The Piano Forums have 7 different "skins" available.
You can change to the look and feel you prefer.

Which Look Should be the Default?

Right now the default look for the forums is the ubbthreads_stock. I personally prefer the "Coffee Skin".

However, I thought I'd put it to a vote to see which look the most people like. If there is one clear winner, I'll change the default to that so new members will see the "choosen" skin.

Keep in mind you can always set your own preference, I'm primarily interested in what might be most likely to be appealing to new members and surfers.

To change the look (colors and fonts), simply go to the bottom of the page and look for the bar with the following choices on it:

Privacy Statement, Board Rules, Mark All Read. To the right of these you should see a drop-down box. The box contains a list of choices for the look and feel of the forums.

Try them out, then come back and vote.

Me too! I've been using it ever since it became an option.

Me three.

I actually like the koniro skin.

I actually prefer the default, makes it easier to read

I've been using Koniro but I just changed to Coffee and I like it. Maybe more than Koniro...

The main reason I prefer coffee over the default is that unread threads are highlighted, whereas in the default they're not. Koniro is nice as well, but coffee is more soothing.

I like the default. Very easy on the eyes.

I find that Pastels is the cleanest looking, least busy and by far the most esthetically pleasing.

I still think the default point size is too big. Didn't we vote on that once, too?

Steven

Oooo, I think I've changed my mind. I'm back to koniro
Koniro and coffee seem to be the only two which have unread threads (or threads with unread messages) in bold, a feature I really like. I think we can discount those black ones, as default anyway. I don't know what sort of eyes could find them comfortable, but certainly not mine!

Sotto, we did vote on the font size, didn't we, but I don't remember what the result was. The present size is just right for my not-as-good-as-they-once-were eyes.

My vote is for Black and Gold. It kinda feels like it has the thematic relevance of the black finish and brass of a piano

Just read my own post. Geez, what a nerd I am

YES!

(-apple who fondly remembers the Coffee Room)

I am a coffee guy myself...first thing in the morning!

I like it the way it is.

It grew on me...kinda like a fungus!

I hadn't tried these out before but I find the dark background easier on the eye than a white one so I've swapped to the black and gold for a while to see how it goes!

I'm almost certain it was reduced by one point size—though still one point size larger than the size on the old forums.

I'm trying the koniro for awhile - my color is blue so this fits my personality and my beach lifestyle.

By the way - PianoStreet uses the black and gold format.

Always fun to try new things.

Dr. J - The More You Play the Better Your Day

I know - it actually hurts my eyes. I just can't look at it.

Well, I'm in the minority. Since the Forum's makeover, I've always viewed it in ubbthreads_dark. It has a black background with white text and blue borders and 'buttons'. To each his own.

And I see that "Topic Previews" are back.

can't one choose one's skin.. aren't we discussing the default?

Yes, timely reminder, apple. Of course as soon as you log in, your chosen preference takes over. The default will be what surfers and newcomers see, which is another reason I think black/gold probably shouldn't be the one, if it's the same as PianoStreet.

And now they are gone.

wow.. i've been using the coffee the last several days. it's really nice on the eyes (i am now in the way to bright default)

I prefer coffee but still think the simple look of the past worked better and was cleaner. I would think a website would have one look. JMHO.

It would, if I had built all of it.

I hand coded all 1000+ pages of Piano World itself, but I bought the forums.

Which means we are limited to the designs created for the forums, but their programmers, or I can spend a few weeks trying to hand-code the CSS for about 40 different files to create a new look.

i always prefer coffee

Coffee here...no cream or sugar...like it straight up

nice job Frank

Ok I had been using koniro, but temporarily have switched to coffee due to some display issues on my end....

Now explain something... why do the last 15 posts appear to have no content? It's as if the background and foreground are exactly the same color... what gives? EDIT: refreshing page fixed it... hmmm....

Coffee or the current default work best for me. I'm with Currawong on one point -- the importance of having some visible way of telling whether a thread has been read before. She says that only coffee or koniro provide that now. I haven't played around with these enough yet to tell for sure. But if the current default doesn't mark previously read threads: (i) Why not? Isn't that a pretty basic feature of good forum/bulletin board design, regardless of template colors? (ii) I withdraw my vote for the default and vote only for coffee.

As for Sotto Voce's suggestion that the font is too big, just wait 'til you hit 60, young fella. (I'll bet you like Kalmus editions, too.) I think our font is perfect the way it is, except when I wish it were bigger. Which is at least half the time.

I have taken the idea away from some of Steven's posts that he is not a young fella.

You're probably right about that. But anyone who isn't complaining about tiny, illegible computer fonts is a young fella in my book.

Coffee is nice, but I voted for the default look. I think it's slightly easier on the eyes.

Age is relative, Horowitzian. I think it's a pretty sure bet that anyone who thinks the font is too big is younger than me!

Maybe he has good eyes.

I put my vote in the "Too big" camp.

The "Coffee" colors are nice, and it's easy to read, but the silly bean icons need to go. They look like, I dunno, something ugly.

Looks like Coffee and Koniro are running neck and neck. I voted for Koniro, I hadn't noticed there were options for the look of the forums.

I think the original default is easiest on the eyes, but the blue is more cheerful and it is nice to have the unread topics bolded.

Coffee has my vote as well.

I think none of them are particularly elegant as far as design, simplicity or readability goes (but I work for a website full time and am a tough critic!) - however cofee is definitely the easiest on the eyes. Sort of like amber lenses in your prescription shades.

I just switched to koniro to try it out. I'd have a hard time choosing between it and coffee. They are definitely the best of the lot as far as readability and ease on the eyes. I also like that unread topics are in boldface font in both.

Well I got an email from someone recently that was in 6 pt. Now that is just about too small. Although the anti-aliased fonts on Macs definitely improve readability dramatically.

I have been using koniro because I find it very important that unread threads are bolded in that style. Also because I like blue, so I didn't use the coffee style. (I won't want to use the other styles because of the lack of the bolded unread thread.)

But am now trying the coffee style because of its popularity. It seems cleaner and easier on the eyes.

I'd be happy with either coffee or konira as the forum default.

I prefer Pastels tho I would not be sad to see Default remain.

Thanx for all your hard work! ~ Retread

I believe the stock default is better. From what I can remember of my web design courses in college, black text on a white background is the most easily read. I would keep it simple for the default, either the current stock or the coffee version is acceptable. For those viewing on mobile devices adding that background pattern and cute bean icons may increase their load time over slow wireless networks. (I have spent considerable time reading the forums from a blackberry.) Most people are here for the information contained in the text, not the pretty colors on the page.

Is scripting something new very difficult? I like the coffee theme (though it seems a bit dark to me... not really inviting), but I don't really see any connection to music would be nice to have a bespoke theme... clefs or notes instead of the beans... and stuff... just my 2p...

Yes, they look like that ugly thing, and also kind of like an aerial view of the human brain.

I use Koniro.

Coffee was my second choice, but those beans did not work.

I use "dark", but Koniro is also nice with Coffee in 3rd place.

I'd like the visited links to change color from the non-visited ones. Seems like that used to work on Piano World? I've got a few "custom" CSS files that supposedly force this to happen, & work on other forums, but none work here. I am no expert at CSS--hate this type of "tinkering with computers" crap. Any ideas? Mac Tiger; Windows XP. Maybe I'm overlooking some setting somewhere.

I would have wanted something lighter and more fun. Although this earthly colors are fine. It is just so safe.