Tips on Themes and Storylines [Perocore]

Created by Perocore

I don't want to bother making two separate threads, so I'll just combine both of these. Now, as a note, the Theme sections is for CSS, and it's just some simple tips for ALL LEVELS OF USERS. The storyline section, however, is aimed towards people who a) want to include a storyline and b) have experience in writing. I'm not going to coach you on spelling and grammar (though if you want me to check something for you I can and will- Lonin's better at it though XD). The storyline portion (the main part) is all about FORMING the storyline. A well incorporated storyline makes sites, in my mind, so much more enjoyable.

[size=x-large]CSS/Theme Tips [minor][/size]
These are just some basic tips...things I see repeated a lot that BOTHER ME.
This is mainly about the colors. BE CAREFUL WHEN CHOOSING COLORS. Do not use colors that contrast TOO much as it can be painful on the eyes and very distracting. Also, NO RAINBOW. I'm so sick of seeing all of these rainbow colored sites. It's distracting and often times no real thought goes towards the visual appeal. Visual appeal is so important. If I go to a site the first thing I see if the theme. If it's all rainbows I hit the "x" button on the tab. If it's neon I go away. If the colors are paired badly I leave. I don't care how wonderful everything else is- if the theme sucks then I have no interest in the site.

I suggest you use this to find good compliments and shades for your site's design. Also, another great resource is this repeating stripe pattern generator. I love striped backgrounds, but it can be a real pain in the class to create a stripe pattern that tiles properly. That generator does it for you!

And the other thing that really bugs me is the TEXT. I hate when it is GIANT AND EACH LINE HAS LIKE FIVE WORDS IN IT and when it'stinyandreallyhardtoreadsoIhavetosquint.

Oh, and as Knyfe mentioned, it's very irritating when the font is so crazy that it's very difficult to read.

[size=x-large]The Storyline [major][/size]
Ah yes, the dreaded storyline. Sometimes the most painful and time consuming part of a site! I mean, it's not necessary by any means...but when you properly incorporate a good storyline it can make the experience so much better.

Now, what do I mean by incorporating, exactly? Well, it's simple, really. I mean that you DO NOT just put a wall of text on the home page and call that storyline. THAT IS WRONG WRONG WRONG. The cool thing about a good storyline is you can use it to transport your users to the world that the site is situated in (not literally, I mean through mind). The way you do this is mainly by fully developing the storyline including important aspects, and having it on ALL PARTS of the site! The storyline should affect your NPCs, the setting, the pets, and the typical "mood" of your site.

AS AN IMPORTANT NOTE, this is going to focus on other-worldly sites, NOT EARTH. So, with that in mind, here are important things you'll want to consider when including NPCs:
> Background (how did things end up the way they are?)
> Enviroment (affects how the people survive, what they eat, etc)
> Government Type (affects how people treat the user and each other)
> Dialect (affects the way NPCs speek, yes, you can type with an accent)
> Intelligence of the NPC (affects how they act and speak)
> Wealth of the NPC (affects education, appearance, social placement)
> Legends and Religion (A BIG ONE)

So, I am going to highlight on each part listed about. That's about 7 parts total...so don't expect it all right now. However, you can just look at the list and start thinking about those things and how they affect your day to day life. Also think about other important things to do with the species of the people alone...a good idea is to attempt to fill out this.

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[size=x-large]The Background[/size]
The background/history of a region and it's inhabitants is very important. Backgrounds include past rulers...wars...cultures, and all of those boring things that we learn about in History Class. Boring as it may be, however, the history of the region your site is set in helps shape the world it is today. History can cause two groups of people to be bitter, or can set the current situation of the population. If there was a war recently, for example, then there is probably not a lot of money to go around...if the people won they may be rejoiced, but also be lacking a lot of the things they need, which can make others bitter. If they lost, then there could be prisoners, guards, and a very friction-filled feeling to the air.

When I start off with the history of my world...I like to consider this: "Well, why are people adopting these pets?" The history of a place can often be the very reason why those pets exist! Take dogs for example, now a' days dogs are very common and just used for companionship...but why did humans originally domesticate dogs? They needed food. Dogs helped us to find, capture, and kill various prey animals. Sometimes dogs even were the food! So, because our ancestors needed help in capturing and finding prey, we have ended up being able to own dogs.

So, if could be very similar with your site! So, let's say that your site is set in a country that was once in a massive war...technology and weapons were limited, so the people wanted a more efficient way to fight...they started capturing wild beasts and teaching them to attack the enemy. Eventually better technology became available, and the beasts were not needed to help so much...so in order to make more money for the war, the commanders tamed the beasts more and sold them to wealthy nobles as Guard Beasts for their house and family. Eventually the Beasts were quite common and soon everyone owned one! See how one thing in history led to people being able to own those pets?

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Okay, so, I'll be working on each part later in life. I will be going in the order that the list is in. Hope what is already there can help a bit!