WinStyles etiquette

I think crediting them is good enough, although I'm sure they'd appreciate a note if you sent them one. They get credit for the download too (AFAIK), at least if you leave them as links rather than including them directly.

I give credit in the theme description. If it is different skins by different artists, then i think credit is good. If it is a whole Suite or theme and is recent, I would ask permission. I've been told you don't have to, but as far as i'm concerned, it is proper to do so.

permission is always good. I agree with elvee on that. Especailly if the work is recent. If it is not recent (as in not in the last 3 or 4 months) the at least ry to contact the original aurthors. Some of the ones I want to upload are aurthors from years ago, and I am not sure if they changed their names or just gone.

What makes it safe to do the latter is the all WinStlyes does is combine files that are off the database of WinCustomize through a download. So it is like your still downloading the files sepeatly.

In the end, at least try to contact the original authors. If you can't, then let them know your uploading it and don't use a name that they might use (Like for example WOODY of which would contain everything that is named Woody by treetog)

I'm still waiting for responces, but after a while, like 2 or 3 months, I'll probably put it up giving credit for the original authors.

Oh and remember it is a .SUITE file, not a .XPTHEME file your making. The .SUITE file only contains the links to Wincustomize.

I'm waiting for permission also, and remember a Suite is made of links, so you are not just limited to WinCustomize. You can grab links from most other skin sites. I say most because i've only tried at DevART, SkinBase and Lotsofskins.

Credit is not enough. If you are using other people's themes or skins you must either get their permisison or use the .suite format.

Sorry for any confusion Brad, i only talk about the .Suite Format.

you can't upload from other site with the .suite extention. It doesn't allow you too. I got permision for a wallpaper upload from Deviant Art and it wouldn't do it. And it looks sooo goood

oh and once again I guess we are going to need to have a forum on this because I was told (on the message board) that it is ok to just give credit. I didn't think it was ok unless it was no way (after numurous attemps) to let the original author know.

OK what is the offical standing on this subject?

.suite's are OK with Credit only. If you are uploading the file, no matter what you have to have written permission in zipped in there. Some authors do drop off the face of the earth, just the way it is.

If the wallpaper was posted at DevART before June 16th it will not work till they get thier file server mess worked out. >

It's ok to just give credit if you make a .suite file, which only contains links to the works.

If you want to make a .xptheme file, which contains the actual skins, you need the authors' permission.

Hey Brad. If you link to a wallpaper that is not Zipped, can WinStyles download it

Thanks everyone. It looks like the consensus is it's okay to just give credit, provided it's in a .suite file (which is just links to their work anyway). That makes a lot of sense, and is probably better for all concerned anyway.

I know I'm going against the grain here..(as per usual), but I feel you should get permission in either case. There could be a situation where an author doesn't want his work included in a particular theme. For whatever reason, it should be his/her choice.

.suite files are like websites. It just downloads them for you. When you upload a skin to a website you are implicitly giving permission to download it.

That said, WinStyles can link to any skin anywhere. But it has a system to make it easier to link to things on WinCustomize since we don't want to encourage people to use other site's bandwidth.

I agree with Koasati on the permission thing.

It may not be seen as neccessary here, but I think that if you want to throw together other people's stuff, even if it is only links to the files, you should respect the original authors enough to ask. Or at least let them know so they can see what you've come up with.

I would only link to another site if the file i wanted wasn't here.