Do colours matter on a forum?

Shortie861 Level 1

March 26, 2017, 9:55 am

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Do colours matter on a forum?

Finding the right kind of theme with the right kind of colours on a forum can sometimes be a struggle. You never want to go to bright or too dark but you also want something that will work well with the niche of your forum.

I always find that it depends on the genre of the forum, say if you are running a gaming forum, something dark but not too dark will work well but then say for a support forum or even a basic general chat forum sometimes a lighter theme could work but not overly light. It's about getting the balance of the colour's right. Anything too dark or too bright or even colours that clash never work and just end up putting people off.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel colours matter on a forum? If so what colour do you tend to go for and what colour do you avoid?

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NomanProdhan

I believe that forum theme/design is very important. Well designed and user-friendly themes always attract people to join a community. I agree with you that too darker or lighter themes are not good. I always use simple and user-friendly design. Mostly I like little dark theme, because it don't hurt user's eyes much as lighter theme do. However, I think that theme/design or colour always depend on forum niche.

8 years ago

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Beverly

When I owned a forum, I had a very dark crimson red theme to start with and it was a little too dark, especially for a general chat forum. At some point, I found a really cool orange/lemon citrus forum theme that I used for several years. I really liked my forum theme as it didn't feature the white background on the forum posts - more of the yellowish color there with nice complementing colors for accent/trim. And, yes I do believe it helps to have an eye appealing color scheme and even header image for your forum. After all, a uesr might consider your forum to be a second home. And, for that reason, you'll want it to look good. If your forum is an eye sore, you are likely to have few members and the ones who stay won't be there for long. Then again, Reddit looks just horrible in terms of visual appeal but has the most dedicated community. So maybe it just depends on whether or not your content is good to read as to whether or not you have a loyal membership base for your community, rather than whatever theme/color you are using.

As for what you said about gaming communities, I have seen so many dark themes. It's just really overdone at this point. I like gamer forums but would prefer to be on one that I can read without getting eye cramps.

8 years ago

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Corzhens

I was in the mall yesterday where I chanced upon a jewelry store. Taking a look, it dawned on me that most of the stand for the display of necklaces are black. When I asked the attendant why the color black, she said that the necklace would be emphasized more against a blak background instead of a light colored background that competes with the color of the necklace. And I had to agree because oOne necklace with red and green stones looked outstanding over the black background. The same with webpages, the color combination is very important. Although I do not like dark designs but there are dark colored webpages that looked good to me because of the combination with the foreground. The color of the webpages truly matters whether in forums or blogs because the right combination of colors can invigorate the readers. That's what you call aesthetic effect.

7 years ago

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jpyy

Black is generally associated with gaming or a black hat SEO thing. However, though, I don't believe in being closed minded and assuming that black cannot work for most niches, given some creativity.

Anyway, for my forums, I like most colors, depending on whatever creative spark I get. Oh, and as far as readability is concerned, I don't think the color makes a difference, at least not on the popular themes available.

7 years ago

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SEOClerks

Do colours matter on a forum?

Do colours matter on a forum?

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