DECODED [confessions of a coder]

Thread Classifications [part one]

In the MDC's coding community, there seems to be silent classification guidelines for threads. This is how I see our 'background thread' category:

Background Threads: The broad category name. Overall, the only thing a thread needs to be a background thread is, well, a background. Shocker. But generally, background threads have a frame to fit, depending on design level.

Basic background threads are favored by beginner coders. They are 440px by 800/1000px and have an irritatingly large 300px header. 20px padding on the left, right, and bottom is customary. Blockquotes are all the rage, too. These threads are pretty much the only instance I see HTML headers tags being used. Got to love pre-formatting; it just screams professionalism.

Other background threads may include more minimal designs using centered coding over a single image for the background, the whole thread being around 300px in height. These are the only form of background threads I find any remote sense of visual appeal in. That's because most background threads require a single string of coding and only need a new background every once and a while. If your thread gallery consists of only background threads with all the same coding, you're not a coder. You may be a thread designer, but that's all you'll be until you venture out to more unique thread variations.

Banner Threads: These are the ye olde thread designs. The mommy of Wattpad threads. They were the first form of labeling a graphic shop and slowly evolved to produce each type of thread throughout the years. Banner threads consist of a single image/gif banner at the top of each post and have little to no text formatting. These were the days where HTML was a tool we held but could not use.

However, I've recently seen a comeback in the banner thread. These rare threads implement the minimalistic idea behind the old banner threads while adding their own contemporary twist to it. The result is rather pleasing, actually. Most of the successful minimal banner threads consist of a few different eye-catching banner images with similar artistic themes, where each banner is the header image for a different post. The text is usually black, justified, and written in a small font using all caps. It's inline, practical, clean, and modern. A trend I can live with.

Pattern Threads: I have mixed emotions for these. On one hand, I think they're helpful as a good way for beginners to become more comfortable with coding. On the other, I can't stand them. They're so uniform, like the Droid Army of HTML. These threads have the least amount of creative variety out of any other thread type. Someone could code steal another's pattern thread, slap a different header and pattern background on it, and call it their own without anyone else realizing they're stolen their codes.

If you've only ever made pattern threads, you are not a coder because 98% of all pattern threads are identical in concept. Almost every pattern thread has a header centered in a colored box under the thread title (probably written in cider script, true lies, or bebas) within an opaque box for body text. After the header comes a thin border line that stretches all the way across the text area, and below that is a line of links, usually unformatted so they stick out like a sore thumb, and written spaced apart with a | symbol between each link. It's likely these links aren't even used. What a waste of characters, and I'm not just referring to the links.

Celebrity Threads: God I hate these. They're impractical, and unless you have a big-ass HD photo of a "celebrity," the image is pixelated—a huge pet peeve of mine.

In a nutshell, celebrity threads are a totally fetch fad that hit the MDC a while back and have petered out rapidly since their first appearance. These threads feature a celebrity, hence the name. Nine times out of ten it's a music artist from the pop genre of Billboards top 20. If not, it's an attractive actor/actress from the latest theatre release. Celebrities only, right?

The title usually involves the unoriginal name of the pictured celebrity, or the slightly less unoriginal name of the celebrity's hit single. In addition, they distinctly use a ridiculously thin transparent box about 1000px tall to signify the text area. The text area doesn’t have to be 1000px exactly, but just around 500px too long for the body text to keep people eternally scrolling. Don't forget that the width of the text box must be wide enough to hold no more than three to five words across. It's like Dory from Finding Nemo is singing in my head. Just keep scrolling.