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Vanilla and it's need

edited August 2006 in Vanilla 1.0 Help
The biggest comment I hear from users when I show them Vanilla is that it looks plain, that is has no features, etc.. Well of course if you've used it you'll know that's entirely not the case. The problem is though, that when users first see it, they don't see your normal vBulletin or phpBB skin, and as of right now, there is no such skin for Vanilla.

So... is anyone here interested in helping me create one? I am a wizard with CSS/XHTML but not so great at design :)
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Comments

  • Why do you need to be able to design to copy someone elses work? :D
  • Well, there really isn't much *design* to those forums ;) Just a bunch of tables... Maybe someone will, but I much prefer the cleaner-styled vanilla to another board.
  • zinor: Please tell me, since I am very new to the world of forums, what is it that your users are looking for that they don't see? Is it features? Is it just a look? What? Thank you, jim
  • if your users want phpBB, why not use phpBB?
  • Isn't someone working on a theme like that?
  • It's not me, or my users. It's webmasters.

    They see Vanilla, and they see change. Not everyone wants change :)

    A lot of people would just prefer your stable tabular layout for thread listing, and the other style [cant remember it's name] for thread viewing.
  • Well to be honest, if that's what you (they) want, PunBB is pretty good.
  • look up a definition of vanilla
  • Vanilla is a flavoring, in its pure form known as vanillin, derived from orchids in the genus Vanilla. The name came from the Spanish word "vainilla", diminutive form of "vaina" (meaning "sheath"), which is in turn derived from Latin "vagina". (???? vanilla can mean vagina in spanish...no wonder mark chose it) Well can safely say that didnt help Jake
  • The default Vanilla style is pretty nice, it's clean and smooth.
    This makes it very hard when making new styles to make anything that looks as good as it did before.
  • zinor. whats wrong with these guides? pretty easy. http://lussumo.com/docs/doku.php?id=vanilla:themes http://lussumo.com/docs/doku.php?id=vanilla:styles
  • This thread isn't about my lack of ability to create something, or my need to use a different forum software. This thread is about what Vanilla needs in order to grow and satisfy more people.

    A lot of people *want* a standardized forum layout, such as vBulletin, phpBB, or IPB's styles.

    The idea of this thread was to get 1 or 2 people who would like to help in creating a sort of unofficial [very clean and basic] Vanilla skin which mimic'd those.

    And no, the idea of this thread is not to say "look I'm on Vanilla forums, but I'm going to tell you to use another forum software".
  • Vanilla is what it is.

    You can make Vanilla put discussions in a table (easy) and go directly to the "Categories" page (kinda hard) and have nested categories (really hard) and so on, but in the end you're going to have invested a bunch of time and effort and all you'll have to show for it is yet another phpbb clone.

    That's not to say that modifications are useless; some people on this board have done some amazing things with Vanilla and stretched it in directions it was not initially designed for. I'm just saying, when your desired end result is a dime-a-dozen "standard" forum, there are plenty of far easier options.

    Mark doesn't get a special prize if everyone suddenly drops their forum software of choice, and starts using Vanilla. The point is not to appeal to everyone, but instead to provide a good solution for those people who come in here and already like what they see.
  • I haven't actually looked at the templating system, but it shouldn't be hard at all to modify it.

    Maybe Mark doesn't want to appeal to the broad audience, which I doubt, but I'd like to help push Vanila out further as I really like the software.

    If he wants to make a living off of Vanilla, which I know he does, he has to, and having a skin like this will be a good step towards it.
  • I'm not in opposition to the idea of making a generic forum theme for vanilla (though i dont have the skills) because i think it would help grow vanillas userbase which is good (i hope) for Mark's plans for the future; but I also dont think people should be so adverse to adopting a fresh view on things and in many cases people should be encouraged atleast to work with the standard vanilla theme for a test period to see if they actually prefer it or would rather have the old view back. What people are comfortable with isn't necessarily what's best or easiest for them to use, it's just what they're used to.

    As I say, please push this forward in an effort to make vanilla as popular as possible; but don't be too surprised with some of the more hardcore vanilla fan's (of which i'm certainly one and I'm not ashamed to say so) responses. I'm sure you can appreciate for yourself what an excellent piece of software this is at it's core and I don't think it's *such* a bad thing that the community here is very protective of it in order for it to become popular in its own right.
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    I *am* working on a new theme that is more like the old tabular layout. I promised Mini I would, and I am. I just haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately.
  • Even that isnt exactly a phpBB layout though... I suppose it is a little more familiar to some people.
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    Didn't jazzman make a punbb clone? Vanilla Blue? Check it out: http://lussumo.com/addons/?PostBackAction=AddOn&AddOnID=111
  • zinor, I guess mint is almost what you are looking for. you could modify it. http://lussumo.com/community/discussion/2913/3/vanilla-mint/#Item_18
  • Ah ya that does look good. Saves me the trouble of doing it :)
This discussion has been closed.