Start a Forum Series Part 4 – Creating the look
In the first three parts of my start a forum series I covered picking a topic, buying a domain name, choosing a forum software and choosing a webhost. Today I'm going to cover the pre-launch step of creating the look for your forum.
Before you can officially launch a forum, begin advertising it and getting new members you must first tailor the look of the site to the topic you've chosen to do a forum on. If you decided to go with vBulletin as your forum software, something I've already highly recommended in my previous posts, your next step is to find a skin for your forum. Now the type of skin you choose should be determined by the topic your forum will be about. If you're going to make a forum about a video game then find a skin that uses colors that are also used in the art of that video game. You'd also want to create a custom header and include some video game characters as well. As another example, perhaps you want to start a forum about skydiving? Then it'd be best if you found a skin that contained various shades of blue. It doesn't matter what topic you choose to start a forum on (other than that it's easier to not get burnt out on something you're interested in), as long as you tailor the look of your site to the topic of your forum.
 If you're using vBulletin, there are plenty of websites that provide free forum skins although you need to be comfortable with the fact that hundreds of other forums on the web will have the same look as your forum. If that doesn't matter to you, then go with a free forum skin and one of the best sites to find free forum skins at is vBulletin.org. As I've mentioned before, vBulletin.org is the number one spot to get support for vBulletin customizations. If you can't find a free template you like and have about $30 to spare you can try out one of the following sites to buy a forum skin:
I've purchased skins from both of these sites and have no complaints. The first skin I ever used on a forum was purchased from eXtremepixels.com. For nearly two years I kept that same skin, albeit highly customized, for use on GamingVidz.com. I just recently upgraded to a $500 custom skin, but more on that later. Although going through a premium forum skin website will often get you a better looking skin than a free one from vBulletin.org you still can't escape the fact that again, other forums will have the same look that your forum has. Because you are selecting skins that other forums are using it's important to try and move away from the standard default look and one of the best ways to do that is by creating a custom header. For every forum that I run that isn't already using a custom skin, I have gotten a custom header made for free by one of my members. If you have a friend or a member on your forum that is good with photoshop ask them if they're interested in making you a header for your forum, often times I've found they're glad to help.
Another big advantage of going with a premium skin template over a free one is the support you'll receive. Both eXtremepixels.com and vBSkinWorks.com offer one year of free skin updates. What this means to you is that as vBulletin upgrades their forum software occasionally the templates that are used to affect the look of your forums will be changed in these updates. So if you want to upgrade to the latest version of vBulletin you'll have to make the changes in the appropriate templates, or stick with the current version you're running. This is something that extremepixels and vBSkinWorks will do within a couple days of a new vBulletin release. If you're using a free template, I've found that the creators of these templates are often much slower at updating their skin than the premium skin template companies are.
Although a custom header will help to change the look of your free or premium skin template nothing can substitute the appeal of a completely custom forum skin. But a unique custom forum skin doesn't come without a substantial price tag. I just recently paid $1,000 dollars for two custom skins for GamingVidz.com and my latest forum, XboxLiveArcade.com from BlindChild. With a completely custom design, it's much easier to attract new members and I've found advertisers will take your forum more seriously. A custom skin doesn't come without it's downfalls though, other than the price, most designers don't offer to upgrade the skin after each subsequent release of vBulletin without being compensated each time. So while you can get a forum up and running for the cost of the forum software by taking advantage of a free skin, you'll have to pay more money if you want a better look and several hundred dollars for a unique forum skin.
I highly recommend using vBulletin as your forum software. I've used it for nearly two years now and have loved every minute of it. If however, you plan to use a different forum software like phpbb or IPB eXtremepixels also offer skins for those forum types as well.
In the next step on my "Start a Forum" series, I'll be covering more pre-launch forum steps you should take before promoting your forum.
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