A test of the emergency broadcast system - don't panic!!!

Sounds like a plan. What are the details??? If more than 100mb then they can still use wincust but are limited to 7 downloads a day? 50mb or more are limited to 14 downloads???

Does it or will it tie into the wincustomize subscription program?

BTW is there going to be another version of the wicustomize subscription set for professional GUI designers who want to join a league? For professional connections and stuff?.... just wondering....

OK, maybe this was posted elsehwere, and I just didn't see it, or I didn't follow the link to the details, but I'll ask.

50 megabytes per what? Day? Week? Month? Year? Lifetime??

Also how is that measured? By the account I'm logged in with? IP address? A cookie?

Enquiring minds need to know.

100 MB period. Not per year, or per month, just 100 megs.

It does tie into the new WinCustomize subscription program. If you are an Object Desktop / Stardock customer OR have a WinCustomize subscription OR have Apprentice access or higher, there are no limitations on your downloading. If you have a WinCustomize subscription, you get extra goodies (which are discussed elsewhere). If you aren't a Stardock customer, don't have a WC subscription, and don't have apprentice access or higher, there will be significant limitations on a given user's access to the site after they've downloaded X amount of megabytes (which we are going to start at 100 to see how that works and go from there).

The first step to give benefits to customers / subscribers / apprentice+ users is to tie their accounts to a central Stardock.net account.

I wanna know when the first user hits the 100 Mb cap. I think that's be interesting. I don't imagine I've DL'd 10 MB of zipped skins since I've joined.

It would be interesting also for users to have some sort of indication (think bar graph) of how much stuff they've DL'd. Especially if you need to (ahem) budget your DL's.

What think ye?

Bar Graph Indication! That's a good idea Dangeruss!

At the very least, in the account section there should be an indicator...just text would suffice, although it wouldn't be sexy.

I think we should all have it, even registered subscribers with apprentice or higher...as long as it didn't put too much strain on the back end. Speed is so much better these days, I hate to suggest any new features that could slow wincustomize.com down.

There are dozens of users who have downloaded over 2 GIGABYTES.

There are around 13,000 who have downloaded over 100 megabytes. Of which around 2000 are currently known to be customers.

BTW, nearly everyone who has responded to this post has downloaded >100 megabytes other than Dangeruss (who has only downloaded <20 megs).

I can ask Pat to put it into ones account information. Bear in mind that if you have Apprentice access or higher you don't have to worry about the 50/100 meg download limit.

Oh, good thing I just renewed my OD subscription then!!

What if you're using shareware versions of all the skinning apps and haven't purchased a WC subscription or are a Stardock customer? Are those of us who are just skin-happy going to be neglected and limited to what we download? One of the things I love about WC was there was no limitation on what was downloaded.

I'm CONSTANTLY changing my desktop and trying different app skins. One of the things I liked most about WC was the fact that there were no download limitations.

If I, and others, HAVE to purchase a WC subscription or BUY the registered versions of the software, I think people will be less likely to visit the site.

Frogboy,

Don't you dare reply to Citizen Raistlin. Leave this one to "The Others"

Listen to Russ (and Ande).

Don't get me wrong...I love this site, but please tell me if I'm wrong. Are we going to get screwed or not?

Raistlin,
Not looking to get on a soapbox (which means I probably will), but you yourself used the reference "shareware", perhaps you should look it up. It is not defined as "freeware", it is defined as "use this software first, and if you are using it regularly, you can purchase it, otherwise stop using it." If you are that skin-happy, you should do the right thing and pay for the software you are obviously using so much and with such satisfaction. IMHO, WC and Stardock are just trying to give people who pay for it all they are due, and give a good "taste" to those who want to get an idea before they pay. I don't think you should use the word "screwed" at all.....

....Touche....

Rael, Thank you. You said that very well.

Yes, as we get our system completed we will be enforcing restrictions on people who have not contributed to WinCustomize or Stardock. What we are looking at is placing a download limit. We are not set in stone on what that limit will be but we are looking at putting a cap on downloads at 100MB. So if you are a citizen and have not purchased any products from WinCustomize or Stardock and you have downloaded over 100MB of stuff you will be asked to contribute before continuing to download.

Think of it like this. Lets say you go to a grocery store and they are offering free samples. You try it out. If you like it hopefully you will buy it. But what we have here is people are staying in line continueing to take the free samples but never buy anything from the store at all.

So as in the spirit of Shareware, after so many samples we are going to ask these people to contribute to the well being of the site by either purchasing a product or subscription.

Once we start enforcing this new system we will problaby have to tweak the numbers a bit to get everything working well. And remember, by puchasing a product or a subscription you will receive additional benefits. https://www.wincustomize.com/index.asp?cmd=subscription

I am a Stardock customer and a WC account holder. I don't know how much I've D/L'd from WC, but I do know that I've deleted, from my harddrive, almost as as much as I've downloaded. There seems to be no quality control on what gets uploaded, no standards that must be met before it can be listed.

If you want to be the best source for skins on the internet, then offer only the best skins. If you just want to be the biggest source, well.........

I am happy i have lvl 4 ( i have downloaded a shedload )I have odnt, drengin, and skinbrowser, Not to mention i buy the cd's but when are these benefits coming into play ?

I think the limit will hlp this site and not hurt it. Anybody who downloads more than 200mb obviously likes what they see. If you like it that much then just get the subscription. I do not think it is a bad policy to say "Hey, you like customizing you desktop and you see the benifit of it. So why don't you get the full version?"

And I like he idea of a meter showing how much you have downloaded but only for subscribers. For others it would be a bad policy and they will use the site less because they know there limit (it is a phsycological thing). They should be able to download as much as they want to until they reach within 10mb of the limit of which at that point they will be "politly bugged" to subscribe and limited to download 7 items a day. Once the limit is reached then ask them to subscribe so they can download more.

Also if the users who are not subscribers have partisipated in the site by designing and submitting skins, submitting news and talking on the message board then they probably should have no limit or a 1Gigabyte limit to downloads.

Galfant:
" beauty is in the eye of the beholder" I thinks that skins should only be moderated on technical issues. If a skin does not work properly remove it. Please note this is my opinion because I generally prefer to use skins that are not that popular such as my own and I offer them up here at WinC to those who might want to use them. IF you are worried about only the best then sort by d/l's or ranking. But be sure to remember that most of the skinz are rated or downloaded based on art work, not on useability..

If you go to "Edit Account" and then click on the "View Profile" link you will be able to see how much you have downloaded. We will look at creating a meter for the future.

Very good idea! I'm sure there are too many people accessing this site that shouldn't be.

Nun gut, da mein Englisch nicht so gut ist, schreib ich meine Meinung halt mal auf Deutsch. Es wird schon jemanden geben, der es verstehen kann. Mit der Registrierung von Amerikanischen Programmen von Deutschland aus ist es gar nicht so einfach, zumal, wenn man keine Kreditkarte hat. Das einmal als erstes. Aber ich denke mal, der einzige Erfolg, den ihr mit dieser Action erreichen werdet, ist, daß euch die Besucher wegbleiben werden, zumal es ja noch genügend andere Skin-Seiten gibt, die diese Limitationen nicht fordern. Zum Testen eines Shareware-Programmes gehört es nunmal auch, daß man Skins wechseln kann, wenn man will. Ok, es müssen ja nicht gleich 50 oder 100 MB sein. Aber naja, macht was ihr wollt. Es ist ja schließlich Eure Seite

Here's RB1057's post translated to somewhat crippled English:
"My English is not so good, so I'll write my opinion in German. There must be someone who understands. First of all, registering an American program in Germany is not that simple, especially when one doesn't have a credit card.
Besides that, I think the only result of this action will be a decreasing amount of visitors to WC. They'll just head on over to the other skin-sites that do not have these limitations. Trying out different skins is just part of testing the shareware program. Okay, it shouldn't add up to 50 or 100 MB.
But, nevermind, do whatever you like. It's your site after all ."

Indeed the object is to decrease bandwidth usage as well. If the people who are downloading massive amounts of skins and themes but aren't contributing in any way leave that would is a good thing.