Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance
-Let me start off by saying I like the default forum theme. It looks like a more elaborate and jazzy version of the default PHP theme. Good improvements. I’m assuming you made it, looking at the copyright information.
-The banner and header are quite simple, maybe too much so. The color doesn’t seem to fit the rest of the forum. While it is still blue, I don’t think it matches the lighter blue very well. The banner could use something else to fill in the blank space, possibly with something that tells viewers what the forum is about. Sure, the text does that, but graphics speak louder than words.
-For the most part, I’m impressed so far. I like what you’ve done to make the forum look nice and it looks like you’ve put a lot of work into it.
(Score: 17/20)
Site Layout
-I notice a section dedicated to spending forum cash. There is no reason to have a points mod here. Points have nothing to do with the genre and it’s really just a distraction. You don’t offer anything original or worthwhile for cash, it’s more of a “well, I see this mod at a lot of promotion forums, so I better have it too.” It’s just a pointless mod to have.
-Other than that, the layout of the forum is pretty good. The genre-related sections are near the top and off topic sections are at the bottom. Nice work.
(Scored 15/20)
Statistics and Activity
-As a fairly established forum, as far as age goes, I was expecting more posts than this. The forum has been open almost six months, and you have less than 900 posts. I think there is some serious work that needs to be done.
-The lack of topics is a factor that you need to look at. Taking a look at the Operating System related sections, you would benefit from more than just a couple topics in each section. Topics are what bring new members and spark new conversations, so that will help your post count soar.
-I’d definitely hit some more promotion forums. Try any that you can find. Advertise at different times every day so that you will be hitting different kinds of people. Request packages, preferably topic packages, and do any exchanges that you can to get your post and topic counts up. Once you get the forum more active, you will be in good shape.
-Just remember, it only takes a few active members to keep activity stable. Try your friends, online and in real life, and people you know on promotion forums.
(Scored 12/20)
Staff Moderation
-The administrator, moderator, and development groups I understand, but the other two don’t make sense. I don’t think there is a need for a designer staff. You have a good looking forum already, and having five members on that team is ridiculous. It doesn’t help that they aren’t active. The marketing team is kind of useless. Just expect everyone on your staff to advertise the forum. It’s a group effort.
-I don’t see any major problems on the forum, so your staff must be doing a good job. Just make sure they are all active or promoting the forum, otherwise they are not worth keeping on the team.
(Scored 12/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism
-Under “General Tech”, change the description to “Discuss Phones, Ipods, Ipads or any cool gadgets you have come across!”
-Under “Games” and “General Off Topic”, make sure that only the first letter of the first word is capitalized.
-There are a few descriptions in which you forgot a period. Not good…
-While the forum is more or less professional, there are a few silly mistakes that stood out to me.
(Scored 13/20)
Total Score - 69/100
Final Remarks
Strong Points
-You have a good foundation. The forum looks nice and you have a decent staff team that should be able to spark some life into the forum.
Things to Improve
-Get some activity. I hope the suggestions I had will help you get some new members. If you have some PayPal money, try a topic contest.
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