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It would also be nice to see the download packet cleaned up a bit. There are a lot of things in the skin directories that are not even being used anymore, but they are still in there anyway. The rte_icons folder for starters. Our freedom to edit these icons has been taken away, but the clutter is still there, misleading us to think that it serves some purpose. I use to know, myself, what to clean out and what to leave alone.... 10 upgrades ago, but now, I am scared to remove anything or leave anything unedited in a custom skin, in fear that it does serve some purpose, but I just haven't discovered it yet.
Before I go on, I want to first say, IPB has, by far, surpassed all my hopes and expectations. I have never been so impressed with any other software before. We have so much control over function, features and options, and Nexus just blew me away with total amazement. WOW! was about all I could say for quite a while after the release of IPB 3.2. You guys are truly miracle workers. I don't know about anyone else, but I can honestly say that every request I ever had in the past has already been filled, and then some.
With that being said, now for the part that will probably make you hate me....
I've noticed, so many of our skinning freedoms have been stripped away over these past few upgrades after upgrade, after upgrade, after upgrade, after upgrade, after upgrade, ( <--- that's me making a subtle point, by the way.) ...to the underlying software. I get soooooooo many complaints from customers about the fact that some of the skinning elements are gone, that use to be quite attractive and appreciated in my older skins. I've found, over time, how to put a lot of things back to the way they were, to keep everyone happy, but it just makes a 2 to 3 day skinning job take about a week or longer when having to search in odd places, sorting through unused templates, css and image directories and completely rewrite everything to get it back to normal, then chasing a bug I've caused after a chain reaction from one css or template edit is completely unnerving. Not to mention the problem is causes with the next upgrade (after upgrade).
I know change is good and even necessary, and always expected, and most of us get really excited about change, and I've always believed that "something different is always something better" but honestly, the IPB software has become so hi-techy looking and impersonal (with the functional side of things as well). I don't know of a single sole that is impressed with the default IPB skin, in fact, all I've heard is that it makes the software look amatureish and cheap, and this text editor thing is just another small, but good example of why. I think someone, (a very impressive someone) is so wrapped up in working so hard in competing and rising above all the other similar community message board companies that the user-friendly and personal side of things just sorta got left out in the cold. IPB is already so impressive and nothing short of amazing, it just needs a little user friendly touch. (if that makes sense) It's hard to explain what I mean. It all seemed to make sense in my head until I started to write it out in full explanation.
I realize that improving my own skills and talents as a designer, could eliminate a lot of my concerns, which I continue to do as often as I can between constant upgrade after upgrade, when I have time for a breather (which is hardly NEVER these days) but honestly, I think it's time we put a little time and effort back in to the "softer side of IPB". Skinning for IPB has become WAAAAAAAAAAAY easier than it was in previous versions and I'm very, verrrrrry verrrrrrrrrrrry thankful for that, BUT... it has also become very dull as far as our freedoms with all these universal elements that can't be edited without editing the underlying software. We can move more stuff and change more things around, but we can't do this without a massive chain reaction of errors because there is far too many "universal" elements.
I hope I haven't offended anyone with this. That's the very last thing I wanted to do. The IPS staff has been so awesome every time I've ever had to contact them for help, or almost anything for that matter. I just wanted to put my 2¢ in.
