G Check Your PM Please

Thanks my friend.

I also Replied.

Please give a quick read thanks.

This is a awesome forum G and i would like to see it go on to better and greater things.

And you well since i found "You have to start somewhere" < if i remember right was the name. And you were here working it . On that day i thought you was the coolest guy i had met on PB.

I've always tried to be mindful of your critiques on my skin and did what I could to improve it but I always knew you weren't using the standard skin I have. However I'm not sure I understand the lack of contrast comment. It's white text on a black background. Or at least light greyish-white text on a black background. I could make the text whiter probably if necessary. I've never noticed. My eyes are sensitive to light (I suffer from tremendous migraines and light including bright whites, hurt my eyes, so I may have turned down the whiteness of the lettering, but it could be turned back up to cater to a wider audience.)

I understand you're kind of a traditionalist that just needs it to be functional. The generic skin was kept available for people like yourself and I'm sure if we ever get to this being what we have to go to, I'm sure we'll find a way for another generic skin to be incorporated to cater to things like that.

When we originally started as "Gotta Start Somewhere" I originally started with offset comic backgrounds acting as a comic of the day kind of thing. They weren't even centered and quite honestly, it looked terrible. We eventually changed to a customized skin which had a Prince Velvet Purple dominating the look. To be honest, I didn't like it too well. The purple was too much. Eventually we got to where we are now, which is black and silver with some comic collage sidebars. Being I never had the followers a lot of message boards had, I used the customized skins as more of a approach to set me apart as trying a bit harder to look like I was working on the site.

I've been on sites both customized and the generic skins with color choices that made me leave almost as quick as I got there because they are sickening color combos that hurt my eyes. So I appreciate the comments about a board that is not pleasing. But I think we have adjusted over time and tried to make the skin and text and thread color combos as least distracting as we possibly could. I respect your right to not like the skin and I don't want it to come off as I'm taking offense, I just don't think it is that bad. We have adjusted over the years and tried to have made it more pleasing. Anyway, I guess our eyes are different and when the time comes, I'd do what I can to keep you on board by offering suitable alternatives.

As for the sidebar, it appears that is currently not on the site. I'm sure Underdog will do what he can to work on it. As a side note, the quick link menu doesn't appear either. I know that is just a matter of him doing the work. I think he has concentrated more on the framing at this point and the add ons will get put in as he progresses. Considering where we started, which to me was God Awful. I think it's amazing he found something a bit pleasing to me.

As I have reiterated before, I would rather the change NOT happen and I could keep my board the way it currently is. I'm not sure that is possible or not. If it can stay this way, I'll keep it this way as long as possible. But should the time come where I cannot keep it this way any longer, at least Underdog has given me some alternatives to work with.

BTW, we have also been using the generic skin in previous attempts and compared to some of the custom things we tried, the generic was more pleasing than anything we had. At least until now. Now he has given me something that kinda looks like what I currently have and maybe a bit more modern looking, minus the bells and whistles and the comic sidebar collages.

We do see things differently. I have a lot of trouble with the color white. I cannot stand being in a totally white room, especially if it has no pictures on the walls or no windows. My eyes lose the feeling of what is the solid wall and what is just the color white. Hard to explain. White glows into my eyes the way a camera flash does for most people, except I don't need the flash.

I often sit in my room in the dark. I'm like the Mole Man. I turn down the brightness settings on my computer monitor and my cell phone. A lot of message boards have white backgrounds with black text. The white overpowers the letters for me and makes the black look like it is just blocking pieces of light. I can read it just fine but after 10 minutes or so, I have to leave. The white wins.

I just checked my settings, the text is white. FFFFFF. Perhaps being on a black background makes it look more grey. I also have once again my screen monitor brightness turned down. When I first got this computer with a 25 inch screen, it was killing my eyes before I turned it down.

I never thought of my board as goth looking. I seen it more as a Metallic looking board. I could work on a sub-board that copies this one and uses your suggestions for background colors and texts. I would be happy to do it for you, but I doubt you would be interested.

I know you have other selections on your board. Sometimes I see the other ones by accident. I've been using the grey background with Orange Titles and Yellow text for a long time. I don't find it either overly attractive nor do I find it annoying. One other time I tried on purpose one of your other skins (I forget which one) and I quickly missed the one I had been using and reverted back. I think a lot of times, we become creatures of habit and what works for us. If we change that, even if it might seem initially more pleasing, it's hard to get used to and the desire to revert back takes over. At least for me. I've never been a fan of websites or message boards making sweeping changes. That's why in 6 years, I've basically only had 2 major changes.

If all else fails, when the time comes and the change happens whether I want it to or not, we'll check with you on what you prefer best to give you that option. Underdog showed me one today. We're not going to want to chase you off because you couldn't stand the skin. So let us know what we can do.