forum not design.

[Meti]

Exactly, I find it very interesting. For example, if I create two different forums one with a very nice design and bad content, you are most likely to signup on that forum but leave.

However; if I had a design that looks simple, with easy navigation and you find it loaded with lots of content, you are most likely to stay as a regular user at that forum.

It's funny how this works actually, don't you think, but on the other hand it's quite obvious, "content is the king".

- Meti

[RiverWire]

yeah i can see what your saying would be nice if you could have the best of both worlds but i think that people forget that a forum is a community and most people go to forums for a certain thing.

For example i only use DP for site sales ,buying things and services i spend alot of time looking and most of my posts or things like "thanks", unless someone really ticks me off because they are soooo wrong lol (which seems to be lot on DP)

Where Here i consider my home lol, i like the people i like the forum style and its generally a nice place to hang out.

Now there are other forums which some of you would know quite well (which i wont mention) that i feel are only there because they want to be like DP and are pushing and pushing with no one that really cares what happens there. Thats where it comes across as nothing more than a stopping place, not a community. A bit like a bus stop you only stand there until the bus comes which is every 5 mins.

[Meti]

I see what you mean and I certainly agree with you, like we say, bigger doesn't mean it's better. I think it's quite clear that there are not any more business, serious discussions over at DigitalPoint.

I agree with you about that, and what makes a better community is when you come up, and ask some simple question, over at large communities you are most likely to get answers like "read faq" however, I like communities where you get real answers and not some meaningless replies.

- Meti

[RiverWire]

I agree with you about that, and what makes a better community is when you come up, and ask some simple question, over at large communities you are most likely to get answers like "read faq" however, I like communities where you get real answers and not some meaningless replies.

Yeah i always think its a little harsh when i see things like that, everyones got to learn somewhere and forums can be a great start if you can get the right people answering you. Things like "search google" and "oh no not another thread on this" I must admit that it does get annoying when you see the same subject over and over again at DP but id rather no one answered at all that put some moronic answer (although on my bad days sometimes ive been guilty of a little piss taking ) :bebebe:

[Meti]

I also have a thought, should you modify the CSS of the default skin or should you get a completely custom skin, or a premade one? What's your view on this?

- Meti

[RiverWire]

I normally make a back up of the default skin and then edit the CSS, i do this with most things PHPbb, VB, joomla, Word Press.

Of course if the default skin doesn't have the look or other features that you want you can look through gallery's of cheap free templates and edit their CSS to suit your needs. I personally cant see anything wrong with that as most of the time by the time im finished editing the CSS and template files it's a completely different template.