Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20) I did you last review (
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46002) Having gone over what I said in my last review not much has changed. I'm not a fan of zetaboards but that is down to user preference, I still dislike the default theme and it would put me of joining, I find the design of the theme pushes the actual content to far down the page. Also I had a look at your alternative theme which I did like but most guest would not change a skin to look at a site, first impressions are everything.
I know there is not much you can do about the advert but I still recommend you get a better, more appealing default skin but again if your users are happy then so be it. I still find the did you know box a waste of space and its space that could be better used. I still find the descriptions hard to read due to the size and colour of the font, again that is down to the skin and something you should look at. Other than that on first glance your site does seem to be active and welcoming to new visitors
The logo is plain and simple but does fit in with theme, I did think it was rather pixilated, to me it came across as that size is not it's original size and it had been de-sized to fit into the space provided?
(Scored 10/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20) Carrying on from what I said above I find the overall layout of your forum could be better but that could be helped with a better skin, I did find your site very easy to navigate round, I liked the 5 icons at the top to help me search you site etc but were rather large and when you float over them they could do with a little title so users know which each icon does. I also found the links at the bottom of your page useful.
The actual layout of the forums were good, you have got the generic layout of the forum, by that I mean the news, announcements and welcome areas at the top followed by your main boards, you have made good use of the sub forum feature and the actual forum descriptions were in depth and well written
(Scored 14/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20) Your activity has slowed down since my last review on 16th April with you only having made another 266 posts, your post count has gone down to 96.89 per day, which is still very good, now that your site is coming up to being a month old, you need to look at keeping the post count at around that level, make sure you are offering plenty of threads for users to reply to and keep things fresh by running more competitions etc.
When I was reviewing you site, there we only 2 users online, so look to keep activity up and make all of 70 members are posting on a regular basis.
(Scored 17/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20) I see you are down to just you as a staff member having lost your moderator, you have an active board so I would recommend finding a new moderator, just to help you out.
You as a staff member, show you have experience and are very friendly towards members and helpful, it was nice to go through reading topics, where an admin is both helpful and friendly, this makes for a nice friendly atmosphere. I get the impression that you enjoy being an admin and it shows.
(Scored 15/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20) I checked all the forum descriptions for both spelling and grammar errors and found the favorite spelt wrong other than that there were know mistakes, also all forum titles were spelt correctly
I did find a few minor spelling errors in your posts. Even I make mistakes but I advise you to always double check your posts, this will add to the professionalism of your site, which overall is good, the only thing I don't like is how in the past you have post our of our reviews on your site and members have left some poor remarks such as "He criticized the Did you Know box... What a D00$#", now I will accept constructive criticism as no one is perfect but you as admin should remove comments like that as it looks bad on you and your site.
(Scored 13/20)
Total Score - (69 of 100)
Final Remarks: I find I have given you are more honest score from last time, I took on board your comments as well as some tips from my TL and have reviewed another 20 sites to give me more experience of reviewing and I find this review reflects that, what lets you down is the skin and I feel with a better skin you site would appeal to a much wider audience. Having been using and developing and administrating forums for over 10 years, I still to be won over by zetaboards and I find the software will hold you site back from growing.
What was most liked about the website/forums: The dedication of the admin, the in depth descriptions and the forum activity
What was disliked most about the website/forums: The skin of the forum and also the rude comments from certain users, which made the site looked unprofessional
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website? Nothing it's a site that I would look to join
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