Membership Impact of Template use on Membership

[Dragon 673]

This is an observation I've made based on my current site vs others I've created/participated in over the years. DBD is the first site I've been involved with that doesn't really use post templates. We allow them, of course, but my member base just doesn't mess with them much. I enjoy them, but I don't really use them if my thread partners don't. This is the first site where I haven't had a request studio set up to make graphics for other players for that reason. 

 

It does seem, though, that sites which use them prolifically attract more new members; and they seem to bring them in more often. 

 

So my general question set is: 

 

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site? 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why? 

Does having studios that take graphic requests increase your odds of deciding to join a given site? 

Have you made similar observations? 

[Rune 1,099]

I can appreciate that they are pretty. I've even had a couple custom made!

 

That said, I never use them. If a site requires them, I won't join it. I frequently check posts from my phone and templates make that next to impossible usually. 

 

I've not made any such observations. We get a few people that like them and that's cool. We have it set up so that everyone can if they want. But I've noticed that after being around for a little bit, most people stop using them all together. 

 

I'm more likely to request an avatar or a signature if a site allows them. It, however, has no impact on whether or not I join a site.

[VirusZero 176]

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site? 

 

Kind of. If a site requires them then I'm not likely to join. If they have them as optional but not required then I'd consider (and my decision then comes down to other factors).

 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why? 

 

I won't join a site that requires post templates/graphics each time because it's a bit extra work to get the code in and write around it. Plus I don't overly like the look of most templates (since they tend to cut into the post area and make things too skinny looking). Also required templates tells me that the members care more about being pretty than telling a good story... which means I'm in the wrong place.

 

Now if it's not required but people just like it, I'll consider the site. However if I see that even though it's not required but most people are using templates anyway I probably won't join because, again, more focus on the pretty than good story.

But if they aren't super common or people seem ambivalent about them... yeah I'd consider joining. 

 

Does having studios that take graphic requests increase your odds of deciding to join a given site? 

 

Not really. I mean if they have one it's kinda whatever. It'd only really affect my decision if part of joining was that I had to request graphics from there to fit in the site's theme. Even then though it's not the graphics shop itself I take issue with, it's the rules and site culture than I disagree with.

 

Have you made similar observations? 

 

Yes, kind of. I mean roleplayers (despite any claims otherwise) love the pretty and are extremely attached to playbys. So any chance to show them off and gush over them tends to go over well. Post templates are just that... another place to try showing off pretty pictures/formatting. 

 

[Icewolf 258]

The template thing is one of the main reasons I am put of joining a website. I appreciate the fact that they are pretty and I've used them myself for the site documentation posts, but I no longer have them for users to use. As the board is on icyboards, you can have a plugin that allows html in posts, but I disabled the use of it for ordinary members because I was concerned about people who didn't know a lot about html breaking the board. The other reason why I decided to discontinue the use of them for ordinary members is that even with proboards bbcode, one member said that they didn't understand the code and I thought that it would be better not to have them if people didn't understand it. (Using the basic bold, italic, insert pictures, etc of bbcode is fine, though.) I've considered joining sites which use dothml a lot and it went beyond just a simple table, with a picture of your character and the information you needed about the character and had hovers, hidden content, tiny text, etc. Even if a board doesn't require them per se, I find it off putting because I don't know if I can go ahead and make my app without the template code, or feel incompetent when everyone else is using them and I'm not. In addition to the problems of getting around how to use them, I don't like seeing templates squashing up the text, having narrow windows, the text in them being tiny, having song lyrics, or having to scroll down or across tiny windows to read all the text in them. It distracts from writing and I'd much rather concentrate on that than messing around with code all the time. I have this hope that templates will be a fad and people will stop using them in time.

 

As for graphics in general - I don't mind avatars and signatures and I like making them. I prefer avatars and signatures to be small and be non-animated because large images take up too much space and I find animated images moving around all the time to draw the eye to them and be distracting.

[CovertSphinx 710]

People are attracted to Post Templates for the same reason one might get a Cadillac over a Kia: perceived value from the prestige of looking "higher class". Basically, Super Pretty and Intricate site visuals would equate to the site being "More Expensive", and therefore perceived as automatically better despite what any of the content actually is. 

[Samantha 64]

Almost every member on our site uses post templates - a few of us code and have made free to use one that you can just plug a picture into and who ever doesn't code or doesn't want a super custom one usually uses those. For those who don't want to use them we have an integrated code that is just this:

 

[post] post here [/post]

or 

[post][title]title here[/title] 
post here
[/post]

that's a basic template that's essentially just a box, but it has italics and bold and whatnot coded in if people want to use that (generally for dialogue) and the font size isn't tiny. 

 

Basically, the main reason I like templates is that I find it hard to read when a post isn't contained in a post box - we have a really wide forum so it just looks like a wall of text and kind of makes my eyes glaze over. I've found that most people who don't want to use templates don't mind using the code because we have it in the reply options...thing (whatever it's called) so you just have to push a button and the code pops up in the post area

Edited December 7, 2017 by Samantha

[Kit the Human 759]

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site? 

If you have to use templates, I probably won't join. I'm more amiable if templates are optional and the templates used aren't hidden behind hovers and teeny weeny boxes with teeny weeny text.

 

Post templates are cool little coding exercises though. I just don't like actually using them XD

 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why? 

Less likely, mostly because they're a pain in the ass. Particularly if I'm trying to post on my phone.

 

Does having studios that take graphic requests increase your odds of deciding to join a given site? 

Nope.

 

Have you made similar observations? 

Nope. Plenty of long running or super popular forums do not use templates or take graphics requests. I think that what they have in common are strong communities.

 

I do think that allowing templates or having a sexy theme is more likely to attract members to you initially, but longevity isn't predicated on that.

[Elena 546]

6 hours ago, VirusZero said:

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site? 

 

Kind of. If a site requires them then I'm not likely to join. If they have them as optional but not required then I'd consider (and my decision then comes down to other factors).

 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why? 

 

I won't join a site that requires post templates/graphics each time because it's a bit extra work to get the code in and write around it. Also required templates tells me that the members care more about being pretty than telling a good story... which means I'm in the wrong place.

 

Now if it's not required but people just like it, I'll consider the site. However if I see that even though it's not required but most people are using templates anyway I probably won't join because, again, more focus on the pretty than good story.

 

 

This so much! And I hate dohtml, I never get it right. So, there are no post templates on my site except for announcements or plotting pages.

[nyx 164]

We mostly use them for informational topics to keep our info organized but as far as the rest of the board, we have a very very basic one people can use if they like, it just aligns your text but it's not mandatory. We actually tell people we don't want to see posting templates in rp at all, those things are a big pet peeve of mine. They really took me out of the thread the one time I had to use one on another board.

[Uaithne 543]

Y'all.  Post templates suck for mobile.  I haven't figured out how the holy crap you're supposed to do templates while on a mobile devise.  Is it even possible?  I don't even use BBcode tags on my phone because trying to dig around and find the [ and ]  and / is just way too much damned work.

 

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site?

Not outright.  But if I see that a site has very small templates (as in, the focus is clearly not on the text itself but on the overall presentation of the text), I know that the site isn't for me.  But having templates as an option doesn't bother me unless I suspect that I will be ignored for not using a template.

 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why?

Probably less likely.  Again, it's just the fact that I am there to write, not to mess with codes and graphics.

 

Does having studios that take graphic requests increase your odds of deciding to join a given site?

I'm indifferent to this.

 

Have you made similar observations?

My general observation is that you're kind of asking the wrong crew.  Not that it's a bad question/discussion (it's not at all - I love it) but you're not going to get the same answers as you would on other resource sites.  We're a bit more of the "old people who prefer simplicity in almost all regards."  So if you're interested in a diverse opinion, I'd suggest asking this question to several of the other resource sites, including the ones for coding / graphics if you haven't done so already since we aren't entirely representative of the majority of the RP community.

[Morrigan 1,826]

Yes it's possible @Uaithne but it has to be coded into the template. Most templates are forced sizes and have no mobile scaling whatsoever. I have a rather vulgar thing to say to people that think they can code but don't make their templates scalable. Especially for sites that have different sized widths. Regardless of that I'll throw in my two cents here:

 

I hate templates and if I know that I'm going to read templates I'm actually less likely to join a site. My primary reason for this is that templates also override site theme font sizes because they think it makes it super pretty and shit.

 

I'm old... I'm fucking blind basically and I don't want to read that shit.

[Uaithne 543]

@Morrigan - But how do you actually USE the code? My only guess is that you have to copy and paste it, no matter how simple it is. I'm on mobile right now, and even trying to use the bb code tags to italicise is frightful.

[Morrigan 1,826]

Well using BBCode or code in mobile at all is a pain in the ass.

[Quell 249]

Do you use template use as a metric for joining a site? 

Not usually. I have no fondness for or hatred of templates. That said, if I look at threads and they're hard to read (or look sloppy) I'll check a few others to double check it's not a fluke, and if it's just how the site's culture is, I'm probably not going to stick around. 

(So like, if there are templates, but they're tiny font, close colors, etc. OR if there aren't templates, but the forum clearly hasn't been coded with not having templates in mind. those are both turn off for me.)

 

Are you more or less likely to join a site that frequently uses post templates and graphics? Why? 

My general feeling is that templates and graphics themselves don't really push me either way, but the quality/style of them does. If everyone's graphics are stretched, or something like that -- I'll be grumpy. I don't mind if things are minimalist, but if things are messy, it gets to me. unpopular opinion. signatures are the worst and i hate them unless it's a single typed line of information like a trigger warning for mature/violent characters.

 

I strongly prefer BBcode templates just because they generally keep threads looking tidy and boards looking organized. (Ironically, I make a post template for many of the characters I play... and often I never use them because of aforementioned BBcode templates. I dunno; it's just a thing I do.)

 

Ark requires BBcode templates for IC posts; for OOC posts, you can use no template, the BBcode, or doHTML. Live your dreams where I don't have to read it on my phone. 

 

Does having studios that take graphic requests increase your odds of deciding to join a given site? 

Nope. I don't think I've ever used a graphics studio. I usually just make my own avatars -- and we discussed signatures already. >>

 

Have you made similar observations? 

I have also noticed, but I think that often a person's care for aesthetics correlates to their care for other things? So like, the person whose image is stretched or whose code is broken if often not the person who proofreads their posts or looks through their lore. That said, minimalism is something that I respect a great deal. If your forum or template is streamlined to avoid graphics and templates, all power to you.

 

To me, there's a lot to be said for any site that executes its own goals with skill. In other words, if you don't like graphics or templates, that's totally cool, but make a site that is set up for not having graphics or templates, you know? Don't just grab skin #4 that is graphics heavy and clearly intended to be used with templates and then POW no graphics or templates.

 

((Also ... I have no idea why everything is highlighted with darkness?))

Edited December 7, 2017 by Thyme

[Huskerdust 625]

8 hours ago, Uaithne said:

@Morrigan - But how do you actually USE the code? My only guess is that you have to copy and paste it, no matter how simple it is. I'm on mobile right now, and even trying to use the bb code tags to italicise is frightful.

 

I used to quote my previous post and then delete the quoted by part and then delete the post inside. It was a freaking pain in the ass. When I stopped using them because I often post from my phone and that was SO annoying to do over phone, I got called out on it by staff. Eh. It’s just too much trouble for me. 

 

I personally don’t like them and don’t use them anymore. And yes, template usage does play a part in whether I join. I’m less likely to join a site with mandatory templates or a site where the culture uses really difficult to read templates. Like those with hovers or fancy transitions.