Pre-Launch Review
Site Name: ESGN Pro
Site Type: Gaming
Age: Less than a month (11 days as of now)
Appearance
I thought the appearance of the forum was actually really good. The colors seem to fit well overall and I really do like the changing header-- its very attractive in that way. The logo of it is nice too. Since you've bought a .com domain, i'd highly suggest getting a favicon to go with your forum, most likely some combination of green and black since that seems to be the main color scheme. Other than that, this factor is pretty good, you used IPB very well in this case.
Layout
The amount of the forums is ok, but I'd think of either adding more topics related to gaming or condesing some to make them less specific. Plus, I found it a little odd, though this is optional, that the general forums appear first then the actual topic of the forum's categories appear at the bottom. It just seems more traditional to have your topic's categories appear first under the whole "News" section, and
then have the general off-topic forums beneath it. Also, this being the most difficulty of the layout of the forum--I had absolutely no idea to find the login button! And when I logged in (I had to through clicking the "members" link...), then there's the question of finding the logout button! It's clearly not easy to find at all so I would highly suggest adding some quick login feature so it is a whole lot more obvious and easier on the guest. I was however able to find the "register" button through the help link, but this needs to be placed easier as well.
First Impressions and Interest
At first impression, it did interest me a little. It was easy to identify the topic of the forum, which is gaming, and the effects used reflected that throughout the forum. What kind of ticked me off and really lowered that interest was again finding the login button/link. Moreover, try to bring more out of the forum in general. Make it stand out from all the other thousands (potentially) of gaming forums out there! I also like the Facebook like feature, and interested me that the page did get a good amount of likes already. At this point, I'd grade this at around a B.
Content
This is pretty good at a glance, but a bit of repetition is there. There needs to be a larger array of topics-- in short, more threads the better. In essence, threads are more valuable than posts. So, try to create more discussion and this will help a lot. Also, there are some periodic typos in some places of your forum. For example, in your slogan you actually used the wrong word for "its" (supposed to be "Gaming At Its Highest", not "it's") and under hot forums you misspelled "Introduction" ("Intorduction"?). Just a couple of small typographical errors to be fixed and you're pretty much all set!
Words from the Reviewer
So far, it's good at first glance. Just needs a considerable amount of work in the professional sense. It's off to a good start and I can definitely see the forum growing in the future, just be sure to maintain it well and always keep the people interested! It has great potential with not only the software you're using, but with the creativity you can lend it. Wish it well, and all the best to your forum!
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