Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
My first impression of your forum was that it was very elegant. The colors are pretty, it’s light and airy, and all in all good to look out. The gradients add a special touch to it. The bird landing on the button was also visually impressive and unique. However, I am afraid that this is a case of design over function. My first impression was that everything is HUGE. I will talk about this more in Site Layout. I appreciate the fact you have a favicon that actually goes with your forum. You don’t know how good this is for people who choose to add your site to their favorites. Overall, from a purely visual standpoint, your site is beautiful. From a functional standpoint, not so much. Read on for more on that.
(Scored 18/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
The spacing and size of everything on your forum is HUGE. You’ve got a massive header, a notice, a chatbox, a welcome box, and then the forum. You have to sometimes scroll down on pages just to get to the actual content. This is amazingly frustrating. Also, in posts, your notice’s text is the same size as the post’s text. That’s completely unnecessary. Make the font a lot smaller for that. In some announcements, your font is huge. We get it. It’s an announcement. It’s important. You don’t have to make the text massive. Your chatbox is also a layout disaster. You have to scroll over to see the text in Google Chrome saying how many messages you have (even in full view!). The expand/collapse button is a plus button both ways, which in all honesty makes no sense.
However, not all was bad. Your actual forum layout is fine. The ability to read threads via mouseover is also incredibly convenient. Additionally, your navigation of pages is easy.
(Scored 12/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
There’s really no fair way for me to judge this section. It’s extremely hard with “closed and then reopened” forums because it’s hard to distinguish old activity from new, but I will try. It looks good though. Your forums have all had recent activity. Some old threads are getting revived. However, some of the posts are just junk. Some of your members reply with vulgar, bizarre, or just downright spammy posts. It’s not a real turn-on for new members. There were of course some good posts too so most of it evens out. I’ll be able to give you a more fair assessment when your forum begins to have been open for longer.
(Scored 16/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
Just finding your rules was impossible. You’ve got this sticky here:
http://www.bibbo.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1352. However, this rules thread (
http://www.bibbo.org/forums/announcement.php?f=3) links to this other rules thread
http://bibbo.org/forums/showthread.php?p=10#post10. Is there any point to this? Rules should be consistent, and kept in one spot. Additionally, your rules and help pages reference some package team, which I can’t seem to find. Perhaps that should be updated.
Again, not all is bad. You’re the only current staff member, which is fine for a forum your size. I’m glad to see you’re not overstaffed. Also, while not all of it is complete or simple, you do provide a lot of documentation. This is very good for new members. It just needs some ironing out.
(Scored 16/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20) I have a few suggestions for your board descriptions.
“These posts are important. Please read the rules before posting. Anything important goes here.” What is this? You’ve already stated they’re important. Get rid of that last sentence.
“We want waht the community wants. We want to make the community happy. Any feedback or suggestion will be read by the staff here!” has multiple errors. “We want what the community wants. We want to make the community happy. Any feedback or suggestions will be read by the staff here!”
“You have all gone off topic before. Whether it be in real life or on a forum.” should be, “You have all gone off topic before, whether it be in real life, or on a forum.”
“If there wasn't technology my forum wouldn't exist.” OK, there are a couple problems here. First, the grammar is wrong. Second, don’t talk in first person in a description. Make it like, “If there wasn't technology, this forum wouldn't exist.”
You get the idea. I’m not going to go through everything. Thankfully, most of these issues were very minor.
(Scored 14/20)
Total Score -76 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks: Your forum needs a tune-up from its previous state.
What was most liked about the website/forums: Appearance.
What was disliked most about the website/forums: Layout.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website? Take into account the layout suggestions.
After you have read your review, please click the following link and rate our service to help us make it better for you.... [
Click Here]
.
