Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
Your forum has a very unique look, and I like it. It reminds me of a vBulletin forum with the color and layout. One thing that really impressed me was the custom icons. They go with your forum very well, and they make it feel custom. One thing that wasn’t too great to me was your logo. Specifically, the “unofficial” text. The letters look very jagged, and the shadow messes up the feel of it. I think that should be adjusted. I also like that your have different choices of skins (although they’re all blue), for people who may not like the default one. They all have the custom icons. One thing I think you could use would be a favicon. You don’t seem to have one.
(Scored 18/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
One thing I have to point out right now is, what is up with your URL? I don’t get how “http://www.nlarcade.com/” has anything to do with Rock Band. I think you should get a URL that relates to your forum. I do really like that your forum is fluid. I cannot stand fixed-width skins, they drive me insane. As far as your layout, you said you were looking for pointers, so I have a few:
- You have a Guitar Hero forum in the Recording Studio category. Perhaps you should move the “Other music games” forum to that category? It seems more appropriate there.
- I don’t like it when forums with a specific topic (yours being Rock Band) have a bunch of off-topic boards. I think it would be perfect if you removed the subforums of the Gamerz Unite! board, and left it as-is. That would cut down on the number of off-topic boards.
- A sig-request board seems odd on a Rock Band forum. It would be different if your forum was like a graphic design or promotion forum, but there’s no real point in it on a forum like yours. (And it doesn’t seem to be used much, anyway.)
(Scored 15/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
This relates to SEO, so I think this would be the section to put it in. I like the way your URLs are structured. They’re very friendly for search engines. (ex.
http://www.nlarcade.com/forum/Forum-Raw-Talent) You opened around December 1st. That’s about 3 months time. For that amount of time, you have about 1K posts. It’s OK, but not great. Usually a forum should get a flow of 1,000 posts/month. I understand your forum is still new, so I think you will improve. You seem to have a lot of members joining up, so that’s good. Just keep on promoting, and you’ll get better.
(Scored 18/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)You have 2 admins and 1 moderator. That is a good amount. It’s not too much. However, your main administrator seems to have been away for a week. Admins should usually be active more than that. Also, “Jerlene” has only posted one total thread. I don’t get that. You and your mod are very active, however. One thing I saw some staff doing that I didn’t really like is they copy and pasted welcome messages for people. That’s unprofessional, and people don’t feel as welcomed if they know 20 other people have gotten the same post.
(Scored 16/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
I did notice a few very minor errors:
“Discuss the Rock Band Series. This is basically the general Rock Band Discussion forum. This can also include less prevalent games such as Lego Rock Band, Rock Band Unplugged, and the Mobile games.” should be, “Discuss the Rock Band series. This is basically the general Rock Band discussion forum. This can also include less prevalent games such as Lego Rock Band, Rock Band Unplugged, and the Mobile games.
“Discuss the instruments and its techniques played in Rock Band. This could include talking about premium instruments or other whatnot.” should be, “Discuss the instruments, and its techniques, played in Rock Band. This could include talking about premium instruments or other whatnot.
“Discuss anything about sports, whether it be something you play, or any of the major professional leagues. While you're here, why not share a free beer while you're here?” should be, “Discuss anything about sports, whether it be something you play, or any of the major professional leagues. While you're here, why not share a free beer?”
(Scored 18/20)
Total Score - 85 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks: I really did enjoy your forum.
What was most liked about the website/forums: Appearance
What was disliked most about the website/forums: Staff
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website? Nothing would stop me.
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]
.
