[D]Major upgrades

[saberry]

How do you like it now?

New template, new logo, new mods.

Later today, or tomorrow, I'll also have up links to my cafepress store (http://www.cafepress.com/troublefreepool) as well as an amazon affiliate store.

 

[Ste]

Number of Members: 562 10/10 the forum has been open since the 27th march 07 and to have 562 members already is amazing!
Number of Active Members: 5/10 There is ALOT of people on your forum with 0-3 posts.
Number of Posts (spam or otherwise): 9/10 I wouldnt say any of the posts are spam.
Appearance (first impressions): 6/10 I dont really like that skin and that logo is doesnt match the skin in anyway.
Layout: 10/10 All the forums are arranged in a good way.
Moderation: 8/10 you have a good amount of moderators who do a good job.
Activity: Apart from lots of things about pools there isnt much to talk about you should add something like sport,tv and film etc.
Overall mark (out of 100): 60/100 Get all them users with 0 posts active , get a new logo and add some new forums.

 

[saberry]

I have to say, I'm open to constructive criticism, but your critique is way off base. I just had a logo contest and did a lot of refinement to the this logo to make it work with the new template - I have to disagree, I think it blends almost perfectly with the theme. The them is also new and has been well received. It's also the same theme that the fotm used last month - seems you liked it well enough then. Are you sure you and I are looking at the same site? The vista theme. Based on your own numbers, it should be closer to an 8.2 out of 10, even with the 6/10 for appearance. To each his own I guess but it doesn't seem like a balanced review - kind of takes away from the value of the site Fowler. How can you have 8,9, and 10 out of 10 and one 6/10 and an overall of 6 out of 10???

I have to agree with you about the posters though. This topic area tends to draw a lot of lurkers. The site is very content rich and people can often come and read and find their answers without posting. If they are having algae in their pool and find 6 threads on how to get rid of it, they don't have to post. I'm OK with that. I think that just sort of happens when you start to deal with large numbers of posts and people.

I may send out a mass e-mail soon letting people know about the changes on the site and see if that gets a few of them to come and get active.

I think a lot of those registered while I was still with FreeForums and had so much downtime, they may have given up on the site. Things have been fantastic with the new host though - hostgator.

Anyway, thanks...I guess. :roll:

 

[Ste]

Yes I am looking at the same site as you , its just I dont like that skin or logo.

 

[CyberFreak]

I won't do a full review as i really haven't got much time but i would give you about the same as efc2007 but i would maybe give a 7 out of 10 for the appearance and about 70-75 overall rating bearing in mind you do still have a 5/10 for numbers of active members. I thing i did notice is one of the mods you have installed. The registration anti-spam mod is very strange. It is quite lengthy and there are other mods that are just as good and which are less time-consuming to fill in. Also it is quite slow loading as-well which makes it worse.

Have you installed easy-mod for your forum? If you haven't i would look into it. It is very easy and quick to install mods and uploads files for you, edits files as-well.

EDIT: - Look here for a better Anti-bot mod which i have install on a test phpbb2 forum - HERE

 

[saberry]

Not that it matters, at this point, but there is a time and place for general chat and there is a time and a place for specific topics. My site draws members by dealing with a particular subject matter and that is my absolute focus.

However, there are plenty of areas for general chit chat - examples:

Backyard Oasis (26 topics, and 271 posts) - Outdoor kitchens, BBQ'n, outdoor speakers and lighting, landscaping - anything that makes your backyard more enjoyable.

Intorduce Yourself (46 topics, 326 posts) - If you are new to the forum or just want to let people know a little bit about YOU, go right ahead.

The Coffee Bar (39 topics, 294 posts) - Chat about any non-pool related topics here

I'd call those pretty strong NON pool related numbers.

I don't care about the review, just pointing out all the things you apparently totally overlooked with my site.

Later.

 

[Ste]

I did look at them but if I went on a forum I would not like to talk outdoor kitchens etc I know there are people out there who might like that but I meant maybye add categorys like sport , tv and films and music etc then there will be MORE to talk about.

 

[CyberFreak]

saberry all we are doing is saying what WE think... You and other people might view your site differently. 🙂

 

[saberry]

I did look at them but if I went on a forum I would not like to talk outdoor kitchens etc I know there are people out there who might like that but I meant maybye add categorys like sport , tv and films and music etc then there will be MORE to talk about.

No problem guys. I know this is all opinion based. Mine just differs from yours. In order to implement some of your suggestions, I would have to greatly diverge from what I have been doing and what I feel like, has made my site so successful in such a short time about 9 weeks.

I think adding areas for tv and sports would make it...well, just like a whole lot of other sites struggeling to get members.

Still, your opinions have to be representative of some group of people and that may be a group I have overlooked. Just curious, are either of you home / perhaps, pool owners? Just wondering if your views are typical of my target audience.

Thanks again.

 

[saberry]

New logo and banner as of today. I think this one is a keeper. Hit a new high today too. 62 users online at one time. woo hoo!