Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
When first opening the forum, the banner is what shouted out at me "Harry Potter", which, is pretty much the objective. And, even without the banner, you can still tell it's HP-related.
The color scheme is alright, and I like how you have a small selection of themes to choose from. Though, I'd suggest maybe making more on your own/downloading more custom ones, instead of VB Silver, etc.
(Scored 15/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
When viewing the portal, the first thing that I dislike is how it shows all the news posted. It seems a bit cluttered, or, maybe too big? If possible, decrease the size of the posts that show on the portal. Honestly, though, I'd suggest removing the news being shown. As a guest, I do not really care for the news of the forum, I just want to see if the forum is worth joining.
On the portal still, I don't see a need for "Current Polls". I understand it's to let your members know of something interesting, but you also have to remember that you're trying to attract guests to register, so your member's needs aren't the only thing needed satisfied.
The categories and boards have a nice layout, however, I would put the "Castle Grounds" and "Gobstones Club" in their own
Off-Topic section. That can either be a new category, or just an "Off-Topic" board with Gobstones Club and Castle Grounds as sub-boards.
(Scored 13/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
You have 100 members, and over 6K posts. Now, most of your members appear to be pretty active. There are 2 members with more posts than you, which is a good thing, as it means you have really dedicated members.
(Scored 18/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
Aside from you, there is 4 staff members. That is a bit more than should be needed. If anything, an admin and one, or two mods. One of the staff seems to be a teacher..dunno why that would require being called forum staff.
Out of all of your staff, Trixie seems to be the only active one. One of them, hasn't been on since March. I would remove inactive staff, as dead staff can be unappealing.
(Scored 11/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
Just about everywhere on your forum (even the registration page), there's HP terms. For someone like me, who's never had an interest in HP (no offense), I'm confused by some of the terms. Such as scrolls. At first, I was confused as to why threads were called that, but thinking more about it, I understood it.
You seem to have very good grammar, which is a major plus. However, I did find a few minor things.
For "The Dungeon" -
This is the place where you can spam your heart out, don't break the forum rules though. Post Count is disabled - I would add a comma after rules. I'd also add a period after heart, so it's
This is the place where you can spam your heart out. Don't break the forum rules, though.
For "The Entrance Hall" -
Welcome to Hogwarts! If you're new here, coming, going, leaving or anything at all, then please let us know so we can all say Hello! - I'd add a comma after leaving.
(Scored 16/20)
Total Score - 73(Out of 100)
Final Remarks: Pretty good, active forum.
What was most liked about the website/forums: How good activity was/how active the members were.
What was disliked most about the website/forums:
The cluttered portal.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website?
I'm not a HP fan, sorry.
🙁
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