ET has a dated 1990's look so my suggestion is to update to vBulletin 5.0.4 and change the color scheme to a more modern look such as blue and black text on white background. Take a look at these examples: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum http://finance.yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com https://www.google.com/finance?tab=we
I tried that back in February and almost got burned at the stake for changing the color scheme. Everybody said the readability of posts is easier with the alternating tan backgrounds.
I thought the persons post about the white background was the most insightful on this issue. I was trying to figure out what was so jarring and it was the white being a bright white vs the creamier white you use now.
I think the ET's current look and feel is much better than that of vBulletin. ET's threads are much easier to read, have neutral colors, and are not cluttered. The vBulletin's threads, on the other hand, are contaminated with silly avatars, annoying member signatures, and a rainbow of colors which offend the senses and divert the attention from the content to some nonsense, such as animated images and word art. If the intent of a forum is some simple-minded social interaction where the participants compete with each other for the cutest avatar and the most catchy phrase of the day, and talk about today's weather and dating, then sure, go for a "modern" look. If the content is more important (as it should be on ET), I'd favor the more "classic" look and feel, such as the one that ET currently has.