WinStyles currently supports two types of theme formats:

.suite
and
.xptheme

What is the difference
WinStyles was designed to let people seamlessly create their own desktops using a variety of programs and then package them up together.

A .XPTheme file is basically like an extended MS theme file. It actually contains the skins, icons, themes, etc. So they tend to be large.

.SUITE files on the other hand are just a few hundred bytes because they basically just link to skins, icons and themes on the Internet.

When to use which?

When you upload a .xptheme file, you are literally distributing those skins and icons. That means you must own those skins, icons, and themes included or have permission to distribute them.

Therefore: Only submit a .xptheme file when you have permission to distribute the contents or own the contents.

.SUITE files are a convenient way for someone to create a great screenshot and say "I got this by using Joe's WindowBlinds skin, Eric's wallpaper, Brian's Icon package, Sally's DesktopX theme, and Kevin's WinAmp skin." A user just downloads the .suite and it asks which parts they want to use and it goes off, downloads them automatically and applies them.

HOWEVER:
There is a time when you might want to use .suite files when you own all the contents:

If your suite contains many many different skins, icons and themes and therefore the file size is really large a .SUITE file may make sense because then the user can picka nd choose which parts they want to use before it goes off and downloads those parts.

A good example is Chad Ross's WinStyles theme. He owns most of the contents but because it's around 9 different icons, themes, and skins in there it would be huge as a .xptheme so Chad lets the user open it up and decide which parts they want (I don't have some of the programs installed that he supports for instance so I don't want to download all that stuff).

Summary
Don't upload .xptheme files that contains things you don't own. And don't upload .suite files that contain just your stuff in which there's only a few skins in there.

It would be great to see more people make use of this. If you haven't tried WinStyles, I highly recommend it - http://www.winstyles.com.

I uploaded a new .suite file today that makes use of Alexandrie's skin, someone else's wallpaper, an objectbar theme I made and a couple other things.

Have fun!

For those of you who have subscribed to WinCustomize, a new version of the skin browser is due out this week that really improves the interaction with the site. Gone is much of the HTML windows and instead an Outlook Express type UI for handling the message boards. It's really a great way of interacting with the site!

The browser is just one of the goodies that users get for subscribing.

https://www.wincustomize.com/index.asp?cmd=subscription

Check out this screenshot:
https://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/odnt-jun02a.jpg

It's amazing how many people don't realize that skins are copyrighted material. Here's a message board item I wrote awhile back that explains what is and isn't protected by intellectual property laws.

Today or tomorrow, we will be beginning to tie our WinCustomize account system into the Stardock.net account system in order to provide users with additional benefits.

If you have downloaded > 50 megabytes, the site will automatically ask you to type in you Stardock.net email address (the address you used when you purchased WindowBlinds, Object Desktop, etc.) or to let it know you're not a Stardock customer. This will only come up if your accounts aren't already integrated.

Eventually we hope to provide users with a fully integrated Stardock.net experience with WinCustomize, Object Desktop, Drengin, and in the future, JoeUser.com accounts linked together so that you can more easily manage your stuff (i.e. many users know how annoying it can be to have to manage dozens of different website accounts).

Those users who have downloaded >100 megabytes of skins, icons and themes who do not have a Stardock.net account will be encouraged to either register the software they're obviously using to use those skins, icons, and themes or obtain a WinCustomize account. (if you've registered your software or have a WC account you're all set).

In the latest poll of users's political beliefs, we had a statistical tie between conservatives, liberals, moderatores and confused people. The new poll deals with a much weightier issue - Spiderman vs. Star Wars.

On-line communication is a tricky thing. Without tones of voice, facial expressions, body language, etc. it is often difficult to convey meaning.

The effort of having to type out something versus speaking adds to the difficulty. This is especially true when trying to convince someone of a certain point of view.

This is a fairly popular web page on the Internt for learning how to avoid common pitfalls in constructive a logical assertion (or argument).

http://education.gsu.edu/spehar/FOCUS/EdPsy/misc/Fallacies.htm

Check out this screenshot from the upcoming version of the skinbrowser:

https://www.stardock.com/products/skinbrowser/sb-jun02c.jpg

Talk about making it easier to read the posts and such here.

Yes I know we already have a news item but you have to go look at this magazine. It's that good. Make sure you download the PDF version of it. It's 106 pages, it's higher quality than most store-bought magazines and it's free. If you're at all into art or ever been interested in creating cool graphics, you should definitely go see this.

www.deviantmag.com

Nearly a million unique individuals visited WinCustomize this month. The site's faster performance allowed more people to be on at once.

The new polls have allowed us to learn much more about each other. Most people on WinCustomize are adults which is unusual (for the net) but is something we're very pleased about (and explains why there's rarely any need to moderate posts, comments and discussions).

Referrals continue to be the lifeblood of WinCustomize. Half the people who visit this site visit via bookmarks or from a link via software (like WindowBlinds). The other half come here from another site. Most people who come from other sites come from Stardock (WindowBlinds.net, Stardock.com, CursorXP.com, Winstyles.com, DesktopX.net were the top 5 referring sites.

Other sites at the top of referrals include:
TweakXP.com (6th)
Litestep.net (9th)
Neowin.net (10th)
deviantART.com (12th)
Deskmod.com (15th)

The WinCustomize subscriptions are going fairly well. We hope to keep providing more and more features for subscribers and encourage heavy users to get a subscription (i.e. if you've downloaded > 50 megabytes of skins, icons, and themes).

To subscribe: https://www.wincustomize.com/index.asp?cmd=subscription

If you have any suggestions on new features or improvements to the site, let us know. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

In terms of monthly unique visitors here are a sample of some game sites:

Gamespot: ~12 million per month
EA.COM ~10.5 million per month
IGN.COM ~9 million per month
MSN ZONE ~7.3 million per month
NeoPet.scom ~2.1 million
Games.com ~1 million

This is from January. In January, 110 million people in the USA went on-line.