First Impressions:
My first impression of your site is pretty good. Everything that I was impressed with or not on the site will be discussed further in one of the following areas below. One thing I will tell you here, if you are looking for people to comment on the articles then I would suggest requesting one of the blog packages from the
Package Team. Although the package shouldn't be primary source of activity for your site, it would be a good way to help boost the activity from time to time which is what it's there for.
Good
Number of Blog Posts & Activity:
I like the fact that the "Top 10 Most Viewed" shows up right there on the main index page when you first enter the site. That lets people see what is the most popular articles on your site. Also, off to the right hand side you've got a list of articles that have most recently been commented on. That is good that you do that because you want guests who are viewing your site, especially for the first time, to see how active your site is.
Good
Website Usability:
I'm glad that you have things separated into categories and that you have the categories present in a little navigation bar at the center and very top of the front page. That makes finding specific articles much easier. You also have a list of "recent articles" on the index page of the site if you scroll down just a little bit and that can be beneficial to some of your members. That lets them see latest and greatest that your site reports on. The only thing I might do differently is the ability to go back several pages, I would put that right next to where it says "Latest Articles" instead of having to scroll down even further to the very bottom of the page.
Good
Site Structure:
The way the site is laid out is good. You have everything you need to find front and center. If you have to be redirected elsewhere, it's still easy to find in the navigation bar at the top. If someone has to look for something, you have the search feature in the top right hand corner of the main index page. The way your site is laid out, everything is easy to find and that is the way I like it. Nothing frustrates me more than not being able to find my way around a site, regardless if it's a forum, blog or website.
Good
Design Quality:
The design of your site......it's very clean but I fail to see what it has to do with tech and gadgets, entertainment, or science. I don't really see what the "theme" has to do with the niche` of your site. I'm not really sure if there is a "theme" that will go with your site since your site covers several different things unless you make it yourself or you have someone custom make one for you.
Average
Originality:
As far as being original goes, I think you're doing good. I've seen lots of forums that are tech & gadget related or entertainment related, etc. but I've never really seen a site like yours. Some of the forums will have blogs added to them but I've never really seen just a blog dedicated to that particular niche`. The main thing to keep in mind is to keep up with the content and not slack off on that. You'll have to keep that coming to keep the member base that you have and to attract new members.
Average
Spelling, Grammar & Professionalism:
I didn't spot any spelling or grammar mistakes while visiting your site and that's good. As far as the professionalism of the staff, I see that you have two other people that write besides yourself. I noticed that they don't seem to write as much as you. I'm not sure how much time they spend writing for the site or what you have worked out with them as far as how much time they spend writing. I noticed that you have a thread on FP in the exchange section where you'll do comments on other peoples forum/blog in exchange for them doing comments on The Surge. I noticed you also mentioned that if people write articles for your blog then they can put backlinks in the article. I was just curious if you're looking for people to write on your blog because you spend more time writing than the other staff on your blog.
Average
Thing you liked best about forum: I like how things seem to be easy to find.
Thing you liked least about forum: You seem to be the only one writing articles most of the time, even though you have two other writers as staff on your site.
Overall Mark:
I think you have a wonderful site. You'll just have to be diligent in getting the activity back in order and remain that way if you want the site to do well. Keep the content coming on a regular basis to begin with, that is the main thing. I wish you the best of luck!
