[olorin15]

Has this site begun dying almost before it was born? I don't see any new activity there ... Are themers not interested in this? It sounds good, but it seems to be having problems taking off ...

[Nebagakid]

LONG LIVE macthemes.net !!!!!!

[kovacs]

Xthemes... needs more themes... maybe an alliance with macthemes.net and some of the big theme designers... I don't see why they wouldn't want to host their themes for free on this website... themers have to be sure though that the website will stay up for a long time and will stay free before they can rely on it ...

[Synotic]

I think part of the problem is that it has no coherent design... Everything just seems thrown around, which is kind of the problem ResEx has (although ResEx is a bit) more structured. I think it would do xthemes good if they entire design was rethought and perhaps was fixed-width as opposed to liquid because right now that design decision is making parts of the site look horrible.

Prior to the site's unveiling there probably should of also been at least 10 or 15 themes to give people an idea of how the site would work.

Right now the site looks dead because the news is currently just utilized for "site announcements" as far as I can see and those don't seem to come often.

Also regarding the design itself... I know it was mentioned on another forum but XHTML and CSS (for positioning and styles) would be nice. You could create a more uniformed look throughout the site which it's somewhat lacking now. The text within pages like the Developer and About pages just look like a mishmash of sizes and colors.

Anyways, these are just some of the things that I think could improve xthemes.

[MacDog]

While all the previous comments about site design are 100% valid and appropriate, I think the problem with that site sits squarely on the fact that the people running it aren't serious about it. If they were, there would be at least 20 or so themes available, as it stands there are a very small handful.

[mrtew]

I think there needs to be more on the front page that's for sure. It almost looks like one of those 'Domain for Sale' pages. The Themes page looks great though.

[NetworkShadow]

Maybe spruce up the layout a bit, but it's off to a good start.

[mac15]

Originally posted by Nebagakid:
LONG LIVE macthemes.net !!!!!!

We aren't trying to compete, infact we'd rather work side by side. We both have great resources and its been discussed. btw I'm Chris from Xthemes.

http://funmac.com/showthread.php?threadid=4428 for more ideas/requests. We are listening out and I guarentee you things are happening behind the scenes.

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by mac15:
We aren't trying to compete, infact we'd rather work side by side. We both have great resources and its been discussed. btw I'm Chris from Xthemes.

http://funmac.com/showthread.php?threadid=4428 for more ideas/requests. We are listening out and I guarentee you things are happening behind the scenes.

I have your site in my daily favs. Unlike these asshats, I realize that a theme site can only move as quickly as themes are released to populate it. Keep up the good work.

[phillryu]

But unlike you, I realize that there are already many themes out, and at least one new one (Marshmallow) that I don't see in the archives. I think it's more of a problem of getting themer support, rather than a lack of new themes or updates.

[mac15]

yes we offer the service, but most themers are yet to take up on the offer. Sure we'd love them to, we want to turn into a great theme archive but without theme developer co-operation we are left in the dry . So if you know of any themers who haven't yet uploaded there themes, please ask them nicely. Your help would be nice

Cheers
Chris

[Synotic]

Just some advice... lots of people don't want to take their time to upload their themes themselves. Perhaps you should ask for permission and then add the themes?

[Brien]

I've put out the emails... so ya know wat, dont blame me for doing the best I can. You want me to drop out of High School so I can spend all day grabing themes? Okay then. STFU. Themers: I will u/l themes if u dont want to, just PM/email me. And the site does use CSS, so STFU.

[NetworkShadow]

Well I don't have anything done yet, but it'll be on xthemes when I've got something done.

[Tulkas]

Ok, the design needs some work. The biggest problem is its CSS but only our PHP guy is very good at CSS (excalibur). I think this is about to change.

I honestly don't know why themers won't upload. Most of them have got usernames, max even uploaded a few, but the rest are just sitting around.

I'm hesitant to upload themes myself because if the themer wants to remove/edit/update them at some point they'll have to ask, so our entire system will be useless.

Question for themers:
Would you rather we uploaded your themes? Would you rather link to the files than upload them?

Its a community oriented site, but as it is the community is just sitting on their asses for some reason. We can never improve if no one tells us what sucks.

[kovacs]

Originally posted by brien:
I've put out the emails... so ya know wat, dont blame me for doing the best I can. You want me to drop out of High School so I can spend all day grabing themes? Okay then. STFU. Themers: I will u/l themes if u dont want to, just PM/email me. And the site does use CSS, so STFU.

Wow, lot of anger in that mail, Brien relax give the project some time to succeed, I can understand that some themers are a little bit hesitant to send their theme to yet another website, these things need time... you really need to lighten up... you can't expect the site to be an instant hit, besides I think the site has become rather popular in such a short time...I'm sure most of the critisism on this site was meant as positive feedback and your hostile reaction was seriously exaggerated, not the best way to make yourself popular...

[swiz]

Ive gotten the email requests but im not uploading any of my themes yet because I see myself updating them to their final versions in the coming weeks/months. Im trying to put an end to multiple version of my themes stinking up the net. If the site is still up as I release the final version of my themes I'll absolutely be submitting them.

Brien, take a pill; its all just 1's and 0's...

[goMac]

Originally posted by swiz:
Ive gotten the email requests but im not uploading any of my themes yet because I see myself updating them to their final versions in the coming weeks/months. Im trying to put an end to multiple version of my themes stinking up the net. If the site is still up as I release the final version of my themes I'll absolutely be submitting them.

Brien, take a pill; its all just 1's and 0's...

What if it was easier for you to get updates to people already using your theme?

[kovacs]

Originally posted by goMac:
What if it was easier for you to get updates to people already using your theme?

Hmm.. good idea goMac, maybe the developers of Xthemes can develop some sort of e-mail notification system that notifies people that already downloaded the theme before when an update is released. So when you download a theme you get a page that asks you if you want to add the theme to your notifications list. Macupdate and Versiontracker offer a similar functionality on their site. Sounds cool but also very complicated to achieve, but if they can get it to work it could make the site instantly more popular...

[phillryu]

Originally posted by brien:
I've put out the emails... so ya know wat, dont blame me for doing the best I can. You want me to drop out of High School so I can spend all day grabing themes? Okay then. STFU. Themers: I will u/l themes if u dont want to, just PM/email me. And the site does use CSS, so STFU.

Hey brien, I know what you mean. I didn't get much of a response from my emails either for macthemes However, I found that contacting themers through AIM was a lot more successful, so you may want to try that.

Plus I almost missed my bus this morning posting the shapeshifter review. Gotta love getting up at 5:30 each day to post these, and sleeping it off in Bio first period.

[swiz]

Originally posted by goMac:
What if it was easier for you to get updates to people already using your theme?

If it didnt involve any time on my part other than my theme dev time and uploading to my normal server; Id love it.

[bOOzo]

Originally posted by swiz:
If it didnt involve any time on my part other than my theme dev time and uploading to my normal server; Id love it.

The most annoying part about the system in my opinion is that you have to sit and wait for it to upload, plus it requires you to make new previews to suit the site. I would much prefer if you gave links to the download and the preview and had the authors put together the download and preview.

[Tulkas]

Originally posted by bOOzo:
The most annoying part about the system in my opinion is that you have to sit and wait for it to upload, plus it requires you to make new previews to suit the site. I would much prefer if you gave links to the download and the preview and had the authors put together the download and preview.

Yeah, it makes more sense for people with their own sites to have the option to just link instead of uploading.

I think we could let people subscribe for updates but it'd be easier to do it for all updates and not specific themes.

We aren't shutting down

[exca1ibur]

Originally posted by bOOzo:
The most annoying part about the system in my opinion is that you have to sit and wait for it to upload, plus it requires you to make new previews to suit the site. I would much prefer if you gave links to the download and the preview and had the authors put together the download and preview.

Originally I planned to have both options, but time wasnt' on my side to finish that up. Honestly I was debating to have the linking as the only option and letting you 'Themers' the option to just update your description as you see fit and control your links.

Vote time... Would you all just prefer to have it be so you basically put your URLs in and just input your descriptions? This would be very easy to do and just axe the uploading completely?

[phillryu]

I think direct linking, but provide hosting for those who need it, and request themers to make their newest theme file the same name (aka brushed.dmg instead of brushed35.dmg) so links don't have to be updated every update.

[macupdate]

MacUpdate (www.macupdate.com) has a section dedicated to ShapeShifter themes at:

http://www.macupdate.com/utilities.php?sub=10

And if you're a developer, we can host your theme files free of charge on our servers. Just get in touch with Joel at: [email protected]

or submit them to MacUpdate using the form at:

http://www.macupdate.com/email/submission.php

[Hi I'm Mike]

Originally posted by macupdate:
MacUpdate (www.macupdate.com) has a section dedicated to ShapeShifter themes at:

http://www.macupdate.com/utilities.php?sub=10

And if you're a developer, we can host your theme files free of charge on our servers. Just get in touch with Joel at: [email protected]

or submit them to MacUpdate using the form at:

http://www.macupdate.com/email/submission.php

that doesn't belong in here.. you are supposed to spam in the lounge.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by macupdate:
MacUpdate (www.macupdate.com) has a section dedicated to ShapeShifter themes at:

http://www.macupdate.com/utilities.php?sub=10

And if you're a developer, we can host your theme files free of charge on our servers. Just get in touch with Joel at: [email protected]

or submit them to MacUpdate using the form at:

http://www.macupdate.com/email/submission.php

I'd like to upload my theme but I don't see any place to do that at the link you gave. Can you be a little more clear?

[olorin15]

Originally posted by Hi I'm Mike:
that doesn't belong in here.. you are supposed to spam in the lounge.

Wow that was angry ... so you are allowed to advertise on MacNN and Macupdate is not? I don't get it ...

[Hi I'm Mike]

Originally posted by olorin15:
Wow that was angry ... so you are allowed to advertise on MacNN and Macupdate is not? I don't get it ...

what was angry about that? dont try to start something that doesnt need to be started. i dont see a problem with someone saying hey look at my sig for things. but macupdate should pay macnn now for advertising.. oh ive never advertised anything on here.

[olorin15]

Originally posted by Hi I'm Mike:
what was angry about that? dont try to start something that doesnt need to be started. i dont see a problem with someone saying hey look at my sig for things. but macupdate should pay macnn now for advertising.. oh ive never advertised anything on here.

whatever ... Macupdate is free, just like your site - maybe MacNN should charge for sigs with links in them? What about xthems and macthemes announcements? Did they pay for those? I'm not sure why you think macupdate shold not be allowed to do what so many others have been doing.

[wibs]

Originally posted by mrtew:
I'd like to upload my theme but I don't see any place to do that at the link you gave. Can you be a little more clear?

MacUpdate doesn't actually host files, just points links to downloads and gives them a small description page.

[Jaey]

I love macupdate. It's all useful and fuzzy and stuff.

[smeger]

Originally posted by wibs:
MacUpdate doesn't actually host files, just points links to downloads and gives them a small description page.

MacUpdate does host the theme files, as stated by Joel above. Which I think is pretty cool, by the way.

They also let the author use whatever blurb and screenshot he/she pleases.

[NetworkShadow]

Maybe a good idea would be for MacThemes and Xthemes to workout a mutual affiliation that would benefit both sites? A link on each site's main page, maybe Xthemes could link to the reviews on MacThems, and MacThemes to the theme archive on Xthemes? I don't know, but with theme devs having their own sites, MacUpdate and ResEx both hosting themes, Xthemes may not be needed? As I see it ether Xthemes needs to expand into other GUI goodies and news, collaborate with MacThemes, or just shut down.

Xthemes is a some what boring site really... There just isn't any content, and the layout is bland.

Another thought that might help Xthemes would be to have the option to link to the Dev's own hosting (like MacUpdate) so the uploading wouldn't be time consuming for people who don't need hosting.
A theme dev may also not want to take the time to update or submit a theme to xthemes in addtion to ResEx and MacUpdate with every little update to their theme(s), maybe if xthemes got permission form the theme devs they could update the archive themselves instead of relying on the dev to do it.

Just thinking out-loud, I hope it's useful feedback for Xthemes.

[Brien]

All the sweat and blood I put into this site, and no-one wants to use it. Jeebus. And we plan an adding support for safariskins, cursors, etc, but not too much, as ResEx has that covered. It really fries my bacon the the Xthemination crew tries to restrat, and people tell us we aren't needed, yet the original xthemes was? What exactly changed, I don't know, but if everyone feels the way NetworkShadow does, then we have a lot of work to do. Itz hard starting something thants been dead for over a year, and losing one of the members. And I started the site KNOWING ReseEx had the GUI stuff covered, but how long does it take to get your tyheme hosted on ResEx? A day. Here, it's instant, its searchable, and we have screenshots (ResEX does now too ), so ya know what, NetworkShadow, don't think we are unneccesary.

[NetworkShadow]

I was only pondering what others may think of the site to provide helpful feedback, not saying just how I feel about the site. About the only problem I have with the site is the lack of content and bland layout. I for one will support the site, and would hate for all your work to go to waist, with a few improvements you could make the site a success.

[phillryu]

Originally posted by brien:
All the sweat and blood I put into this site, and no-one wants to use it. Jeebus. And we plan an adding support for safariskins, cursors, etc, but not too much, as ResEx has that covered. It really fries my bacon the the Xthemination crew tries to restrat, and people tell us we aren't needed, yet the original xthemes was? What exactly changed, I don't know, but if everyone feels the way NetworkShadow does, then we have a lot of work to do. Itz hard starting something thants been dead for over a year, and losing one of the members. And I started the site KNOWING ReseEx had the GUI stuff covered, but how long does it take to get your tyheme hosted on ResEx? A day. Here, it's instant, its searchable, and we have screenshots (ResEX does now too ), so ya know what, NetworkShadow, don't think we are unneccesary.

Unnecessary? I don't think anyone said Xthemes was unnecessary, but the general concensus seems to be that the site needs new content. And the answer seems to be that no one is interested in contributing content. I think that's the main difference between the old XTheme and the new is that because you were adding themes yourself back then, there was constantly something new to see. Maybe this archive should be maintained by the staff for the first couple weeks? I could see Xthemes gaining some steam with some more themes, and the mentioned safari skins / mouse cursors. Once the archive gains some critical mass, I'm sure the site will take off.

Of course, the other big problem is the general lack of many 10.3 themes. (Something I'm discovering as MacThemes unexpectedly has started running out of themes to review!) So that's another hurdle to overcome... expanding Xthemes to other areas of GUI customization is definitely a smart idea.

[mac15]

Brien you sound asif your giving up, I'll talk to you on AIM. We'll shake the themeing world up

[NetworkShadow]

Ya don't give up yet, there's still work to be done though. Like phillryu said once you work your way to a certain point it's just going to keep going.

Some ideas to help the site:
-The preview image should be on the main page for the latest 1 to 3 themes.
-Some news about the theme world. Maybe a side bar with links to cool stuff (like Icon Factory)
-It could be a bit less white, it mainly needs to take up more vertical space.
-A links archive to GUI sites

[wibs]

Originally posted by smeger:
MacUpdate does host the theme files, as stated by Joel above. Which I think is pretty cool, by the way.

my bad, i misread. sorry =-\

XThemes isn't unnecessary... the more the merrier. but as i see it there are a few problems.

first, XThemes and MacThemes came out at about the same time. MacThemes updates on a seemingly constant basis, and while most of it is irrelevant it's still there, it creates the image that they're busy and active and being successful, regardless of whether or not people are visiting. because it looks busy, then people believe it's busy, and next thing you know lots of people are there. meanwhile, over at XThemes, the front page is spartan and seemingly static. I'm a fan of the clean look, i really am, but that page needs a lot more content to look at all active or busy, and the two tone color scheme doesn't help that. i like the design, don't get me wrong... it just doesn't seem to be fitting the purpose of that front page very well.

which moves on to the next thing... what is the purpose of the front page? right now it's site news, which seems to be an accepted convention these days... but really, who cares? the average person going to the site does NOT care that the site is optimized for safari 1.1, they care about looking at and downloading themes. i'm not saying moving your themes section to the front page is a brilliant idea, because all of those preview images being loaded by every single visitor (who wasn't necessarily coming to look at themes anyway, maybe they only wanted the forum) isn't going to be good for bandwidth. the way that it's set up right now though puts a really big emphasis on the web equivilant of being self-centered... great big is the site news, kind of small is what the site is actually all about: themes. site news is important, but people don't go to your site to read about your site.

wow, this turned into a lot more than i meant to write, and i was probably redundant. the point is, i like the site, but it needs to find a way to emphasize that it does have themes, and that themes are what it's there to provide, and everything else is really secondary (and being really successful at that would make even other theme sites seem secondary).

[phillryu]

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
Ya don't give up yet, there's still work to be done though. Like phillryu said once you work your way to a certain point it's just going to keep going.

Some ideas to help the site:
-The preview image should be on the main page for the latest 1 to 3 themes.
-Some news about the theme world. Maybe a side bar with links to cool stuff (like Icon Factory)
-It could be a bit less white, it mainly needs to take up more vertical space.
-A links archive to GUI sites

I like NetworkShadow's idea of a link directory. A place where themers can leave their contact info, and the staff could post GUI customization web links would be great!

[phillryu]

Originally posted by wibs:
first, XThemes and MacThemes came out at about the same time. MacThemes updates on a seemingly constant basis, and while most of it is irrelevant it's still there

Care to explain why most of our content is irrelevant?

[mrtew]

I think the site is very needed, but I agree that the themes should just be on the first page, at least until something else more important is put there,.,

And as for themers not contributing, I have a feeling that will change a lot on Feb 2. I mean who is releasing themes now anywhere?

[Tulkas]

Looks like we have some good feedback. I'd have to agree with most of the comments.

The design is something that I regretted give minutes after finishing it. That'll be the first to go. I'm still thinking themers uploading themes themselves is better. Its a lot easier and faster plus it gives them complete control over it.

I am not giving up. I regret we had a bad start but its never too late. I just encourage themers to upload themes.

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Tulkas:
Looks like we have some good feedback. I'd have to agree with most of the comments.

The design is something that I regretted give minutes after finishing it. That'll be the first to go. I'm still thinking themers uploading themes themselves is better. Its a lot easier and faster plus it gives them complete control over it.

I am not giving up. I regret we had a bad start but its never too late. I just encourage themers to upload themes.

The thing is... no themes on the site equals no people submitting themes. If I was making a theme I probably wouldn't upload there because it would seem kind of pointless, it [i]seems[/li] like the site is dead, like nobody is looking at the site. Get some themers on AIM or e-mail, ask them if you can put up their themes.

Then you need to add some sort of news items with comments or a shoutbox... or something to make it seem alive. Right now it's no different than a folder on the web with a bunch of themes in it. Even if you're adding themes it doesn't seem like anything. Perhaps dedicate news items to new themes added, a short little blurb. People can then add comments.

At this point more themers will probably submit their themes but realize that even then people will want you to put their themes up for them. Especially lots of the Japanese themers, it's a whole different community. People like cyber_thief and takashi izawa will e-mail you with nothing but a link to tell you their theme is up. Perhaps they don't want to write descriptions and all that if their English isn't too good.

This isn't the kind of thing where you start up and then leave alone and hope it grows on its own. It needs some life.

Anyways, just a few suggestions, take em or leave em

[wibs]

Originally posted by phillryu:
Care to explain why most of our content is irrelevant?

irrelevant to me personally . phillryu, i love macthemes. you're doing a great job providing everything I could ask for (and much much more) in a theme site.

it's the shareware reviews that really don't effect me much... i simply don't buy that much shareware (college budget and all that), so when I do buy it it's because I've spent a long time messing with it myself already. MacUpdate is my first hit in my round of bookmarks, so I'm pretty up to date on software without reviews telling me what's good because I've probably tried it myself already.

heh, i feel like every time i say something i step on a few toes. maybe i need shorter posts...

[Tulkas]

Originally posted by Synotic:

Yeah, thanks for the suggestions

It would have been nice if themers uploaded and managed themes themselves, but it looks like that may not fly. Though is hard to tell now.

[Brien]

I am beginning to think Mr. Chitwood wants to get rid of XThemes... first, he redoes the theme archive to best us.. now

A Thank You! To Max Rudberg and an Invitation To Theme Developers
First up I have to give a big ol' "Thank You!" to Max Rudberg for giving ResExcellence the opportunity to distribute his wonderful theme creations directly from our theme pages! We are quite delighted to take this first step in making our theme archive more convenient for our users, a tip of the hat to you Max, your generosity is appreciated!

Why is this an important step for us? Historically (at least as far as Mac OS X is concerned) we haven't hosted very many themes - I consider that to be the Achillies Heal of our theme archive.

That leads us to the second part of this article. I'd like to extend an invitation to theme developers everywhere to find out how easy we are when it comes to finding a way to host your themes. The two big hurdles are control of your creations and the hassle factor.

We understand that having multiple releases of your themes floating around at various sites is not a good thing - our solution is to only have your most recent release for any one theme posted at ResExcellence. When an update occurs we'll post your theme to our archive and feature it on the next news day. We'll also go back and delete your theme files from older pages so only the latest and greatest appears in our pages. You retain all control of your themes and can request for removal of files at any time, we will not change or alter the name of your theme file at any time. As a bonus you may link directly to the theme file at ResExcellence as a download mirror on your pages.

To make this hassle free all we need from you is an email from you giving us permission to include your themes in our archive. We'll download from your site, then create previews and snapshots to reflect our current page layout. No uploads or maintenance required.

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by brien:
I am beginning to think Mr. Chitwood wants to get rid of XThemes... first, he redoes the theme archive to best us.. now

I doubt it would be hard to make a better archive than the ResEx one... Xthemes is alreay better but with less themes.