The Layout Tree

Welcome to The Layout Tree, a community for free and easy-to-use layouts, themes, and skins for you to use on your Dreamwidth Journal.

Some important points before we get started:

• Membership is free, posting is unmoderated, and this community is rated "No Age Restriction – Appropriate for All Audiences." Remember that or duck (see next point.)


• I (the mod) wield a heavy ban hammer: give credit where credit is due, do not delete previous licensing/commenting information, and derivative works are accepted only on a conditional basis (see below for specifics.)


• We welcome all designers, veteran and new. One of our goals is to provide easy-to-use templates, and by that we also mean easy-to-update and easy-to-figure-out-what's-going-on-and-make-your-own.


• Do not bite the new comers.

Now that we've got that squared away, let me introduce myself: I am Roddy of the Frozen Peas (roddy) and I am your moderator.

The intention of this community was to have a central location for skins, themes, and journal layouts that was often updated and regularly maintained.

Posting Policy

Keeping in mind that membership is free, unmoderated, and open to all ages, we have a few policies in regards to posting.

1. No cursing, swearing, "bashing," or hurtful language (including, but not limited to, racism, sexism, "flaming," discrimination (age, race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, beliefs (political or otherwise), sexual orientation, sexual identity, &tc.), and so on.)


2. Constructive criticism is good. Flaming is bad. "I think this layout would look better with a darker background; the current color scheme is hard to read" is good; "OMG THIS LAYOUT SUX" is bad.


3. No porn or adult layouts. No links to porn or adult content, or illegal content such as warez.


4. Keep it kid-friendly. No chatspeak or l33tspeak or ALL CAPS or aLt CaPs or excessive punctuation!!!!!11!1 (Even in jest.)

This policy is subject to update and change. It applies not only to posts, but also to comments.

When posting a new layout, you must include the following information:

1. Your name, your layout's name, and a version number (1.0 is default).


2. Any and all derivative information (see next section for policies), including image sources, original layout authors, quotation attributions, and so on. Note where the attribution can be found in your own code (ex. "Attribution include in CSS comments.") so that users know where it can be found and not to remove it.


3. Screenshots of your layout in action – preferably a "Recent Posts" page, an "Archive" page, and an Entry with comments. A link to a journal that uses the style/theme/skin is optional and is only allowd if that is a permanent journal that will always be using that style/theme/skin.


4. Detailed information on how to install your theme. Include any and all options, including base layout, css file(s), tweaks, colors, options (navbar on/off), and so on.


5. If your layout uses graphics, include a link to a zip file or other compressed format (tar.gz for example) that includes the base images for manipulation.


6. Either subscribe to your post (get emailed comments) or include another form of contact information where you can be reached for layout-related help.

Do not post layouts that cannot be installed on a free account.

This policy also subject to update and change.

Derivative Works

A derivative work is anything that you create that is based on material that is not your own. For example, fanfiction is a derivative work of whatever universe it is written for. If you create a layout based on another person's work – ex. converting a WordPress layout for DreamWidth – then that is also a derivative work. If you use photos or screen captures of films, movies, actors, &tc, chances are that is also a derivative work, even if you attribute it. (Caveat: if you took a photo yourself, it is not a derivative work.)

So what does this derivative works stuff have to do with this community? Well derivative works are toeing the fine line of copyright violation. After all, it's not 100% your work. There are a few things to keep in mind when creating any sort of layout that could be considered "derivative:"

1. If we (the community mods) are asked to remove a derivative layout due to copyright violation, we will do so immdiately, no questions asked.


2. Always attribute source, at least in the comments if not visibly. "Images from Harry Potter & the Sorceror's Stone, retrieved on 13 May 2010 from SomeFansite (url). No copyright infringement intended."


3. If using images of real people, such as actors, artists, musicians, &tc., the layout must be in good taste. No slander or libel or insinuating whatever.


4. Photo-manipulations are derivative unless you took the photo yourself. This includes manipulations of screen captures of films, minus the took-it-yourself caveat.


5. If you are building off of someone else's layout (ex. a WordPress layout), you must attribute the original source and leave all headers intact. Any attribution within the final layout must include the original creator -- ex. "'Voodoo Dolly' Wordpress layout by Theme Lab. 'Culture Shock: Voodoo Dolly v2' Wordpress layout by pogy366. 'Voodoo Dream: Voodoo Dolly v3' Dreamwidth layout by Roddy of the Frozen Peas." or similar.

Note: taking someone else's layout, removing their identifying information, and placing your own in its place (ex. removing "layout made by Roddy" and replacing it with "layout made by Bill-Joe-Bob") is not creating a derivative work; that's stealing, and grounds for a smiting with the royal ban-hammer.

Tags

We use a variety of tags here at The Layout Tree to make navigation simple. The following is a list of all tags, along with what they actually represent.

• Admin:notice – all announcements made by the moderators are tagged with this.

• Layout – all layouts (change the positioning of elements in your journal).


• Style – all styles (change the coloring of elements in a specific layout).

• Type: 2-column – all 2-column layouts.


• Type: 3-column – all 3-column layouts.