# Administration Category > Administrative issues >  Lite skin for dial-ups or to reduce page download size.

## Dave A

I've created a Lite version of our skin which is designed to produce faster page loads. This feature is only available to members - guests only have the default skin available.

There has been something of a trade-off in producing it, though.

It isn't quite as pretty as the main skin. The header area is a little disjointed but still has all the features. Strips and backgrounds are in flat colours.

The *quick-reply* and *similar threads* features have been removed. 

I could also take out avatars and signatures but I'd like some feedback on that first.

----------


## duncan drennan

Avatars, signatures and images can always be turned off using the User Control Panel, under Edit Options.

And for those of you who don't know how to change the skin: scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and look at the bottom left, there is a drop down menu with some cryptic names, "Mod 4" and "Mod 4 lite". Choose "Mod 4 lite" for the "lite" version

----------


## Dave A

OK. So let's leave those options.... errr... optional.

----------


## Debbiedle

Are we all skin obsesses now?  Help a stupid person please?

----------


## duncan drennan

> Are we all skin obsesses now?  Help a stupid person please?


The "skin" that Dave is referring to is the theme of the website. It is made up of all the little pictures, and colours and so on. The "lite skin" is a stripped down theme which means that there will be less to download every time you view a page.

I think the idea is to make it easier and faster for dial up users to access the info (as a forum can be quite bandwidth intensive).

If you do want things to load faster you can also turn off images, avatars and signatures (be warned though, some things may look at bit funny).

----------


## Debbiedle

Thanks Duncan - Why stop there?  Why not design for cell phones (terminology please :Kissing2:  ) as well then?

----------


## Dave A

At this stage content can be read via WAP using the Archive system. Not perfect but workable. You can even read member only content by logging in.

It is possible/anticipated that facilitating full forum use through cellphones might be achieved with the next major vB release.

----------


## Debbiedle

I was asked recently why my website wasn't WAP enabled. Any idea how many people actually dial up via phones?

----------


## duncan drennan

I actually logged in with my cell phone a while ago to see how it ran and it was incredibly quick and looked pretty much as expected. I do think it was the browser that I was using though.

I downloaded Opera Mini for my cell phone and it works like a charm. Websites display well, and I was amazed at how quick it was. Try it out and see how it works...

----------


## Dave A

Just to advise everyone that the Lite skin option is available again. It was disabled when we went through the vB 3.7 series of upgrades. There were just too many edits to keep up with through all those updates to keep the Lite version going.

For new members who weren't around when we had the Lite skin before, the selector is near the bottom left hand side of any page. Also a reminder that part of the shrinkage is removing the quickreply box, so you'll have to hit the Post Reply button to make a post.

----------

