Chris C

Yeah. I heard this, and I was told to reduce the number of add ons to a bare minimum of possible because of it. XF. But I still plan on eliminating things that were there before. The one I'm working on is a 20 year old site. They did all kinds of stuff to it over the years. But the recent Xenforo Upgrade was a lot larger than advertised, and put me to work on revamping the sire whether I wanted to or not.

Yes. I believe the secular word for it is providence. Yes it is. Misplaced faith. That's why I firmly believe that where we get our inspiration from is key.

If I may, what other forms of high maintenance would I potentially be dealing with running multiple themes? Curious about what I'm getting myself into now.

Must have been what it was then. If I had known it would disappear I would have took some screen shots. But it would also make sense if it was a form of advertising cuz they weren't there when I visited after the new owner took over, and that wouldn't happen with signatures, only with advertising or some form of decorative graphics.

I know : ) You seemed confused when I mentioned this in private as well. But I swear. Everyone had what looked like their own signature banner showing the site they owned or were from. They were attractive. Unless it was some sort of graphic that filled the spaces between posts, but it looked like they belonged to each member's signature.

Yeah. I tend to employ up to 6-7 custom notices for each theme, which may get a bit tedious if I'm eventually keeping up with three of them on just one site alone. Was thinking of training someone to do it, but how dedicated he will be remains to be seen.

Your previous site. The one you sold. I forget the name of it now.

I suppose that would, yes, so I fully understand. My answer here is that I think there needs to be a type of divine inspiration behind a vision; any vision. I think there may have been divine inspiration behind all the great inventions down through history in some way. I just know in my case - and this will sound crazy but - the future of a site I built early last year was predicted to us in advance, and it's design was given by mutual dreams where several of us dreamt about the same thing. But along with divine inspiration there also needs to be strong FAITH in it, cuz even then the plan may be quite long term in reaching its fulfillment. I think that's the difference between a vision that succeeds and a vision that doesn't. There are many great minds in this world, but in order for a vision to succeed (the more unusual the vision is, the more this will be true) there needs to be a kind of supernatural backing behind it or it won't. Just my two cents.

Man I love this thread. Was just talking about this today. I plan on creating three different themes for a community I own. They will all have to appeal to me, but I was asking a friend what kind of theme she might prefer as a woman. The reason is because the themes I like personally tend to be a little on the masculine side, and I still want to attract the opposite gender as well. Another reason why I wanted at least three was because I enjoy variety and changing things up, but I want to accommodate everyone with at least something that appeals to them. So yes, I think the themes I pick are cool in some way, and attractive. And I can only hope that after all is said and done my members feel the same way. Btw, thinking of getting not only staff but possibly membership involved in the design of the last theme, which is as of yet undetermined.

Hey Cedric! You know what I liked? Back at your previous forum where every member had these foxy looking signature banners advertising their individual forums. I don't know how you arranged that, but it looked very cool. Made everyone look like a true community, and you could tell in an instant where everyone was from. I'd love to see that here if it were possible. Plan on doing a little of it myself at my places, although probably just for a few select people and then those who would be willing to pay a small fee for it. Just a wish. (I also wouldn't mind having a few store credits, cuz I got things to buy, LoL, but I'll take what I can get).

I've been blessed with the ability to dream big, and I learned a long time that the opinions of others aren't always the greatest anyway. But then, when it comes to my dreams why should they be? Others cannot see what you see. If Edison or Einstein or any of the great inventors of history only saw what others were able to see, they would have never carried through until their dream became a reality. It's called being a visionary. and life would stagnate without them. So no, I don't let others opinions affect me too much. If I waited for approval, I would likely accomplish nothing of any significance, cuz I'd be forever tied to other people's faithlessness and lack of vision.

Cropped the image for more proper dimensions. [ATTACH type=full" alt="Screenshot 2024-12-23 at 5.41.08 PM.webp]1022[/ATTACH] P.S. I would want the finished product to be the same dimensions proportionately to the sliding notices, as in this image below. Slightly wider, and about 3 and 1/8s inch tall (on a 21.5" computer screen. Hope that helps, LoL).: [ATTACH type=full" size="1309x716]1029[/ATTACH]

Thanks for the heads up! My "deadline" wasn't strict, btw. I know it's the holiday season. Just hoping for some quality work, that's the primary thing : )

Actually, let's try superimposing this. Top line in fine print: I bore you on eagle's wings (Exodus 19:4) Middle line in Large Bold print (and slightly larger than this proportionately): Christian Forums Bottom line in smaller print: One Spirit, One Body, One Forum

Trying to wake up, and with the right mentality.

Greetings! I'm looking to have a custom header created for an existing site. I could order more work to be done in the future, including more headers for different themes and some signature banners, but I figured we'd try a site header to begin with and see how it goes. Let me give the concept of what I would want for starters, and maybe that would help you with knowing how long it might take. I want to take an image like the following, and duplicate its reverse and then put the two together, so that there is an eagle on either side, and then superimpose the site name and logo in the middle. Think we could do this? [ATTACH type=full" size="900x600]1015[/ATTACH] It would replace the area that currently has a GIF with an eagle on it below: [ATTACH type=full" size="1390x740]1016[/ATTACH]

No demoting, unless they meant for like a year or something. But I think the longest was really only about 4-5 days, so it's not really appreciable. It's just nice to know so you don't wonder why someone isn't covering their responsibilities all of a sudden.

Yes. I noticed that with this other site (which is far older, and more populated), the GIF we're currently running loads slowly... and it's even worse on an iPhone. The site it works well on is brand new and low volume, so maybe that's all stuff to take into consideration. Thanks for the input.

We have a staff thread where everybody just posts that they will be taking some time off (they usually include for how long), and it's a no questions asked kinda thing, Everything's volunteer. So we just wish each other a great time and see you when you get back. That way nobody feels burdened. May not work with a high volume or high maintenance site where somebody's absence could break the place, but in a medium to smaller-sized community, nobody's gonna be missed for that long, So it's "Take all the time you need." Works seamlessly for us.

But I may go with the Logo images instead, LoL. So long as they are well done, it would suffice. But nothing beats a High Def GIF in my opinion. The best looking forums I have ever seen had one.

Yeah, and see that's kinda my attitude. I want membership and especially staff to be happy with the way the site looks, but honestly, it's my site. I own it and I run it, and I like aesthetics. The more attractive the site is to me, the more pleased I'll be with it, and the more effort I will put into it to make the site better in other ways. So it's a bit of a catch 22 regarding those who find it distracting, But to me a site will only be what the owner makes it, and without trying to sound self-serving, no one's interest will matter more than mine.

I've seen other forums do it and thought it looked great; made the site look alive because the Home page was always moving and attractive, So I had one installed as the header for a custom forum I created recently and I am pleased with it. But I've been trying to do the same thing with another site I am now trying to upgrade the looks of, and the results are not the same. It's grainy rather than High Def, and since my Dev is not really a video guy we have reached stalemate on how to proceed. At present, I'm either looking into finding somebody who could produce something High Def, or simply switching to having some custom logos made and just leave it at that. Anyone have any experience at dealing with this, and/ or mulled over the question of using GIFs themselves? Thanks.

Thanks for this. I was thinking about it in various ways the other day. The few times I've reached out to others I normally wouldn't in an official capacity, it's been well received, They respond appreciatively, which was somewhat unexpected. But it's been a long time since I was just a member, and I've forgotten what it feels like being welcomed by staff.

I do the same thing. We set rules in place as safeguards against any kind of mob rule/ en masse effect or if a member starts getting really egregious about something. But as far as individuals go, I will let things go unless they push it too far. The rules are in place for extreme cases, but on a person by person basis I don't sweat things nearly so much. And every case is different, so I believe in looking at each person as having their own unique set of circumstances to take into account.

All day. I was joking with a friend just a few days ago that every time I plan on just sitting down to a nice movie or playing a video game for a little while it rarely happens. Before I even get there there has been something else I realize I want or need to do, so there I am at the computer again typing away. My wife refers to it as "slaving yourself." I always hear the question, "Are you slaving yourself again?' from across the house. It's a little demeaning, LoL.