Published on February 22, 2004 By grayhaze In WinCustomize Talk
Much of this message board is becoming redundant. Almost a month ago I posted a thread about skin requests and their various evils in an attempt to cull a lot of the repetition and cloggin up of the board with almost identical threads. It seemed to work to some extent, although we still get the requests for Barbie and Chevvy Chase skins on almost a daily basis.

Now it's time to deal with a second pet hate I have on these boards - the multitude of people complaining about their wallpapers being rejected. I understand that each of these individuals take a great deal of pride in their 'work', and the lack of a reason for its rejection stings somewhat, but do we really need an individual thread for each and every wallpaper rejected?

Here are some things to remember.

1. Why has my wallpaper been rejected, and yet I haven't been given a reason for this cruel and unusual punishment?

When we first had the wallpaper section here at WinCustomize, each wallpaper was treated with the utmost respect, and those which didn't make the grade were rejected through the use of a personal e-mail detailing the reasons and some suggestions for improvements.

This approach worked for all of about 20 minutes. Within moments, the moderators responsible for rejecting wallpapers started to receive angry, and in many cases obscenely abusive, replies to their comments from the wallpaper creators. Not everyone responded in this way, but enough did to warrant taking another look at the procedures.

Now remember that these moderators are volunteers, and that they get nothing out of doing this job aside from the pleasure of maintaining one of the best collections of desktop customizations on the Internet. It was therefore decided that they didn't deserve to get this kind of abuse from disgruntled wallpaper artists on a daily basis. The e-mailing process was stopped, and wallpapers were simply accepted or rejected without comment.

This was perhaps unfortunate for those artists who found the criticism to be genuinely helpful, but this lack of feedback was deemed to be more acceptable than the constant harassment of the moderators by those less willing to have their egos bruised.

To get an idea of the severity of responses received by moderators during that dark period, they included such gems as personal insults, racism, and in some cases death threats. I think you'll therefore understand why we have the system we do now.

2. Starting threads to get a second opinion from the general public.

A large percentage of the threads started on the board are by artists who have had their work rejected and want other users to back them up in their fight for justice. Don't do it.

If your work has been rejected, you're not doing yourself any favours by trying to bypass the moderators. You're only giving yourself a bad name and drawing attention to yourself. This could impact negatively on your future submissions.

Posting your rejected wallpapers in a public forum opens you up to exactly the kind of criticism you probably won't want to hear. You're likely to receive some very harsh critiques, and end up feeling a lot worse about yourself and your work than you did when it was simply rejected.

While it's true that you may get one or two positive comments, what you are effectively doing is parading a known sub-standard piece of work in front of the harshest bunch of critics known to man - the public. You're unlikely to get any genuinely helpful advice, especially if your thread is the 100th one of the week complaining about the unfairness of the moderation process.

If you honestly believe that your work was of a high enough standard to get accepted, then e-mail a site admin and get them to take another look at it. Don't just re-submit it, or try to generate support in the public forums.

3. Uploading a rejected wallpaper as a desktop screenshot.

If your wallpaper doesn't get through, it's often tempting to simply upload it to the screenshots section. This section has less moderation than the wallpapers one, and is used to show off your current desktop customizations to other users.

While it's fine to upload a screenshot with your wallpaper as a background, the screenshot cannot be useable as a wallpaper itself. You must obscure the image with windows, icons and other items so that you're not just using the section as another distribution outlet for your work.

If you are found to be doing this knowingly, a very dim view will be taken by the site admins. You may have certain priviledges revoked, and your experience of the site will be heavily limited.

4. Helpful information.

If you need more advice about wallpaper submissions, it's a good idea to take a look at the site's submission guidelines. These can be read here: https://www.wincustomize.com/guidelines.asp

If you feel you have a strong enough case for your wallpaper being re-evaluated, contact one of the admins by e-mail. Some useful e-mail addresses can be found here: https://www.wincustomize.com/index.asp?Cmd=about#rule

Above all, remember that to succeed in this 'business', you need to be your own harshest critic. Before submitting your work, take a long hard look at it and try to decide whether it will be something that other users of the site will want to have on their desktop.

Take a look around the wallpaper section and try to get an idea of the sorts of things people like. Look at ratings and download counts for wallpapers of a similar genre to yours, and decide whether you should upload your wallpaper or simply keep it for yourself and work harder on your next effort.
Comments (Page 4)
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on Apr 07, 2004
Tip:
Moderators HATE spheres
on Apr 07, 2004
I have had two suites "waiting approval" for almost 2 weeks
on Apr 10, 2004
i would only wish that under the 'my skins' section, it would tell you if your upload had been rejected in that list. thats it. then you can clear it. sometimes you wonder if something just hasn't gotten uploaded properly.
on Apr 11, 2004

latin4567...

Tip:

Moderators hate questionable content....hence any delay/s.

on Apr 13, 2004
questionable content


on Apr 15, 2004
Well how was I supposed to know it was (C)
on Apr 26, 2004
heh, art was never my strong point, i submitted a wallpaper a few days ago, it was quite nice and i use it but im not the kinda guy who freaks out if people think im not good enough.

I can understand the purpose of this topic perfectly, ive had alot of people freak out and post bible quotations for weeks on end when i told them my unorthodox beleifs and know what it feels like to be badgered.

Hopefully people will actually read this like i did.
on Apr 26, 2004
everything is questionable.. even what doesn't exist... or does it?
on Apr 30, 2004
I see wallpaper and skins that look like they were made by a 6 year old with a crayon, yet they seem to make it onto the site. I dont seem to understand the criteria for wallpaper or skins on this site, as it seems to me to be TOTALY up to the person who reviews it. Would it not be better to have a place where your wallpaper or skin could be "voted on" by the rest of the members, if you dont get a 6 or higher, then its booted. Give it 2-3 days to be voted on, and then get rid of them. I think this would eliminate some issues of some people just not liking certain types of wallpapers, etc.

Just an idea.
on Apr 30, 2004
ya thankx, i was planning on making some themes. Thx for the info
on May 01, 2004
Romanda: There are about 7 or 8 moderators on this site, so it doesn't usually come down to one persons likes or dislikes. All the moderators have been around the graphics scene for quite a long time and the system works well apart from being spoiled by a few people who cannot accept moderation. Your proposed system would not work at all for a site like this as it would be open to people "fixing" the voting by getting friends and family etc, to vote for their submission. And, as has been stated many times before, the wallpaper section on here is not the prime interest of the site, rather, it is a skinning site that happens to have a wallpaper section. I hope this helps you to understand the process more clearly.
on May 05, 2004
I have to admit the first few times I was rejected it did sting, and it still does , but in most cases when I do go back and look at what I submitted I have to be realistic. Were some of the god-awful? You bet. Were some of them good? Yep. Were the good ones deserving to be on THIS site? No, probably not. Actually, I like it this way. It makes it more meaningful when I do have one approved. To anyone that can't deal with that, there's plenty of other sites out there that will take just about anything you submit. What's the fun in that? It really is a shame that the actions of idiots robbed the rest of us from being able to benefit from the suggestions of the moderators.
To you and the rest: KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
on May 05, 2004
Most have ''issues'' with Terragen and Bryce in particular as they tend to be the ''artist'' not the person pushing the buttons. Many people new to these proggies assume they are creating something new and wonderful....they are, but ONLY to them, as generally the outcome is a bunch of ''defaults''. Eventually the artist will triumph over the tool and create something actually imaginative or will hone ''skills'' to the point where the outcome is strikingly good.

There are only so many permutations of floating chrome spheres and watery sunsets.....and splashless jumping dolphins that anyone can stomach....


I totally relate to this post of Jafo''s. I''m no artist, but I''ve had the privilege and the pleasure of having several of my walls accepted here. All I ever do is push a bunch of buttons. I never have a picture in my mind of what it''s going to look like when it''s "finished." I''ve thrown more works in progress in the trash than I''ve kept, a lot more actually, so it''s no big surprise to me that I''ve had more submissions rejected than accepted. I just appreciate the opportunity to share in all this very cool eye candy and also to have the opportunity to get advice and constructive criticizm from *real* artists. I also appreciate hearing kudos or criticizms from plain ol'' button pushers like me! I didn''t know before stumbling into this thread that there was a problem with people getting attitudes when their stuff was rejected, but I can honestly say that it never even crossed my mind to question or resent the times my submissions have been rejected.

All I''ve ever thought about saying to anyone moderating any part of this site is "Thank You." So, thanks y''all, this is one of the coolest sites on the web!

BluesStringer
[Message Edited]
on May 06, 2004
just don't point that process out, blue, next time you're submitting something. there is a good post on here, by jafo about the final product being more important then the process (see 'Yo...Mister Hip...) but it will none the less irk the rest of the community when they hear 'oh yeah, i didn't put any effort into it, i just threw something down and it made it through' after they just spent several hours pouring their hearts in to something that DIDN'T make it in.

case in point, my girlfriend is a photographer.. she labours over her prints, which get rejected from art shows while some of the most generic, boring stuff i've ever seen gets accepted.

if you don't care about it enough to put real work into moving towards an idea (and i believe if you created something without trying to better yourself or without a goal to benifit others, then the work is worthless), its best not to say anything at all about it.


on May 06, 2004
I sure didn't say I don't put effort into it DesignCaddy. I put hours and hours into it and try to do what someone, I think it was Jafo, suggested earlier in the thread and *not* submit something until I'm pleased with it and think it represents a "finished" work. But I'm not going to lie and claim that I'm an accomplished artist and that I know where I'm going from beginning to end. I'm not and I don't. If anyone gets irked over me being honest and trying to recognize reality in that regard and just posting to say "thanks" to WC, not to be a snot, but that's their problem, not mine.

It would actually surprise the heck out of me to find out that most of the contributors around here really have much of an idea where every piece is headed. Keep in mind that the discussion is about walls and the only things I've submitted have been very abstract. I'm not talking about a wall that is themed with a DX or WB skin or a Suite, and I didn't take the gist of this thread to be talking about anything other than stand-alone walls, most of which are abstract. If one knows what an abstract piece is going to look like before it's finished, is it really an abstract? Truth is I don't know the answer to that question because my reference to any art is in being a musician. The most thrilling thing that can happen when I'm playing is when a one-off jam takes both the players and the listeners to the moon and back. You can't orchestrate that feeling. None of the players know what's going to happen next and what makes them special is that they can either lead or follow into that unknown territory. I know, I'm getting off on a tangent, but the point is that by my definition of abstract, you can't know where you're going until you get there. Otherwise, we're talkin' *formula*, not abstract. If you want to call my definition of a genre I'm dabbling in "worthless," then that's your right. There's about 10,600 downloaders who might disagree with you though.

BluesStringer
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