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Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
The first thing that catches my eye is the banner. I really love the font, the background, and the design as a whole.
The way it ruffles like that really makes it look even better also.
I think you have a pretty nice theme, but this theme on ZetaBoards is very repetitive. I see it on almost every ZetaBoard hosted forum I visit... I would go for something a bit more unique.
I'm also seeing a few board placement problems as I scroll down, but nothing major. We will delve into this below.
Overall, the first impressions are great, and the appearance is superb. The real issue I have is that it's unclear what exactly your forum is about for a guest just clicking on. I suggest you re-word your welcome message to include what your site is really about; " Be Creative " doesn't really tell me much of what your site is for.
(Scored 20/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
First I'd like to say I'm glad you didn't go overboard with your boards, like what happens on a lot of newer forums...
With that said, we do have a few minor issues.
First of all, in your " News and Discussion " area, the layout is a bit untidy.
I suggest you leave Announcements the way it is, but the " Rules " board needs to go. You do not need an entire board for rules, you just don't. All you need is either A) Global announcement with the rules or B) A sticky topic in the Announcements and News area.
Also, I don't think " News and Discussions '' is the best name for the category... there shouldn't be vivid discussions going on in this category. I suggest you change the name to one of the following:
- Be Creative! Forums HQ
Be Creative! Forums Front Desk
Front Desk
Reception
The list goes on...
The point is the word " discussions " doesn't fit here at all.
Now, with the rules area deleted, I suggest you make a board for Suggestions and Feedback, so members can discuss their problems, and give feedback and suggestions. These areas are very helpful on any forum out there, and make sure this area appears second after the " Announcements " board as the Introductions board should always be last.
So, if you put these changes into effect it would appear like this:
Category: Front Desk
--Board: Announcements and News
--Board: Suggestions & Feedback
--Board: The Arrivals Hall
Writers guild area looks good, no problems here at all.
Art and Graphics, again seems great.
RPG's, looks good, but I notice it is considerably less active than the rest of your boards.. you might want to consider deleting the category and moving the board elsewhere.. where elsewhere is on your forum, is obviously for you to decide
🙂
General Area also looks good, though I do suggest you make Food and Drink a subforum of the General Discussion board.
Overall, the layout is pretty damn good, just a few minor nit-picky things
😀
(Scored 18/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
Well, your forum was founded back in late February, and now it has 100 members and about 9 k posts. This isn't stellar, nor is it awful, either.
All I suggest is that you step up promotion and do more posting exchanges, member exchanges, and registration exchanges.
(Scored 17/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
Taking a look at the Staff and Moderator list, I see 5 staff members, and you have 100 members in total. That's 5% of your total members as staff, it may seem little, but on a 100 member board, it is.
You have too much staff, I really suggest you DO NOT hire any more staff for a very long time..
Taking a look at activity of the staff, I can't tell the activity of one of the admins because they changed their post count to somewhere in the millions... which is the same thing with the other admin, unfortunately.. this Global Moderator has a post count in the millions.. but this Moderator has an actual post count and didn't change it, and they have 5.5 posts per day and 700 posts, that is great for a mod.. he is active.
I do have a problem with one of your moderators ( as you can see I don't mention names in any of my reviews ) who has not been active since the 3rd of July and has only 24 posts and 0.3 posts per day.. I suggest immediate dismissal of this staff member as they are inactive.
There's really no problem with your staff other than the large amount, and the one inactive moderator..
What annoys me is how unprofessional your staff team is.. making your post counts in the millions really isn't funny or cool, it is just plain unprofessional and immature, and not something you want to do if your board is to be taken seriously... it's not like you're a gaming or a joke board, you guys are supposed to be a creative writing board.
(Scored 15/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
Spelling and grammar is all in order, nice work there.
Professionalism, however, is poor.. simply because of the fact you added post counts in the millions for staff. As I said previously, this doesn't help anyone and it just looks immature.. I suggest you change it.
(Scored 18/20)
Total Score - 88 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks:
Overall, your site has a ton of potential. You're really dedicated it seems, and I really think that banner of yours is great.
One thing that really gets me is unprofessional staff, and especially from the Administrators - please don't take this as a personal hit, but you can't have Administrators running around with post counts in the millions.
Keep up the good work, and keep up the advertising and promotion!
What was most liked about the website/forums:
The banner, especially the way it moves like that.. really looks great.
What was disliked most about the website/forums:
Nothing stands out to me.. I don't dislike anything honestly other than the staff post counts.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website?
If I were a writer, I'd join right away.
( Shows that you're board is really in great shape and has amazing potential
😀 )
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