General Does a new skin help attract more members?

[Bryn]

This is something that I've wondered about for a while, and I hope I'm not the only one that thinks this.

If the admin adds in a new skin for their forum (providing its suitable to most peoples eyes and also good choice with colours), does this help with the rate of guests becoming members?

I ask this because, I experienced this phenomenon twice in the past. In late 2008 when I had RX Community, after having quite a horrid skin with medium-dark colours and an amateurish-looking banner from me (where I had blamed that for lack of guest activity even coupled with the fact that I was offline for some part as well), everything changed when I applied a skin that was specially made by someone of the official ZetaBoards support forum where it had a much fresher appearance and as soon as I broke the news about it, guest traffic had increased and many of them became members. And, in late 2017 I believe with The LightWeb, again with a skin made by someone specially for it, the same thing happened again.

Now I'm wondering if this will happen once more for my current forum when the new skin for that is ready (it's still being worked on as I speak) or, am I being delusional here...

Discuss, anyway.

 

[Cedric]

This is something that I've wondered about for a while, and I hope I'm not the only one that thinks this.

If the admin adds in a new skin for their forum (providing its suitable to most peoples eyes and also good choice with colours), does this help with the rate of guests becoming members?

I ask this because, I experienced this phenomenon twice in the past. In late 2008 when I had RX Community, after having quite a horrid skin with medium-dark colours and an amateurish-looking banner from me (where I had blamed that for lack of guest activity even coupled with the fact that I was offline for some part as well), everything changed when I applied a skin that was specially made by someone of the official ZetaBoards support forum where it had a much fresher appearance and as soon as I broke the news about it, guest traffic had increased and many of them became members. And, in late 2017 I believe with The LightWeb, again with a skin made by someone specially for it, the same thing happened again.

Now I'm wondering if this will happen once more for my current forum when the new skin for that is ready (it's still being worked on as I speak) or, am I being delusional here...

Discuss, anyway.

There are definitely two sides to this.

1. A new theme, on its own, won’t magically boost your activity overnight. It’s a nice refresh, but it’s not a fix-all solution to revive a community or drastically increase engagement by itself.
2. On the flip side, an unattractive or poorly designed theme can do more harm than good. An ugly theme can turn guests away before they even get the chance to explore the content, so the look and feel of a forum definitely play a role in first impressions.

Back in the days of InvisionFree and ZetaBoards, a new theme could spark a bit of buzz in an already established community. It kept things fresh, gave existing members something to talk about, and, for a short while, might have caught the attention of guests. But, like I said earlier, the effect is temporary. A new theme isn’t a remedy to suddenly breathe life into a quiet forum or drastically change the course of guest-to-member conversions in the long term.

Ultimately, while a good theme is important for first impressions and can certainly help, the content, community culture, and ongoing engagement are what truly sustain growth and keep people coming back.

 

[Cory]

Custom themes can be more important than consistently introducing new themes to the board, in my opinion. When you have a custom theme that follows many "guidelines" such as legible text, good contrast, high-quality graphics, etc. it can help brand your forum and give your forum a unique touch. I'm not saying using premade themes is a horrible idea, but a custom theme can create a presence that caters specifically to your board.

I have kept Azuria (Dark) as my two themes on my forum since they were produced and I think being custom themes gives that sense of branding and uniqueness that other forums might not have.

 

[Bryn]

but a custom theme can create a presence that caters specifically to your board.

That's what I was saying in my original post

 

[Nomad]

I do not join a community just because it looks great, I join the community because of the content and the activity. Having a good skin certainly makes people stay in the community because it improves user interface and user experience but people do not join community just for esthetics.

 

[Al]

I've clicked off some forums because the style made my eyes burn. A great aesthetic is important, but a new style isn't going to - on its own - get you new members.

 

[Sinistra Sensei]

A good theme makes the community because the theme before the content makes people join! When I design a theme for my communities I think about what the end user wants to see. so I base my designs on that.