Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
What immediatley strikes me about your fourm is the XenForo software.It's one of the few forums I've seen with it live and it looks amazing. It's definatley a good thing for your. I understand that XenForo is new, and that there isn't a whole lot of themes to choose from, but either way your theme is a bit bland. It could definatley use a bit of a
jazz up. I don't know who XenForo styles work, but maybe extending your stripey header background down the length of the theme would look a lot better. Your logo is nice, but it doesn't look very professional. I also think the V2.0 on your logo is very unesscery. It could blend in with your theme more.
The TaskBar along the right hand side of your forum is very nifty and handy. I relly like it, and while it's default to XenForo, it's still a very nice feature. The colour of the text could be a little hard to read for some people. For me, it's a little light but I can still make out what it says. I would recommened making it a shade or two darker. Also, your New/Old or One/Off icons (whatever you call them) are very bland and un professional. Maybe getting an AF, or AF.org button would look a lot better. I would suggest doing it in colours to match your theme's background. The forums title, "AdminForums :: Website Development And Discussion Forum" is very long and could be shortened just to "Admin Forums". Adding a FavIcon would also be a good move for your forum.
(Scored 17/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
You have a good amount of boards for a site your size. You have all the important ones up the top which is always good to see. I think your Main Catehory could be split into to, one category for Webmaster Discussion, Coding and Websites, and another for Graphics and your exchanges and marketplace boards. The Archive board is unessceray I think. If you want one, it shouldn't be viewable to guests. It states in the board description that it's for threads that break the TOS. If a thread breaks the TOS, then why are you showing it to members and guests of your forum? This doesn't really make sense. The Jokes and Humor board could be merged as a sub board to general discussion, and I think another discussion board for Media/Technology.
Your board descriptions are all good and clearly describe the board that they are for. Some of them are a bit long and stretch the board a little bit, so I suggest shortening those ones. Mainly Marketplace, News/Updates and the Archive. I really don't like the RSS button in each forum category. Maybe have a seperate page that has links to each of the RSS Feeds. I think it would look better and much more professional. Again, the Latest Post in each board could be made a shade or two darker as it is a bit hard to read.
(Scored 18/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
10 000+ posts, 1000+ members and 1000+ topics is good for any forum. I couldn't find a topic that announced an opening, but the Admin account was registed on the 24th October 2010, so I'm going to assume it was around that time. 10 000 posts in less than 4 months is good, but I would have expected more. I've seen forums hit upwards of 5000 within a few days of opening. I see that you had a change of software, there for the date my not be accurate, sorry. Your statistics equate to about 10 posts and 1 thread per member. That's not a whole lot when you look at your post count. A lot of your members seem to register, and leave, maybe making a few posts. You need something to draw your members back. Your small group of active members are good. Maybe consider a long term post exchange or something that will keep activity up.
Each of your boards, bar your announcments boards have over 1000 posts and a few topics which is great to see. Some boarsa like the Job board and the market place barley have 100 posts. Try to bring up activity in those boards and the others that only have a hundred or two posts.
(Scored 16/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
From what I can see, there are two staff members. Yourself and a Super Moderator. I would have though another one or two for a forum your size, but you two seem to be managing it. Your other staff member seems very inactive. She has less than 50 posts and doesn't seem to do a whole lot. While I was browsing the Members page, I noticed that she's not even on the Top Posters list. What makes it worse is that there are members with the rank "New Member" who have more posts than her. She appears as an inactive staff member which isn't god for any forum. I suggest you either hire another staff member, or tell her to pic up her game as it looks very unprofessional.
The moderation seems good. I couldn't really find a lot but from that I did find, it's all very good and handled professionaly which is always great to see. You seem to be doing the bulk of it though.
(Scored 16/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
Change "Anything new to AF will be announced here, also check back regularly for updates and possible job applications that may be available." to "Anything new to AF will be announced here, also check back regularly for updates and possible job positions that may become available."
Change "Just signed up? post a topic to let everyone know that you have arrived and get welcomed by our existing community." to "Just signed up? Post a topic to let everyone know that you have arrived and get welcomed by our existing community."
Change "Want other members to see your site? then post it here and see what they think about it and maybe gain a few new members" to "Want other members to see your site? Then post it here and see what they think about it and maybe gain a few new members."
Change "Discuss how to get your site out there and any seo tips and tricks, you can also discuss monetizing techniques such as adsense here." to "Discuss how to get your site out there and any SEO tips and tricks, you can also discuss monetizing techniques such as adsense here."
Change "Need help with some coding issues? or want to discuss a script or forum software then come inside and seek help or find the latest news on scripts/software." to "Need help with some coding issues? Or want to discuss a script or forum software then come inside and seek help or find the latest news on scripts/software".
Change "Are you a graphics designer? if looking for tips, or want to show off your designs and get feedback, this is the forum for you" to "Are you a graphics designer? If looking for tips, or want to show off your designs and get feedback, this is the forum for you"
These are all from your first 7 Board Descriptions. I would suggest doing a through spell check of your entire forum. Your professionalism is okay, but can be worked on.
(Scored 14/20)
Total Score - 81 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks:
What was most liked about the website/forums: The Software, side toolbar and header background.
What was disliked most about the website/forums: The spelling errors and ratio of members to posts topics, and active staff members.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website? Improve on everything that I have suggested.
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]
.
