11 Days since last LS string How About?

LSdotNet sez, "The time-frame for relaunch is 'When it is done'", so i guess I am saying the same for my next theme. I don't blame them, it's not like they are getting paid. When they do get it done I hope that we have a little bit of abstraction so that changing the exe won't necessarily break the themes. Just a little layer that interprates the themes and catches errors so the shell itself doesn't tank if the theme is broken. The app then could just talk to the theme interpreter. Maybe that is what is taking the time. I hope so.

For seasoned LS folks, a broken theme is really annoying, but for n00bs it typically ends in reinstalling windows... Until I know my themes will last more than a month, and work for the average person, my LS themeing is on hold.

snarph....I have most of my themes 'ported' to OTS, with 'improvements', just haven't upped them all....yet...

snarph: many LiteStep themers still dislike StarDock a lot, because it spread disinformation about LiteStep for a rather long time. there was an article on LiteStep where nearly every sentence was plain wrong (would be like one would review WindowBlinds v1.0) i tried to find this article again a while ago, but it seems to be gone now (bravo). others are not so keen on the pay concept of Wincustomize. i myself have no problems with that, every site can do as it will. but i want my themes to be comletely free, so i don´t upload here.

check other sites for your LiteStep needs, you´ll find plenty of new themes:
www.lsthemes.com
www.litestep.com
www.skinbase.org
www.deskmod.org
www.artuproar.com
www.customize.org
...

And many LS themers like Stardock.
I've been 'STEPping since the beginning and can't quite recall 'disinformation' regarding LiteSTEP emanating from SD....

As for 'free themes', I prefer to put them where they get exposure...and on a 'stable' site, rather than the LScom/net/org/etc that comes and goes and comes and goes and.....

I'll up Nijikon Fetchi 11 for OTS tomorrow....just to make a point....

Jafo, there was an eight pages long thread about this article in the last reincarnation of the LS.net forums. but you weren´t very active there if i remember correctly

sure, all personal preference where to upload themes. i don´t upload to LiteStep.com / .net either (usually to many dickheads there).

Having bugger-all continuity with the site was not conducive to practical forum discussion/s.....you could get into a discussion, then either the site would go down, or the thread would just die through ennui...

I always will remember the download rates I got on those sites, starting with Customize.org, when it was the only site outside of the LS ones to carry 'STEP themes....I can get more 'interest' in a day here than I achieved in a year at Custo, and that was when Custo had no competition at all.
[OK, so maybe the old theme was crap in comparison]...

Yesterday there were 1444 people logged on here at the one time. This site is the 'best thing' for LS exposure for that reason alone.

As for modern/recent themes still turning up frequently, they tend to be predominantly predictable single-bar things of 'fair' code-innovation but precious little 'artistic' creativity.

I pine for the likes of Doodle and Grimspoon, people with graphical/artistic 'flair'.....

Exactly my point most of the themers submitting LS themes on this site not only do LS but our artisticaly inclined. I have perused most of the sites out their,and they just dont get quite the same caliber prouduct. I have looked at most every themer/skinner brave enough to post thier bonifieds . Checked their sights, looked in sites across the pond at sites where not only I could read the language couldnt even figure where their Downloads were. This site might be predomanently stardock vehicle thats Ok because most of the authors I respect are here doing LS too.
Any way havent got a good enough handle yet on all the prerecquisits to produce a good theme and you suckers can thats all

Snarph: if you are more interested in artistically done themes, look out for Burstnibbler, [Morph], Maur (all not here) or Gef (only 1 theme here). these are just a few examples.

oh yea still cant spell either

hoping that Jafo still reads this thread: somebody should update the "Help" link in the "About LiteStep" box on this site. this is pointing to nowhere since months. i recommend lsdocs.shellfront.org

Moshi's list above was a good one (although I'm a pretty dediated wincusto user myself, those are good sites).
Here's a link to "litestep info". It has many links in it's screenshots and themes section.

http://litestep.info/

Shellfront would be the go....it stays up and about consistently...[I'm a daily visitor there]..

Artistic LS themes are few and far inbetween, no offense to anybody though, ive made a bunch of thems mainly for practice and there isn't much to them, but as soon as i get permission i will be uploading my first stable LS theme full OTS compliant.

On a another note i have noticd that someLS make thmes for themselves rather than for the public, thats the thing with LS its based on personal customization, the more people learn about it the more they will adapt them to themselves rather to others

i want Shinter back, but he´s using Linux now ...

moshi....that makes two of us...

The one thing I despise about the shell/desktop replacement scene, as a user, is the pigeonholing that occurs.

Take Litestep for example, the majority of users make minialist bar themes.
Hoverdesk users always make bar themes with togglable groups.
DX users favour zooomer heavy themes.
And don't get me started on Talisman......

I like my themes to have a bit of meat to them, not some scabby 10px high bar, or a desk full of magnified eye candy.
Seems a shame people in each of these groups don't try and experiment a bit, instead of being influenced by what's popular. (And being as a huge percentage skin just to upload and get comments, then they're obviously going to follow current trends.)

Hippy....I don't follow current trends....that's why my themes don't attract 'huge' downloads.
Any dip-stick can do a single top-bar thingie...but to my way of thinking, if you just drag the Exploder bar up there you'll get the 'same' result, so why bother changing shells?...
It's like the modern aversion to using a wharf in LiteSTEP....it's supposedly 'passe'.....and I've had people complain vehemently that hiding the systray via a mouse-over hotspot is just sooooo impractical and makes a theme 'impossible' to use...

Really, I don't care at all, I'll just keep on doing my 'own thing', not someone else's...

Nijikon Fetchi 2 is up, BTW....and it is 'sort of' a top bar theme.....

mmmm, wharfs
Always loved em.

But anyway, interesting points guys. For me functionality is my first motivation when deciding what form a theme will take. I use my themes at work and home so desktop real estate is a big concern. That just tends to lean me in the direction of bar based themes. I have done some themes based on side panels etc, but there not very pratical for me needs.
Beyond that I have no artistic talent per say (therefore I port) so creating shinter like themes is not an options

Further to that discussion....

It's getting very difficult to create an original theme in terms of layout. Pretty much all the styles have been done to death.
About the only things left are themes so artsy they're completely unpratical; or staying with tried and try styles and just try to be as stylish and professional looking as possible.

In the end though, if a theme doesn't work well, it's not staying on anyone's desktop for long.

You're right, Phil.....functionality is important...along with a bit of style or innovation.
I'll have to look a bit more into boxes....something I haven't messed with as yet....still caught up with doing different things with animations..

PharOe says he is not artistic? You only have to look at his themes to know thats only modesty. Jafo may not have played with boxes much,but he sure can do some nice clean,well code nifty themes. Wharfs top bars cut and paste or original graphics You people always nail a theme wright on the users forehead. I don't know how you do it . It took me for ever just to figure how to change font size let alone find the right .rc file to do it. Not to mention all the nifty WB skins etc. some of you guys are practically Renaissance men.

snarph....I started with LiteSTEP late '97, so have been at it a while now....but still 'learning' as the coding keeps on changing/improving.
I just wish I logically understood more about scripting....most of mine has been trial and error. I'm not a programmer so quite a bit of it goes right over my head...