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What's Wrong With WinCustomize?

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What's Wrong With WinCustomize?

Yes, we want your complaints!

from WinCustomize Forums

This March, WinCustomize turns 7.  For seven years the site has grown in terms of visitors, bandwidth, quantity of skins etc.  And the site itself has gone through several revisions in that period.  Today, we're on the 5th iteration of WinCustomize, and on the whole it still bears a striking resemblance to that first site launched back in 2001.  For good or ill, a lot of the decisions that went into that first site determine direction to this day.

While there have been a lot of improvements, there are probably a lot of places where we've failed to meet expectations.  WinCustomize 2007 was focused on a solid foundation, code that was stable and expandable.  Now we're in a position to focus on the UI and the presentation more, to improve the user experience dramatically.  This is where you come in.

About a year ago, we sought your opinions on how Stardock had failed the community.  Your comments on what you felt we could be doing better has helped us make a lot of changes and improvements to our products.  Well, we want to try that again, only this time specifically with WinCustomize.  We want to know what doesn't work, what sucks, what you hate, what you want fixed about WinCustomize.  We are looking for very specific critiques of the site, it's functionality, layout, user interface etc.

This thread is about critiques, it's not about defending the site, it's not about telling us how much you like the site.  If we are going to improve the site in the future, we need a very clear picture of what is broken and needs to be fixed.

A week from today, I will be going through the comments on this thread and compiling a master list of complaints and critiques.  We will use this list when we start the requirements and design work for the next WC update later this year.

59,173 views 151 replies
Reply #127 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I would like a edit post option in the forum.
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Look at your last post and there should be an edit button at the top right next to Reply * Quote. Only works if you use it before someone else posts to the thread tho.......

Edit....see! ;)
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #128 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You can't edit once someone has replied after you. And I agree, I think it sucks. No other forum I'm at has this babysitting feature. When we edit our posts, it just adds a small line at the bottom that says who edited it, when, and why. OR, if we *all* can't be trusted, at least give people who have worked their way up the ranks the ability to edit their posts anytime.
Reply #129 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am on 8 meg Broadband and pages still load like on dialup , even with regular cache cleaning, Trusted Sites etc ...
~ ~ may be it could be a bit faster to load pages ...
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I second that. This site takes forever to load and I'm on an 8 meg connection as well.
Reply #130 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can't agree Bebi.

The posts that follow are in reply to those that went before. If I posted #10 and you post #13 in reply to something I said then I later completely change my post, yours may become either nonsensical or off-topic and then you would need to edit and the person who replied to you in #20 would need to edit and so on, so on......The way it currently is gets my vote. :)

If you have spelling concerns (Zubaz) try Firefox.....it has a built in spell-checker.
Reply #131 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I can't agree Bebi.

The posts that follow are in reply to those that went before. If I posted #10 and you post #13 in reply to something I said then I later completely change my post, yours may become either nonsensical or off-topic and then you would need to edit and the person who replied to you in #20 would need to edit and so on, so on......The way it currently is gets my vote.

If you have spelling concerns (Zubaz) try Firefox.....it has a built in spell-checker.
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Hence my suggestion about people who have worked up the ranks get to edit their posts. I just find it really sad that we can't be trusted to be mature adults when we post. At sites where the user base is much younger I haven't seen any problems like that.
Reply #132 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree. There's no way a post should be allowed to be altered once a reply has been given.
Reply #133 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I just find it really sad that we can't be trusted to be mature adults when we post.
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Hence the need for Moderators.....
Reply #134 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree that the current system of not allowign editing should stand.

Better to post again with "corrected" text than to have teh possibility to abuse.
Reply #135 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The problem with editing posts is that history gets rewritten 'too easily'.  I don't think it's an issue of 'trust' as much as it is an issue that it can be a temptation or at least too much of a safety net for the preferred option....that people think enough about what they post before they post.

The real world doesn't come with an eraser, so I don't see why these forums should...;)

BTW....other sites with the edit feature....how can you really be sure there IS no issue....when the comments can be/have been edited? 

Handy to eradicate proof....;)

Reply #136 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I totally agree with having limited time to change or correct your reply to a post. Know that I have on several times deleted my reply due the "emotions of the moment" causing me to type anything of pratical use.

Now having said that, why can the author of the original post go back at any time and be able to correct, add, delete or totally change their origianl post that people are repling too? Most of us have gone back and changed the title to see if it will generate more replies. Come on admit it, some of you have done it. I'm not sure if there is any kind of limitation apply there, but in my thinking it should be similar to chaning your reply. Once the first reply is posted you shouldn't be able to go back and change or even edit anything in the original post.

Oops, now I can think of many situations where that may well cause a problem.  :NOTSURE: 
Reply #137 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I second that. This site takes forever to load and I'm on an 8 meg connection as well.
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I third this, this page which is just text, avatars and the odd smiley, just took 17.5 seconds to load on a 5 meg ADSL, with it being cached. Cleared cache and it took 29.562 seconds to load. FF 2.0.0.12. Fasterfox set at Optimized. It is even slower using IE7.
Reply #138 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Along with the irritating closeness of the star rating next to the download button as mentioned above, I'd have to say the speed of page loading has to be the most frustrating issue. As an active Wincustomize peruser since 2001, it wasn't until just this month that I installed Stardock Central. Many new visitors to the site will browse the old-fashioned way. If the site is easy to load and contains many skin images per page, I think you'll keep new visitors coming back!
Reply #139 from WinCustomize Forums Top
When viewing the main gallery page, the thumbnails only show the top left corner of the previews. Same when viewing a user's WC site. Go into an individual library/user gallery and it shows the entire preview. Also, last I remember, when a user hasn't created their own WC site, and when you view their gallery, it doesn't show the library icons on the previews (can't think of an example page at the moment).
Reply #140 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The Forums need a navigation bar or at least a "Home" button at the bottom, as it gets annoying having to scroll back up to the top to navigate away from a page you are finished reading.
Reply #141 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I get this alot. the right side menu stuff all shifts to the bottom of the pages...
Reply #142 from WinCustomize Forums Top
HG, that's when someone accidentally breaks the layout (unclosed div tag or something).
Reply #143 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have been useing Stardock/WinCustomize for about as long as it has been around. I know that with time comes change. We all have to deal with that. When you first started out, you software was very easy to use, now in 2008 the new and improved Stardock/WinCustomize is way over my head. Like McAfee you have gone from a "User Friendly" program, to very Unfriendly indeed. But I am just one person, so what does it matter.
Reply #144 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have been useing Stardock/WinCustomize for about as long as it has been around. I know that with time comes change. We all have to deal with that. When you first started out, you software was very easy to use, now in 2008 the new and improved Stardock/WinCustomize is way over my head. Like McAfee you have gone from a "User Friendly" program, to very Unfriendly indeed. But I am just one person, so what does it matter.
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I, for one, would be interested in where you think the apps have failed.  Perhaps in a new post.
I think Stardock has spent a huge time investment in simplifying the apps.

I think it'd be interesting to break down what you think are the failures.  Maybe they are shared and can be improved upon.   :CONGRAT: 
Reply #145 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I too would like that Universe Metal site theme back.. (:(

And why is : ( :( instead of (:( ?
Reply #146 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I too would like that Universe Metal site theme back.. And why is : ( instead of ?
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That should all be fixed once the forum smiley contest is over.
Reply #147 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sort by color PLEASE!
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+1

Also better personal pages make it more "community like" they are a bit limited and with a bad layout atm. PM buttons! so users can interact more.. overall more interaction possibilities for users. TY thats my 2 cents atleast for now :)
Reply #148 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I know someone earlier mentioned about consolidating the number of forums. I remember there used to be a General forum, a Skinning forum, and another one, and that was it. That system didn't seem to have anything wrong with it. There's a million forums here that could just be one plain 'General' forum.
Reply #149 from WinCustomize Forums Top
PM buttons! so users can interact more..
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You can PM by clicking on a users name in the forums.
Reply #150 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The filter doesn't work for me.
When I use it to show Vista ready themes, it will change it, for example, from 1-349 themes, to 1-3 themes (pages), but when I hit the next page link, it seems to remove the filter, and goes back to 349 pages.