BVWebhost Forum
Review by Migi
First Impressions
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BVWebhost Forum gives me a mixed feeling for its first impressions. I actually like the overall view of the design. I like bright themes (although my heart forever lies with dark ones) and the different layout you are brave enough to try. It makes me want to look and read around because I want to know what else the forum has to offer. I will say that is a good impression because the forum is attached to a website and tends to be deserted; this may propel visitors to actually take a good look at the forum. On the other hand, the elements of the forum do not seem to blend together. They are outstanding on their own but do not go well together or somehow makes viewing rather difficult. This can be a great disadvantage against the forum's content. Especially when I noticed there are rooms for media and resources. Although they are currently empty (and I have to admit using the search function at those two sections made me rather confused), I can guess the directions you are aiming, and they definitely need to be supported with a strong technical aspect of the forum.
One minor detail that I also want to address is language. I noticed in forum descriptions and some posts by the administrator that there are some grammatical errors, especially mistakes in punctuations (such as using question mark, comma, or apostrophes) and missing letters (for example at the 'About' footer box). Professionalism is also one impression I get from one quick glance at the forum, so it is quite saddening to see this kind of imperfection. I would like to raise this as subject of improvement, mainly because the power of language is very strong in terms of impression.
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Average
Design Quality
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As I have mentioned previously, I actually like this bright atmosphere of the theme. It's beautiful and serene. Unfortunately, such image does not match the idea of the forum well. Especially after I visit the main link (the front page for hosting). First off, it is good to have bright themes, but this one feels too bright. The text needs bolder, darker colors to make it easier for reading against bright background. Think carefully of colors especially as the text size decreases, for example at corners of posts or bottom of the index page. Choosing pink as the color when the mouse is over the text or as drop-down menu color for sub-forums matches the beauty of the theme, but does not match the idea of the forum like said above. Images of nature for the header and behind sign-up box feels out of place. An image at the header does not seem to work for me (check spoiler below). The 'About' footer box is also not evenly distributed; it concentrates so much at the left side despite the empty space at the right side. Unless you are planning to put something else there, yes. The post layout also seems to need some tweaking; the texts and right side of the post box are too close to the edge of the page body that in combination they all seem weird. You can browse around other forums which are using XenForo as their software, or even the default theme of XenForo, to hopefully give you clearer idea of what I meant with last few sentences.
When I said that the theme does not match the idea of the forum, it does not mean that the theme is not usable. The keys are images and colors. To make it even more personal and related to the front page, you can at least start the same color scheme and expand from there.
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Poor
Site Structure
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Welcome messages are beautiful, although I suggest not to make them too long because it takes too much attention and time to read the actual content.
BVWebhost Forum's layout looks short and straight to the point at first glance, but when I see that there are eight to twelve sub-forums for each forum, something is off. The idea of having categories, forums, and sub-forums is to show what belongs where while still showing the general topic they all have. In your case, the division takes place way too deep. It takes a tad too long for visitors to find what 'Web Hosting' forum contains, for example. I didn't notice the sub-forum number there right away due to the unique setup of the design. This takes too much time to browse around, wondering what the forum has to offer, feeling confused because one needs too many clicks to be able to see the real content, which may result in visitor leaving. It is unfortunate, given what I have talked about at 'First Impressions' up there.
Therefore I suggest you to take out all sub-forums and turn them into forums instead. You don't need to repeat 'Web Hosting' as category and forum name. You will have quite large numbers of forums by doing this. This is where you need to decide on priorities. Which parts can you condense into one section? Which parts to remove first and expand later when there is bigger audience? For example, I think it is still not too confusing to discuss website script, codes, software, and themes in one forum. There are some options to tackle this confusion without adding one forum for each topic.
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Very Poor
Final Remarks
BVWebhost Forum is still new and have lots of rooms for improvement. Most elements have been laid in place and are strong in their own ways. The questions are mostly related to identity of the forum and how all elements match each other to make one great and full impression. I hope the ideas I write above can help improve the forum. Good luck!
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