If you own an upgraded Message Board then you will already be aware of the skins on offer to choose from. If, however, you're just surfing the Net, or you own a Message Board and have yet to upgrade it, then below is a preview of the public skins currently available for the Message Board.

Absolute Terror
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	This particular skin is based on the widely acclaimed controversial Anime series 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' copyright GAINAX. I designed this skin primarily for an online game I'm currently developing, but thought that other Message Board owners may wish to use the skin as well.
Site comments:
Since I designed this skin it’s hard to give an objective opinion. The skin’s not bad, it’s clear and uncluttered…it doesn’t have that wow factor though and looks a tad plain in places.
Selected 2 times.	Usage:

Blue Sharp
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	If you like your Message Board clean cut and easy on the eyes...scroll no further!
Site comments:
Since I designed this skin it’s hard to give an objective opinion. The skin’s not bad, it’s clear and pleasing to the eye…it doesn’t have that wow factor though and looks a little chunky around the edges.
Selected 49 times.	Usage:

Blue Sharp [Mireille Bouquet]
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	And if you like Blue Sharp plus one Anime babe...scroll no further!
Site comments:
Okay, so it's basically Blue Sharp with Mireille Bouquet from Noir in the background. Whilst Mireille increases the skin's sex appeal, she can obscure the message directory at times.
Selected 14 times.	Usage:

Blue Sharp [Misato Katsuragi]
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	And if you like Blue Sharp plus one Anime babe...scroll no further!
Site comments:
Okay, so it's basically Blue Sharp with Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion in the background. Whilst Misato increases the skin's sex appeal, she can obscure the message directory at times.
Selected 3 times.	Usage:

Blue Sharp [Priss Asagiri]
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	And if you like Blue Sharp plus one Anime babe...scroll no further!
Site comments:
Okay, so it's basically Blue Sharp with Priss Asagiri from Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 in the background. Whilst Priss increases the skin's sex appeal, she can obscure the message directory at times.
Selected 1 times.	Usage:

Dogma
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	Inspired by a Window Blind's skin going by the name of DogmaX4. Nice and simple this one, clean and uncluttered with a splash of colour.
Site comments:
Not bad, could possibly do with a bit more work on the buttons...that said, it's a pretty non-offensive modern skin.
Selected 7 times.	Usage:

Ghost
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	Futuristic, modern...stylish, if you like WTF designs then this one's a good starting point.
Site comments:
Again, it's hard to comment here since I designed this skin. This skin has potential, but is a little over- worked and possibly too cluttered.
Selected 29 times.	Usage:

Mireille's Dream
	Author: John Symonds
	Author's comments:
	None.
Site comments:
Another quality skin from John. This one's got a kind of sleepy angelic feel to it.
Selected 297 times.	Usage:

Scarlet Ray
	Author: Liam Young
	Author's comments:
	Caught somewhere between burning hell and gothic romance, this skin has quite a bloody and sinister feel to it.
Site comments:
Elegant and moody is how I would summarise this skin. It’s clear, concise and is well balanced…definitely a skin worthy of gracing the Message Board.
Selected 25 times.	Usage:

Tranquility
	Author: John Symonds
	Author's comments:
	None.
Site comments:
A good friend of the team churned this skin out. Quality skin John! It's clean, crisp and has lots of subtleties worked into the background.
Selected 14 times.	Usage:

If you're a bit of an artistic sort and fancy designing you're own Message Board skin then you're more than welcome to do so. As such both JPEG and Photoshop templates are provided below, along with a Zip file containing an example skin. An in-depth designer's guide is also supplied to help you on your way. Should you decide to create a public skin for the Message Board then your Message Board will be upgraded for free.

Please note that the following rules must be adhered to when designing a public skin for the Message Board:

Skins remain the property of their respected owners

Indecent and/or offensive skins will not be accepted

The quality of skins must be at a minimum on par with Blue Sharp

Skins may include the designer's by-line e.g. name, email address etc...

All skins will be made available to upgraded Message Board owners

Skin designers are entitled to one free Message Board upgrade per skin

Completed skins should be emailed to designs@guide-to.net

	Click here to download an example Message Board skin. This skin is compressed as a WinZip file. (File size: 99.3KB)
	Click here to download a Message Board skin template. This template is an Adobe Photoshop file. (File size: 396KB)
	Click here to download a Message Board skin template. This template is a JPEG file. (File size: 75.2KB)
	Click here to download a Message Board skin designer's guide. This designer's guide is a Microsoft Word file. (File size: 349KB)
	Click here to download a Message Board skin designer's guide. This designer's guide is an Adobe Acrobat file. (File size: 294KB)

So that you may test your skin, and refine its design, prior to submitting it for review, a simulated Message Board test environment is provided below. The test environment will not test every aspect of your skin, but it will provide excellent visual feedback as to how your completed skin will look and feel. To use the test enviroment you must provide the following skin data:

The local directory location of your skin e.g. c:\my_skins\my_first_skin\

A hexadecimal colour value for your text e.g. 242424

A hexadecimal colour value for your heading text e.g. 000000

A hexadecimal colour value for your link text e.g. 0F00D6

A hexadecimal colour value for your visited link text e.g. 7C70EF

A hexadecimal colour value for your active link text e.g. BA00D6

A hexadecimal colour value for your background e.g. FFFFFF

A hexadecimal colour value for your scrollbars e.g. AFC0D0

A hexadecimal colour value for your scrollbar tracks e.g. 000000

Local Skin Directory:
Text Colour:
Heading Text Colour:
Link Text Colour:
Visited Text Colour:
Active Text Colour:
Background Colour:
Scrollbar Colour:
Scrollbar Track Colour: