One of the hardest decisions a forum administrator can make is choosing the right style/theme/skin for your board. The thing you don't want to do is stick with the default, this makes you and your board look bad. You want something that not only you like, but what like-minded others would like as well.
The key is to match a style with your forum's niche. Find boards that are like your's and look at their themes, notice their colors, how they're designed, and some feedback about how the members feel. You want your theme to be the first thing that new visitors notice, once you have them hooked with the beauty of your style, they'll look to your content. If they like your content, they may sign up, and if they sign up, they might post, and if they post, they might post on a regular basis. Now you see the tree and how it all starts with the style you choose.
Another thing that helps with style choosing for boards is finding multiple themes, something to give your members selection. What one member may love, another may hate, resulting in a clash. You want to make everyone happy, not just few, the saying that "sometimes few must be sacrificed for the good of many" does not apply to online forums. Create polls and have your members vote on the skins they like the most or ask some friends their opinions.
If you want to take it to the next level, have a custom skin designed. However, don't just tell the designer what you want, ask your members and get their opinions, get them more involved in decision making. Without them, you'd just be talking to yourself, keep them happy and they'll keep you happy.
Recommended sites for the best vBulletin skins:
vBulletin.org Free Styles Area
Extreme Pixels - Also do IPB and phpBB skins
Transverse Styles - Also do IPB skins
vB Skinworks
Complete vB
Exaltic
Forum Monkeys
Miner Skinz
Complete GFX
Simple GFX
As always, check back tomorrow for more tips and resources for becoming a better forum administrator!
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