And there will be wanking wherever they go.
So, now that we all know the Fametracker forums are down, a couple of others have sprung up, including NatalieM's board. But there have been some problems already! A post at the Fametrackers community on Livejournal complained about (a)the layout and (b)the reaction when people complained about the layout.

The post on the NatalieM board was started by a friend of the person who set it up, and they don't see what's wrong with it. There is no real outrage (although some people do make complaints about the colour scheme) until Abbe comes to defend the look at the bottom of the first page.

okay, here we go. i really wish maybe we could have all been introduced under slightly better circumstances, but i guess this is just how it goes sometimes.

this is going to be said ONE time and one time only, so i would appreciate it a lot if you could help by linking to this post right here, if you happen to catch somebody asking this same question again. and again. and again.

as you know by now, Gnat used to work in web development, but it wasn't in tech/design. first she worked in SALES (which is why she's so good at it), and then it was in BRANDING. i'm a bit familiar with this stuff, because i have a little background in graphics myself. so together, we are going to give you all a little mini-lesson in Marketing101.

the logo/trademark/image of a "company" (for our purposes here, that's me) is very important to said entity. this is why companies go crazy suing for millions of dollars when they feel somebody "infringes" on this. as a company develops, it is very important to sustain cohesion throughout its entire "campaign." logo/image recognition is more than half the battle when a company is growing.

for this reason, NO it is not possible to slap the logo on the ugly default skin because it clearly sends a message of substandardism. it is also NOT possible to allow the company to refrain from attaching any logo at all, and pay for services just so the company can essentially advertise for INVISION every time somebody walks past your desk.

additionally, you should remember it is not the company's responsibility to encourage your job negligence any more than it is Playboy's responsibility to clothe their models just because you like to sneak a lookie-loo during work sometimes.
the company is also not responsible for your e-ddiction which leads you to read messageboards for hours on end; maybe you should thank the designer for forcing you to get up intermittently and give your eyes a rest, as is recommended by whomever writes those Computer Usage Health Guide tips.

all that being said, what to do ? the designer likes dark, i like the dark (and i think he did a GREAT job), Gnat (your "co-ordinator" and moderator) likes dark, all my former "e-family" i'd really like to invite here likes dark, all my current homepage viewers obviously like the dark because they visit every damned day.
(well, who cares about them, this is about YALLs, right? NO, because this is precisely how this e-community will grow and thrive, instead of STAGNATE and DIE.)

compromise? sure! let's go with GRAY! will that make everyone happy ? OF COURSE NOT but let's cross our fingers anyways.

does this solve our problem? no, it doesn't. so here's what will:

go here and click on one of the links that say "BUY the book" and do just that. save the receipt page and then e-mail Gnat a copy at gnat.alien@gmail.com

when she has received enough receipts to satisfy the costs, she will take personal responsibility for getting her friend to design ANOTHER visually beautiful and appropriate, but LIGHT "skin" for these boards, again at his drastically reduced "just for her" rate.
(and don't even think of going back afterward to cancel, because we will pray all day and night that Karma punishes you for being the sneaky, manipulative creep you are.)


do I sound a little peeved and demanding right now? i'm sure. sorry about that. but that's only because i have an e-mail from Gnat sitting in my inbox talking about how she "let [me] down" because she looks all around here and she sees everybody getting their FT on (i think that's great, good for you-- i wasn't in any rush) but there are no question or comments in my "book thread."
well frankly, i couldn't care less. but now Gnat thinks she looks like a "complete jackass" and she is THINKING OF LEAVING.
we can't have that. because if she leaves me here alone with yalls, i will POP A BLOOD VESSEL.


as for the "bored" spelling, does it really need to be explained to you why "[the book](the blahg)•the bored•" doesn't work? and maybe YOU call it "the board," but i have always called it "boards" or "the boards." the boards BELONG to the bored (that's you, OBVIOUSLY, hence the possessive) because if you are harping all this time on a fucking APOSTROPHE, wow you really MUST be bored.

as for taking this place back to the "college dorm," why don't you just let "fugly" be happy with THEIR designed-from-their-kitchen environment, and go be happy with them, hmmm? because, personally i don't care for the looks of that site AT ALL. why?
because i have taste.

People are rather put out by this, as the responses on the second page prove. People essentially marvel at how it took these moderators mere days to alienate their board members. It's not as such the wankiest thing ever, but it's not bad, right?

Edited to add some absolute nonsense here. We love your book, Abbe! Or do we? Have we, in fact, even been able to read the thing?

Edited to add a donation from an anonymouse: Abbe says sorry, sort of.