Using The Same Theme Perpetually

[Cory]

Do you think using the same theme(s) for the duration of your board being online is a good or bad thing?

 

[Cedric]

I strongly believe and advise that a theme must be replaced every once in a while. To keep members interested and also that they see there is an active development to the forum. It’s nice to see a new theme once in a while. Nowadays I would say 6 months to a year while we used to do it every two months or so on ZetaBoards. Resources where then much easier to come by or create than it is now with most paid software scripts.

Leaving it on for longer than a year doesn’t show active development or progress and you might end up losing members to a forum that does renew every once in a while. It’s usually not a good sign when development has stalled or is slow in general and that’s how you end up losing members.

I would suggest to keep any older themes active as not every member will appreciate a new look.

 

[Ken]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with and it is not for anyone in this forum community to judge no matter the forum theme. If the owner of the said forum want to switch to a different one, they have a right to so it when time permits them to do so. That being said, I'm going to strongly disagree with @Aerodynamic on this.

 

[joelr]

I strongly disagree with @Aerodynamic too.

A community that changes themes every six months is a community that is immature and is focused on all of the wrong things.

No serious brand, from Nike to McDonalds, changes their logo / brand / design every six months.

 

[Arantor]

Putting aside the fact that platforms change and themes need refreshing to deal with that, the reality is that it's perfectly possible to revamp a theme to keep your core branding and visual identity intact while not letting things stagnate. It just takes a bit of effort.

That said even big brands do go through rebranding/revamping their brand image every so often. It's usually not for the best.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I don't see anything wrong with using a well established theme for as long as you wish. Many forums I visit that have been online for a long time rarely ever change their theme. Here's just one example Sonic Retro, a forum that's been online for years migrated from using IPB to Xenforo and though the themes weren't interchangeable, the admins worked on a theme that were exact replicas of their themes used on IPB. Many people don't like change, especially if it's happening often.

 

[joelr]

I want to add that if a hobbyist forum wants to change its theme, you should! It's your hobby! It's like redecorating your room.

Once you get to an established size, however, there are certain expectations of continuity. People come to your community for a sense of community, for value, for content, not because you bought the latest theme.

 

[TwitchisMental]

Do you think using the same theme(s) for the duration of your board being online is a good or bad thing?

I think a website or forum can definitely keep a theme for a long period of time. People get use to it and associate it with the website.. Or atleast the color choice.

Heck here on this forum, I wouldn't be mad if the default theme never changed .

With that said, trends do change and eventually some tweaks could be had.