Well, I mostly created this site for a friend who writes Sharpe fanfiction and who infected me with the Sharpe-virus.
I did not like the skins which were included in the download. Though they are ok they weren't what I was looking for. Neither were the skins one can download here and around the internet.
So I created my own skin, using the default2 skin as a basis and systematically changing all templates until I came up with this layout: http://sharpe.fan-fictions.net
I don't know if I would say you created that skin yourself. Especially when you cite the person you copied it from in your footer. Adapting a layout is not the same as creating it. By the way, I hope you asked at Fractured Sanity before you used her layout because she specifically says at the bottom that you aren't allowed to copy it. It is a nice layout, though.
Fractured Sanity is MY OWN website, it has been ever since I registered it with hosteurope 1 1/2 years ago. That layout on Fractured Sanity has not been online for long, just two month. It do not even particularly like it on Fractured Sanity, but with the green colours and larger header on Sharpe Fictions it looks much better. So yes I created the skin, technically and figuratively speaking. I just adapted the skin to the eFiction script, since I am quite sure I will not keep the layout on FS much longer.
I am a website designer and I would never dare to simply take a layout from somebody else to fit it to my needs. And if I took somebody other skin I would a.) ask and b.) never claim it as my own.
But I can understand that the credit at the bottom of my site could be misleading and I think it good you spoke your mind about this. After all, it has become a rather common thing on the internet that people take graphics, layouts or written stuff from other people and claim it as their own. I have to deal with that problem regularly myself, since Fractured Sanity is a graphic resource site.
But if you need a proof, which I could/can understand, try these links:
http://slayerzone.de/fractured/
http://slayerzone.de/hosted/sharpe/
Slayerzone is my main-domain, fractured-sanity.org and fan-fictions.net are just alias-domains directed to different folders on my webspace.
😳 I'm sorry, I didn't realize that. It's not clear, and the way you have your copyright at the bottom of your fanfic site makes it seem like the two sites aren't connected in any way.
This being the case though, I will re-emphasize that it is s very nice skin. I like it a lot. 🙂
I can see now how it can mislead visitors to that conclusion and I will either remove it or change it somehow.
I placed the credit there because I did not want people emailing me on my FS site 'Hey somebody stole your layout or claims it as his/her own' but it seems the credit has the exact opposite effect of what I tried to achieve, eh?
And no need to be sorry. If somebody really had stolen my layout I would be glad if somebody decided to take action or speak to that person.
