Languavel
Review by Geoffrey
First Impressions
Since you gave your link in the OP as forum.languavel.com, I'll be reviewing that link and not your homepage linked in your signature. When I first land on the forum index, I like what I see. You've got a fitting (custom) theme that works well color wise. The colors of the header and category headings are easy on the eyes and look nice. The background is fitting for your niche but isn't too distracting. Too many forums use photo backgrounds that slow down the forum or distract from the board's content, but you've done well in this. I'll stop with first impressions there, since I'll cover the rest in your other sections. Good job!
Excellent
Design Quality
As I mentioned, I really like the design of your forum. It's custom and unique to your forum, so that's definitely a plus for you to help you stand out. The main part of your board (with the forum sections and two sidebars) being off center is a little distracting and unordinary, but I see why you did it so you can show off more of your background photo which makes sense. If possible, maybe condense down to one sidebar instead of two so you can center the layout and still show your background enough? It's not a huge issue though, so overall your design is good.
Good
Site Statistics
You have 63 members and 3,258 posts (in 680 threads). This is pretty good, but seeing as you've been for a few months now, I'd like to see a bit more. On the plus side though, your posts are pretty evenly spread out across your forum sections so it's nice to see that your off topic sections aren't getting all the love. You seem to have a community that truly does like discussing other countries and travel, which is great. Definitely keep that up and continue focusing on content in those niche areas! On the negative side, however, only four of the several forums on your index have been posted in today or yesterday. This doesn't look so hot to guests or even returning members, as it makes your forum look inactive and doesn't encourage people to post (since they will assume they won't get a reply to any post they make). As an admin, you should focus on posting in this less active forums and have your staff team do the same.
Average
Staff Professionalism
Looking around your forum, I can't seem to find your staff list. If you have one somewhere, it's not clear where it's at or linked at. If you don't have one, definitely add one - either in a topic or a forum webpage. It's nice to know who your staff members are and who your other admins are in case you aren't online or someone doesn't feel comfortable contacting the root admin (it does happen...). Looking at the staff posts and guidelines topics I could find, I didn't see any problems with professionalism though and you personally seem to be very professional on the board. Just work on showing your staff team and adding a staff page.
Good
Originality
Your forum is definitely original, I can't say I've seen many other forums based around your niche. Although I have seen a few over the years, few have been laid out as neatly and have lasted as long with as much activity as you seem to have. I have no complaints here, it's refreshing to see a site that gets an "excellent" in the originality category!
😀
Excellent
Site Structure
Overall, your site structure works and fits well with your niche. However, there are a few forum changes I'd suggest making. First, in your travel category, some of those forums can be combined to make them more active and save space on the index. Primarily, I would combine Family and Business Travel. I would also do something with Trip Tips, Living/Studying Abroad and Gadgets/Gizmos - either make them sub forums of another forum or combine them in some way. They aren't the most active and don't really need to be on the index in my opinion. Down in the Lounge category, you should also look into combining some of those or at least making some sub forums of other forums to save space. This is an off topic category not related to your niche so it doesn't really need to be as big as your other categories.
Good
Grammar & Spelling
As a forum dedicated to language, I would expect to find few, if any, errors on your forum. Fortunately, that is the case here. I don't see any glaring mistakes in your descriptions, posts, etc. (not including other member posts since you have little control over that). My one complaint is the use of ALL CAPS words in your forum description. I know you're doing it to make those words stand out, but it can come off as obnoxious or yelling to some people and isn't necessary. Use
bold or other HTML mark up to emphasize those capitalized words rather than caps locking them.
Good
Final Remarks
I think you have a great forum here with a lot of potential. Work on some minor things that are likely just oversights as well as your general activity from day to day and you've got a fabulous forum here. Well done!
Your Score
