I love customizing my UI and would like to become more involved in the online community (rather than lurking as I have done for so long ). I used to customize individual addons but have switched to customizing ElvUI because of the reliability of updates. Whereas with individual addons the author may suddenly stop supporting the addon, or my be slow in updating it. ElvUI seems to be updated immediately when there is a patch or to squash any bugs they may find. So really my main reason for using ElvUI is for the reliability, even though it may offer slightly less customization than other individual addons.

The way I have ElvUI looking after customizing it looks nothing like the default ElvUI, however by using ElvUI I am under the impression that I would not be respected by the community as much as if I made my UI look exactly the same with individual addons.

Is this the general consensus? Do those that use ElvUI and post in the "Post your UI" thread get less respect even if they end up with something that looks nothing like the default ElvUI? I have used the thread for much inspiration. I have seen people like Carebare and Kheath go from individual UI components to using ElvUI, they seem to have much respect in the forums, but by using ElvUI are there UI's now less respected? (I'm not trying to call them out in any disrespectful manner, they are just the first that come to mind as I admire their creations.)

I understand that I should not worry about what other people think, however I would like to become involved in the community and I believe respect plays and important role in that. Thank you for any input you may have.