Dashing
Review by Geoffrey
First Impressions
First of all, I really like the color scheme of the default theme and I think the blue and green work well together. I'm really fond of the colors it's pretty unique to use together, you don't see it very often. The music note in the logo makes me think this is primarily a music forum, but the layout does not give that same impression (nor does the background constellation in the header). I suggest using something more neutral for the dot on the "i" in your logo, or something that represents more of your main focus (which appears to be gaming based on your layout). I'll cover the rest in the other sections, so I won't bother repeating myself here.
Good
Design Quality
As mentioned, I really like your color scheme on your default theme. Your green navigation bar (that shows where you are on the forum) seems to be a little too tall for the text size, so either make the text a bit larger or shorten that bar. Shortening it might be best. The theme does seem a bit plain, aside from the header, but I wouldn't say that is necessarily a bad thing (just an odd thing and something that stands out). Also, I noticed you either don't have a favicon or what you have isn't loading as I'm seeing the white paper icon that is default for sites without an icon. Definitely add one of those to make your site stand out for people that bookmark it have multiple tabs open.
Good
Site Statistics
You currently have a bit over 30,000 posts and 580 members. I would say this is pretty good, though I'd imagine a good few of those members aren't that active which makes your stats even better. When judging stats and activity though, I like to look at how frequently posts are made in each forum section rather than overall board stats since that is a better reflection of current stats. There are 3 forums on the entire index that haven't had posts in them either yesterday or today, but several that were last posted in yesterday rather than today. Make sure you stay on top of posting in each section to maintain activity consistently across the board.
Excellent
Staff Professionalism
Two admins and two super moderators is a good balance to have for any forum that's discussion based as yours is, so I'd say you are good there. I looked through each of your staff team's recent posts and noticed there is a lax posting style for both super mods, though you and your fellow admin are fine. The two super mods didn't seem to spell out words all the way, capitalize letters at the start of a sentence, etc. and while you may not care, I can certainly see some members being turned away by that if they expect staff to post a bit more professionally around the forum. Other than that, I didn't notice any outstanding issues in this section.
Good
Originality
You seem to be covering a lot of different topics/niches into one, so I would classify your forum as a general chat or perhaps general entertainment forum, since you do have specific focuses and not just topics about life and general interests. I applaud for that, as it helps to stand out from more broad general chat forums. You've given your forum a focus, or more like several focuses, so your members and more importantly guests know what to expect from your community and they know what your community is interested in. And as I said, I think the color scheme on the default theme is more original than most so you've done a great job there as well.
Excellent
Site Structure
You've got a good layout, categories aren't too big or too small and they're presented in a logical order. I did notice on your staff page that super mods are listed before administrators. I know this is a default order for your forum software, but if possible, try to move admins above super mods. I thought I was looking at an admin's profile at first before I realized the heading said differently.
Good
Grammar & Spelling
The main thing I look at for good grammar and spelling is the forum names and descriptions. I think overall they are good, and I didn't notice many issues, but I did see that you use a lot of comma splices (breaking up sentences with a comma) when it wasn't necessary. Using commas for lists is great but it's not necessary to use a comma all the time.. It just makes the description/sentence choppy and harder to read. Consider revising those descriptions to cut down on some of those comma splices.
Good
Final Remarks
Overall, Dashing seems to be a great forum and doing quite well in terms of activity. You've got a solid theme with a few minor tweaks necessary. Honestly, the most important change I've mentioned would probably be adding a favicon. Of course, the rest would be great to change as well but you do have a great forum and you should be proud of it. Great job!
Your Score
