Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
Let me begin by saying, I love IP.Board and I love IPB Customize, so I immediately knew I would love the skin of your forum. Your banner is REALLY nice and fits very nicely with the skin. I remember this skin from IPB Customize, and really like that big RSS button, that's something very original. The skin itself is professional and a fine choice for a forum. Nothing was hard to read on it and I couldn't find anything really wrong with the skin. The switch from the dark blue on the left side of the post to that huge bright white was a little extreme, but it's not a big deal. Your post ranks fit the theme of your forum and blend with the skin very well. The only real bad thing that could be improved is that the little forum nav links, (ie. "Christianity Forums > Information Desk > Announcements:") are a shade of blue that blend in a bit too much, I would make them a brighter color. Other than that, nice job.
🙂
(Scored 19/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
Yikes, your index is HUGE. It's very overwhelming as well. You've got a ton of links at the top, then some login links, a huge "Click Here To Enter the Post Bomb" banner, a huge thing telling you to register with a huge amount of icons, tons of forums, then tons of statistics at the bottom with even more huge amounts of icons. I would cool it with a bunch of that. First off, the huge "Click Here" banner is really not needed, and gets really annoying. Second, I would aim for a much shorter registration message with less images.
Next, I have a real problem with your board's layout. Only maybe about 5 of your forums even have to do with Christianity, if you're going to call yourself "Christianity Forums" then I would suggest eliminating a few of your tons of off-topic boards or adding more Christianity-based boards. As it is now your board just seems like, "Christianity Off-Topic" to me.
(Scored 5/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
"Our members have made a total of 12,071 posts
We have 232 registered members"
232 members is really good for a year and 12K posts is OK, not amazing, but pretty good. I'm glad you've chosen to advertise on FP, that should help. Honestly, I think if you would make your index less intimidating you could encourage more posters to join. Other than that, I don't really have much else to say.
(Scored 17/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
2 admins and 4 global mods is overkill. Seriously, I could see the most your forum needing at this stage and admin or two and 1 mod. 4 mods is way too much for a forum with 12K posts. I seriously suggest you stop hiring for quite a while and seriously evaluate whether 6 global staff members is really needed. As it is right now, you are really overstaffed. The plus side is that it does seem like your staff does keep everyone abiding by your forum's rules.
(Scored 6/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
Let's start of with Spelling and Grammar. I'm curious why "Announcements:" has a colon on it, no other forums on your board do, I would remove it. Also, "Check here out for very important announcements and other information you can use on this forum!" doesn't really sound quite right, specifically, "Check here out." Also, from what I understand, "Wanna talk books? Come talk about them here! (Just remember to use your "inside voice"!)" should be, "Wanna talk books? Come talk about them here! (Just remember to use your "inside voice!")" since punctuation should go inside of quotes. "The News lately has become more and more interesting for us Christians. If you have a news article you would like to share, Please let us see it!" has some errors, and should be, "The news lately has become more and more interesting for us Christians. If you have a news article you would like to share, please let us see it!" I'm curious if, "Do you know an awesome forum game you would like to play or anything else random? Try us out here!" should really say "try us out." Should it be "try it out" or something? Finally, "If you are having issues logging in or registering or have no clue why you was banned and want to know, please ask here! All new posts and topics are moderated. You do not need to register to post here!" should be, "If you are having issues logging in, registering, or have no clue why you was banned and want to know, please ask here! All new posts and topics are moderated. You do not need to register to post here! "
As far as professionalism, fix the index up, stop hiring staff, and fix the spelling errors, and I think that would take care of that.
(Scored 10/20)
Total Score - 57 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks: I really like the idea and look of your forum, but it needs some improvements.
What was most liked about the website/forums: The look and feel, the idea.
What was disliked most about the website/forums: The number of staff, index, spelling.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website? Fix what I've mentioned above and if I had more time in the day.
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]
