3. The start.

[François Obieglo-Molenaar.]

Now that you have a theme and a host (I use proboards as my host and the FAQ sometimes refers to something from proboards), it is time to work on the looks and coding of the site.

Now, don't go running to the nearest graphics board to request images, that would be a waste of time. The first thing your going to do is sit down and think about how you want your website to look. Think of two to three colors to work with. Make sure the colors can be used together. For example, do not use a white background color with light yellow text on them. You can hardly read the text and it hurts the eyes a lot, so find some colors that match and don't hurt the eyes. Also make sure that the colors match the theme. If you have demons or the devil as you theme, don't use sky blue and white, but use red and black.

Now that you have a little idea of how you want your website to look, you go to your test board (test board? See Special FAQ) and place the colors in there and see what kind of effect that has. If it is not completely what you want, then change it a little until you're satisfied. Now is the time to get a banner and some custom graphics.

[François Obieglo-Molenaar.]

The Banner

The banner (or logo) is one of the most important things for your website. It is the first thing that people see of your site. And as you know, first impression is everything. Having a bad banner can turn potential member away before they even took a look around.

Now how do you make a good banner? There are two things that are really important:

1. The name of your forum. Very important, because everyone can see which board it is. Also, if you have a name that has something to do with your board, they know what it is about (example: My board Dragoball World. Because of the name and the way it is written, you can see my board is about the anime Dragonball).

2. Standing out, jet matching the skin. The banner must stand out, so that it draws the attention from visitors. But it also has to match the skin, otherwise it looks really ugly.

That are the two basic things about a banner. You don't need animation or flash in your banner to make it good. Or make it really technical. Those type of banner look good, but they take a long time to load. And a long loading time is about the worst thing you can have for your website. So it is nice to do, if your site loads fast. If it doesn't, then don't make it worse that it already is.