Tony Poor

Aurora was another vBulletin skin that I created for a forum. One of a few alternative visual styles, it focused on a clean and energetic visual design.

Like iCandy, this was more a hobbyist visual design that I did for fun when I was younger. As a result, little emphasis was placed on design beyond the surface; this is reflected in the primary navigation. None of the users really ever utilized Calendar, FAQ, or Quick Links (so those links could just be wiped out), and Search was such a useful feature that it probably needed it’s own little traditional place in the top-right. Very interesting to see how your tastes and viewpoints transform in a matter of half a dozen years.

As mentioned in the description for iCandy, this was one of my first major sites, and taught me a great deal about building interactive communities. Years down the road, I can still apply lessons in social computing from this old side project and the successes and failures I had with it. More exciting than reading a book on the “social web,” right?