Color Schemes for MLW [Archive] - Must Love Weddings

*Gina*

07-31-2006, 06:13 PM

:wavey:

One of my projects (since I'm so technicalogically impaired) is to create new color schemes and or themes for the board. If some of you are like me, it's refreshing to see something different every once in a while.

Here's where you all come in. :)

Based on the poll options, which would you like to see? I welcome any and all opinions since I'm not the only one who has to look at it. :heee:

I would also LOVE color/theme ideas as well.

TIA!

Kirsten

07-31-2006, 06:27 PM

I've seen boards with and without themes. I tend to go with the default. Although I know other users do appreciate the flexibility that themes offer.

Might I suggest a simple black/white theme? There are a number of visually impaired people out in Internet Land that might benefit from the high contrast that simple black-and-white offers. Just a thought.

Kari

07-31-2006, 06:34 PM

Purple Green and Gold for Mardi Gras :heee:

~Lizzybeth~

07-31-2006, 06:41 PM

I myself would like to have a few options, just because I like to change it every now and then.

nikkiana

07-31-2006, 06:50 PM

Personally, I'd like a couple different themes with different color themes to choose from...

I know a rather popular thing to do on some teenage boards is to have their members who are graphically inclined to make headers that fit a certain size restrictions and then have the members vote on which ones they would like to see as themes.... That way you get some active participation and some nice new themes. :)

*Diane*

07-31-2006, 06:54 PM

Nikkiana,that is a very interesting idea! Does it ever turn into a popularity contest?

Jules

07-31-2006, 06:55 PM

I love the theme - I really, really do! I know that other people like to change it themselves, so that might be the best option. :)

*Ashley*

07-31-2006, 08:39 PM

Nikkiana,that is a very interesting idea! Does it ever turn into a popularity contest?

As long as the site owners choose based on talent as opposed to who people know, then no. The best way to do it is have one person handling the entries and then they post the banners without names and people vote by number -- or to have the site people vote themselves instead. Otherwise, yeah, it's like with any board -- it would totally be a popularity contest.

Oh and I LOVE the theme, but if you want to do other colors -- as long as you keep this as an option I'm A-OK! I love it!

jillian

07-31-2006, 09:06 PM

I think it would be a great idea to change the color schemes based on seasons and holidays.

lk718

07-31-2006, 09:13 PM

I love the current theme... it's so easy on the eyes. But I voted to add some others in, for those who want to change!

belle67

07-31-2006, 11:00 PM

I love the current theme... it's so easy on the eyes. But I voted to add some others in, for those who want to change!
:agree:

nikkiana

07-31-2006, 11:29 PM

Nikkiana,that is a very interesting idea! Does it ever turn into a popularity contest?

It really depends on the board.... But from what I've seen, most people vote based on asthetics, not who made the image.

I've seen it handled two different ways....

One way is members create images at will, and then start a thread with the new header image along with a poll saying "Yes" or "No" and then members of the board vote as to whether they want that header to become a theme... Ones with the majority vote being "yes" after X many weeks get made into themes...

The other way, is members submit their images directly to the mods and/or admins (usually from some sort of upload function) and then the mods and/or admins post the images with yes/no polls.

The disadvantage of the first way is you know exactly who made it, so there's some risk of it being a popularity contest.

The disadvantage to the second method is mods and admins can screen some headers that they deem unfit out of the running.

I figured I'd throw the idea out seeing as it's a different way to get people involved in the community.

Jaci

08-01-2006, 10:55 AM

I like themes, but the only problem I ever run into is that not everything is streamlined in each theme, so I usually stick with the default. I really like the idea of having options though, and seeing as though this is a wedding related forum, I think having popular wedding color combos (such as the pink and green) is a great idea.

Perhaps a chocolate and lavender? Anyone?

:D

katieandalex

08-01-2006, 09:20 PM

It doesn't really matter to me either way. I love the pink and green, but it would be nice to see something different once in a while.

TeenieBeanie

08-01-2006, 09:51 PM

It doesn't really matter to me, but *IF* we had the option to change colors I'd definitely use it. :)

Kya

08-02-2006, 05:17 AM

I do mind the pink and green at all, being that pink is my favorite color.

But, I too voted for some color changes every now and again.

Maria 05

08-02-2006, 05:35 AM

Change is good I like the pink and green but I may change I am fickle at times

Cindy

08-02-2006, 07:10 AM

I like the chocolate and brown idea. Since those are our new wedding colors, its shameless self promotion, but I admit it! :)

*alissa*

08-02-2006, 09:21 AM

Personally, I like the pink and green....but the shade of green is my fav color,so.....However, I voted for new themes w/ ability to choose. The brightness of the pink bothers me when I have a migrane.

smiles

08-03-2006, 12:21 AM

I really don't like the color pink, so change would be nice. I don't care really what the board looks like as long as it works. It would be nice to be able to choose colors since lots of us like different colors, but if it's not possible then the way it is fine also.

Kari

08-03-2006, 06:01 AM

I like the idea of doing popular wedding colors combos!! I'd love to make the forums the colors of my wedding! How pretty would that be, a light grey background with burgundy accents?! Or with Tiffany Blue accents!

Cool idea!

*Gina*

08-03-2006, 09:07 AM

I'm loving all of the ideas so far. :)

Kari, I thought that Mardi Gras one was THE best. :giggle:

Or the tribute to your birthday. Now I *know* everyone will want to see that one. :heee:

I have a running list of ideas and have started working on a few. I think if it's possible to get it going, we'll give a choice of several and maybe rotate them out by season or holiday, but leave some of the standards (like the wedding colors, which is a great idea!).

Thanks, everyone!

lizaanne

08-03-2006, 10:04 AM

I guess I misunderstood the poll - I didn't realize we would have options!!! :)

I really love the pink and green - it's very fresh and girly. :)

If we had options, I might change from time to time, but it all depends on what the options are I suppose.

~Liza

*heather*

08-03-2006, 12:27 PM

How about silver and red?
Yellow and lavender
Brown and aqua
Navy and gold

*Tanya*

08-03-2006, 12:43 PM

Ooooh, chocolate brown and Tiffany blue! :bliss:

lizaanne

08-03-2006, 01:13 PM

Ooooh, chocolate brown and Tiffany blue! :bliss:

Now this I would LOVE!!!! :heee:

~Liza

*Gina*

08-03-2006, 02:08 PM

Something like this? Or a darker brown?

(I'm still working on the other color suggestions, btw, but this was one I was really curious about. :hehe: )

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d622b3127cce8bdca234c3bd00000016102RaNWThkxs

*heather*

08-03-2006, 02:09 PM

I love the texture! I think a little richer in the brown, but the blue is great!

*Gina*

08-03-2006, 02:13 PM

:thumbsup:

Thanks, Heather. :)

Coze

08-03-2006, 02:48 PM

Hi hi-

I like the blue, but I'm not too keen on the brown. I think a brown background would make it more difficult for colored text. I always steer clear of darker backgrounds when it comes to websites if text is going to be shown over it.

TTFN...
D.J.

Kya

08-03-2006, 04:31 PM

Maybe the Tiffany Blue and Silver!!!!!!

Jaci

08-03-2006, 10:56 PM

Using that logo would the actual background of the site be blue? I was thinking a little less vibrant blue might do that trick, but I'm not so sure about brown as the main background color, you know?

*Gina*

08-03-2006, 11:07 PM

I doubt I go with that specific scheme. Tanya said Chocolate and Tiffany and I really wanted to see what it looked like. But as Coze pointed out, the browns might not go well with more than just the logo, so I may work with something else. :scratch:

I created a few for fun the other day. However, some of them might not work board wide, sort of like the chocolate. I do like the idea of others helping create the banners, but I am also concerned about the popularity contest, etc. Otherwise, I'd love some fresh ideas.

I'm anxious to get the ball rolling on this. I love new colors. :heee:

*Diane*

08-04-2006, 06:49 AM

Gina, why don't you show what you have played with so far so people can see what we have in mind?

Jaci

08-04-2006, 08:55 AM

yeah, let's see them!

*Gina*

08-04-2006, 10:24 AM

Okay, but go easy on me. :heee:

These were done in about 30 minutes in Photoshop. I didn't go to any great lengths or efforts on these. I don't even know what I'd do with the rest of the board, colorwise, on most of them. Here's just three of them so far:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d908b3127cce8b09536f00c600000016102RaNWThkxs

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d908b3127cce8b0b8af2810700000016102RaNWThkxs

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d622b3127cce8bddab9122f800000016102RaNWThkxs

I did several others, but hate them, and I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one day. :blush:

Becki

08-04-2006, 10:35 AM

I love the idea of the seasonal ones. The fall one is beautiful :)

Deidre98

08-04-2006, 11:29 AM

I love the fall one too! it is gorgeous!!

*Tanya*

08-04-2006, 11:34 AM

The winter and Halloween ones are my favourites! I still want to see one for Valentine's Day! :heee:

Coze

08-04-2006, 11:40 AM

Hi hi-

Gina... don't ever be embarassed of your work. My first marketing teacher said that 90% of really good ideas are laughed at the first time they are presented. The first person they are presented to?? The person who creates them. Go on girl!! You got a talent with what you are doing. I love all of them... I love the Halloween one the best!

TTFN...
D.J.

*Gina*

08-04-2006, 11:52 AM

:shuffle:

Thanks, Ladies. :glomp:

T, I'll redo the V-Day one and post it. The font came out too small which is why I didn't add it here yet. :)

Jaci

08-04-2006, 12:19 PM

I think they look awesome! Of course, I'm partial to the autumn one myself :P

*Gina*

08-04-2006, 12:24 PM

Yick. Shutterfly did NOT do this one any justice. The upper left hand lettering looks distorted and blurry. I didn't upload to photobucket b/c it doesn't put that white border around it and against this pink, the colors can look way off. Even still.....despite what Shutterfly did, the colors may be too dark/bright and I'm not sure what to do with the hearts. :gag:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d625b3127cce8bdabd39098200000016102RaNWThkxs

*Gina*

08-04-2006, 12:30 PM

No one is going to hurt my feelings if they want to submit banner ideas to me either here or in a PM. :heee:

I'm just doing this for fun and I won't feel threatened if someone wants to play, too. :lol:

ETA: The font Lacie used is Blackjack and I downloaded it from dafont.com

kate

08-04-2006, 01:01 PM

I love the idea of being able to change!! I get bored easy :)

PS I heart the winter choice!

Coze

08-04-2006, 02:00 PM

Hi hi-

Ohhh... what about a 4th of July one? I don't have photoshop... I'm going to have to have Honey get it for me...

TTFN...
D.J.

Cindy

08-04-2006, 05:40 PM

Gina, I thought they were all great. :)

*Diane*

08-04-2006, 06:13 PM

I think they are great!!

Kari

08-04-2006, 10:41 PM

I still like the birthday one the best :heee:

57 more days

*Tanya*

08-05-2006, 09:15 AM

*Gina*

08-05-2006, 10:27 AM

When I right click on the banner, it says 490 x 85 so that's what I've been going with. Actually, I've been doing double that at a higher resolution so I have something easier to work with. Then I scale it back. I think the Autumn one is off on the height, but I'll fix that if that's one of them we go with. :)

*Ashley*

08-05-2006, 10:47 AM

I love the one with snowflakes! I also love the fall one!

Kya

08-05-2006, 07:22 PM

Gina

They all are very nice I like them all, and it is good to have that change.

MrsRea

08-05-2006, 08:21 PM

Those are all great! It would be fun and interesting for it to change every once in awhile. This pink and green does get a little old!

*Diane*

08-05-2006, 08:36 PM

Do most sites change "skins"? Just curious because the ones where I hang out are consistent. I love this pink and green- it means home to me.

Kari

08-05-2006, 08:39 PM

Some sites offer it Diane. It allows members to create their own vision of home :)

Michelle

08-06-2006, 12:14 PM

I like these colors better than most other boards I've been on, to be honest. They're easy on the eyes.

I like the idea of changes for the holidays, and agree that lighter colors for the background are always better because you run the risk of being hard on the eyes, which leads to headaches for me!

I love the winter one, and the halloween one will be really fun!

*Gina*

08-06-2006, 12:40 PM

Do most sites change "skins"? Just curious because the ones where I hang out are consistent. I love this pink and green- it means home to me.

Actually, OLU has this option at the bottom left of the screen. It's a drop down menu. I think that's how it would be set up here as well. :)

Mandy

08-10-2006, 10:14 AM

I was just dropping by to see if we were going to do this! I'm so excited! I look for it every time I get online, just in case ;)

*Gina*

08-10-2006, 10:16 AM

:heee: Yeah, it's slow going, but we're going to do it.

*Stacie*

08-10-2006, 03:51 PM

Ooooh, chocolate brown and Tiffany blue! :bliss:

My wedding colours!!! :)

*Gina*

08-12-2006, 10:35 PM

Lacie just made a new Autumn theme that rocks. :dude:

Also on the banner submissions, we bumped up the size to 600 x 100 if anyone is still interested in doing them.

New themes (well, just the 1 right now) are in a drop down menu at the very bottom of any page. :thumbsup:

Mandy

08-12-2006, 10:39 PM

OMG!!! How beautiful is this new theme?!?! I LOVE IT!! Thank you Laci and Gina--you gals never cease to amaze! :bow:

Lacie

08-12-2006, 11:14 PM

There's a holiday one now, too, for when the time comes. :heee:

Michelle

08-13-2006, 12:33 AM

I love the fall colors! It's beautiful!

Jade

08-14-2006, 04:59 AM

Lacie, what is the font used on the banner for the Holiday skin? Its gorgeous!

Kari

08-14-2006, 06:33 AM

Jade, that font is called blackjack :)

Jade

08-19-2006, 05:26 AM

Thanks Kari!

Kya

08-19-2006, 09:40 AM

I love the Autumn colors it very beautiful.

*Ashley*

08-20-2006, 12:09 PM

I LOVE the Holiday one! The top banner is adorable and I love the colors! They're all fab :)

*Gina*

08-20-2006, 12:15 PM

Lacie is good at what she does. I'm hoping I can sweet talk her into doing some more. :heee:

smiles

08-22-2006, 09:19 PM

I love the Autumn Theme! I hope she does some more, because it's great having a choice.

Coze

08-24-2006, 11:49 AM

Hi hi-

OMG... I so need to get out more. I JUST realized that you can change the color scheme. I saw ya'lls talking about new themes, but I hadn't figured out how to change the scheme yet. I LOVE the Autumn theme... hehehe... let's get some more... I love changing things...

TTFN...
D.J.

BASIA

08-24-2006, 02:46 PM

Emily

08-25-2006, 06:46 AM

I just noticed it too! It's nice being able to change...hopefully there will be more options!!

Mandy

08-25-2006, 08:25 PM

Just coming in to thank Lacie and Gina for all thier hard work--I love the themes!! If I knew how to make the banners, I'd help, but I'm totally clueless. So thank you very much!! :)

Coze

09-04-2006, 01:11 PM

Hi hi-

This is my first attempt, but I think it's cute...

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g175/coze381/MLWHalloween.jpg

TTFN...
D.J.

Mandy

09-10-2006, 07:36 PM

LOVE these new themes! Thank you so much Gina and Lacie!!! :glomp:

*Diane*

09-10-2006, 07:45 PM

I'm running the autumn leaf theme as we speak, just my way of easing into the season. :)

*Tanya*

09-10-2006, 07:50 PM

Me too, D. :yes:

rowanmayfairs

09-10-2006, 09:39 PM

Pink & Green
Autumn

are about the only ones that don't bother my eyes ;) But I love that I can make choices :)

Thanks !!! :)

Aurora_K

09-12-2006, 08:57 AM

I know it has already been made, but could a little purple be added to the halloween theme? I LOVE halloween, but it's a lot of orange to look at!

*Gina*

09-19-2006, 10:56 AM

I know it has already been made, but could a little purple be added to the halloween theme? I LOVE halloween, but it's a lot of orange to look at!

Sure. :) I'll work on that tonight.

Aurora_K

09-19-2006, 11:43 AM

Thanks Gina! You rock!!

. . . and purple happens to be my favorite color . . .

*Gina*

09-19-2006, 11:55 AM

I meant to change it before I left last week and completely forgot (I wasn't entirely happy with it when I created it). :blush: It's looking much better now and I'll hopefully have it working by tonight or tomorrow sometime. :)

Mandy

09-19-2006, 12:44 PM

Did you want me to make a differant banner with some purple in it?

*Gina*

09-19-2006, 01:30 PM

Did you want me to make a different banner with some purple in it?

No, actually I used your banner and added a purple border to it. :heee:

Mandy

09-19-2006, 01:34 PM

Sounds good to me!

*Gina*

09-19-2006, 02:21 PM

Okay, I made the new Halloween public. It's really bold, but it's also really hard to make Halloween colors subtle. ;) If you see something that's out of place or you don't like how something flows, let me know. :aok: I had to make the font purple because black didn't show the banner announcements and I can't change one without changing the other. :( Other than that, I can change anything else that doesn't work.

Coze

09-19-2006, 04:27 PM

Hi hi-

Oh... the Halloween one is very colorful!!!

TTFN...
D.J.

*Gina*

09-19-2006, 07:44 PM

Sorry, the colors were killing me. I walked away and came back and it really just didn't set well with me. I'm going to see if I can enlist some real talent to help me get a decent looking Halloween theme going. :shuffle:

I'll just stick to paying the bills around here. :lol:

*Diane*

09-19-2006, 07:59 PM

It's not my favorite but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. The others look great!

lalalola

09-19-2006, 10:52 PM

i'm all for new forum themes........well i actually like the default theme but i would like to be able to use it in different colors cuz i'm not the biggest pastel pink fan!!!!!

it would be cool if we could put our own theme on our journal (so that we could demonstrate our wedding colors) and it would be so fun!

*Gina*

10-02-2006, 04:22 PM

New themes have recently been added. ;)

:heee:

*Stacie*

10-02-2006, 04:27 PM

Thank you so much Gina!! I love them!

Poloke

10-02-2006, 04:46 PM

Kathy

10-02-2006, 04:54 PM

Ooh, I like the Forest one :)

*Gina*

10-02-2006, 04:55 PM

I love the new skins ladies! Halloween is bright & fun-the others are fantastic too!

Will there be ones for:

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines day, & Easter? Maybe some for different seasons too- I'm hoping for a tropical beach themed one for summer, snowflakes for winter, tulips for spring, etc...

thank you for being creative and keeping the site fun & fresh!!!

:nod: In between my downtime at school, I'll work on adding new ones. My intention is to get them out the month before the holiday, so Thanksgiving will be next. (Unless it's Canada's T-Day, then I'm afraid I can't work that fast. :lol:)

I love the beach theme idea!! That will definitely go on my list. ;)

Thanks!

belle67

10-02-2006, 05:10 PM

They all look great! Awesome idea! :thumbsup:

Poloke

10-02-2006, 08:21 PM

Gina,

I had no idea you were soooo busy or I would not have asked. Thank you for considering it, and if you do make more skins... we will certainly appreciate the effort!

*Gina*

10-02-2006, 08:26 PM

:heee: It's okay. I've got some free time until Wednesday and I'm actually playing with the beach theme now. :D

Noelle

10-02-2006, 09:22 PM

I'm just being nosey now, but how do you make the skins? Is it something in the setup of vbulletin, or do you create a new file?

The themes are great -- I actually have trouble CHOOSING which one I want to use :)

*Gina*

10-02-2006, 09:36 PM

You can go to Photoshop and create a 600 x 100 banner and the world is your oyster. :) We save them as .png files.

Glad you like them!

*Gina*

10-02-2006, 10:33 PM

The beach theme is there, BUT I do realize there is a seam in the sand background. On my end it doesn't look that bad...I hope it's the same on your end.

I'm working on it, but I'm too tired to deal with it tonight. I will, though. ;)

Noelle

10-03-2006, 06:19 AM

Thanks for explaining that! :)

*Gina*

10-03-2006, 07:57 AM

Eh. I thought the sand was a cute touch, but I'm not good enough at making seamless backgrounds to be able to pull it off, so it's going to have to go for now. Sorry.

Next up...Thanksgiving. :peace:

Kathy

10-03-2006, 09:09 AM

I like the beach theme, very cute :)

*Gina*

10-03-2006, 09:56 AM

I haven't found a good Thanksgiving background yet, but there's a new Snowflake theme now. :hehe:

*TanyaJeanne*

10-03-2006, 11:00 AM

All of the new themes are great! :)

Coze

10-03-2006, 12:41 PM

Hi hi-

I love changing the backgrounds because then when my boss walks by he thinks I'm not on the same site that I was just one an hour ago when he walked by... *giggle*

TTFN...
D.J.

*Gina*

10-03-2006, 01:20 PM

:rofl:

I told Kari I was going to try to make one that looked like an Excel Spreadsheet. :hehe:

*TanyaJeanne*

10-03-2006, 01:35 PM

haha that would be awesome

Poloke

10-03-2006, 02:02 PM

The snowflakes skin is really, really pretty! I am looking forward to seeing all the new additions! Great work ladies!!!

Coze

10-03-2006, 08:40 PM

:rofl:

I told Kari I was going to try to make one that looked like an Excel Spreadsheet. :hehe:

Hi hi-

OMG... Please?!?!?! Or perhaps Word... I know I used to play on some site and it had a 'Boss' button... if you pressed it the page flipped to some academic journal or something like that... it was great.

TTFN...
D.J.

*Gina*

10-03-2006, 08:46 PM

Hi hi-

OMG... Please?!?!?! Or perhaps Word... I know I used to play on some site and it had a 'Boss' button... if you pressed it the page flipped to some academic journal or something like that... it was great.

TTFN...
D.J.

:laugh3: A boss button. I'd be so popular if I figured out how to make a boss button. :pointlaugh:

That's great!