Membership Theming your text

[Morrigan 1,826]

So something that has come and gone throughout the years is "text theming" by this, I mean where your site premise influences what you use for text around the site. Things like naming "guests" something that isn't guests like for a pirate site it could be "landlubbers" and for a Sci-Fi site it can be "Outlaw" or "Unregistered" or something like that.

 

Now I'm not talking theming the whole thing like the applications form being named something insane and hard to determine.

 

What I'm asking is how you feel about sites that go this far into their entire forum schema. Is it off putting specifically when you may not understand the theme fully? Is it easier or better to just leave things as they are when you create the forum?

[VirusZero 176]

In short? 

Please don't.

 

I get the idea and I know people think it's cool... But it can be overkill and make things harder for people to get integrated. I mean, for example, if someone's running a game set around kingdoms and their rules are set to decrees... It just makes it harder for people to find important documents quickly. (Especially if hover is used and/or there are only pictures... so without clicking in and reading topics it becomes nigh impossible to tell what's actually going on there.)

Personally I'd rather see some similar terms used instead like "Rules" or "Important Info" or something standard. I get it may not be fancy but sometimes function is more important than form.

[Death Kitten 200]

I think splitting it down the middle isn't bad. Important documents such as rules, faq, apply, login/out should be in simple and easy to understand language. Anything a new player *needs* to find and know should be crystal clear where it is and what it's for.

 

If you want to have a little fun with the extras, such as logged in user groups, labels for things like chat, maybe the in character posting areas, then proceed with caution. Like viruszero points out, it can make things harder for new users, so make sure if you do it there descriptions attached to make it clear what it is, or it is painfully obvious what it is. For example, if a star trek site called the cbox subspace it would be fine if the cbox was visible under the header, but if it was hidden behind a secondary tab, it might confuse people.

[Elena 546]

I think it is good for immersion in the setting, Our rules are Codex piratae, exactly how the Articles of Agreement (pirate rules) were called. The bios subforum is Crew manifest, because this is what it was called, again... Of course, the subforums have descriptions, not pictures, so anyone can find what they are searching for.

[Amelia 25]

I agree with what is said before that people have to be able to find the information. However I do not think it will create a certain feeling of immersion. I actually like it if forums etc have certain names that fit the setting. It helps if in the description it is mentioned what is actually in there making it easier to navigate.  Though for me I prefer Rules being Rules, Plot being Plot, etc that keeps things clear. 

[Honorem 219]

As others have said, I like it if it doesn't go too far and become some riddle that I have to decipher, or some in-joke about the fandom I have to know to find out.

 

Like, rules on a fantasy site called 'King's Decree' or 'Laws of the Land' are cool and straightforward enough, but some obscure quote or something just makes my head hurt.

 

EDIT: Number of times I've tried to link back advertisements only to wonder where the hell are the advertisements board? Can't find the word 'advertisement' anywhere using ctrl + f, leaves me stumped. So yeah, if it's that bad then I'd say no thanks.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Honorem