Newbie Review

Greetings! As part of the Newbie Review package, you may choose two (2) of the following criteria for us to review. Please let us know which two criteria you would like us to review, and an editorial team staff member will process your review.

  • First Impressions
  • Number of Posts and Members
  • Activity Level
  • Site Structure
  • Design Quality
  • Originality
  • Spelling, Grammar & Professionalism
 
Your Basic Review is In Progress!​

Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread, and will finish an official basic review within at most 48 hours. In the meantime, you will receive informal feedback from other reviewers and members at Forum Promotion. Once your official basic review is completed, you will be free to ask questions and receive feedback so long as your website remains open. You will also be able to request a re-review 7 days after this Basic Review is completed.
 
I like the start you've made! Your favicon looks really cool, and I'm a huge fan of it. The design in general looks really good. iAndrew did a great job with your theme, as I've always seen him do in his design work. The only thing I'd like to point out to you is the Sponsored Links in the footer. Those just link back to your index page. You may want to have those point somewhere that users can buy the ad space, or perhaps just remove them until you can fill the space up.
 
John said:
I like the start you've made! Your favicon looks really cool, and I'm a huge fan of it. The design in general looks really good. iAndrew did a great job with your theme, as I've always seen him do in his design work. The only thing I'd like to point out to you is the Sponsored Links in the footer. Those just link back to your index page. You may want to have those point somewhere that users can buy the ad space, or perhaps just remove them until you can fill the space up.
Click to expand...

Thanks John! Will do! 🙂
 
what I like about it that you added an footer and not many new websites owners do that. I find that all websites should have footers with links as it's easy for anyone to get to a to b. And the theme is cool. doesn't put me off and easy to read the content
 
You have a good start to the forum. However, I personally was turned off by the fact regular users cannot use signatures to do a little bit of shameless promotion of their works or their websites. I was also turned off by the fact there is no option nor statement in the guides on account deletion. I would have stayed as a member if those two obstacles were not in the way. But, I wish you the best of luck.
 
Your reviewer has changed!​

Sorry for the inconvenience. A new reviewer has been assigned to this request.
This review will be completed within 48 hours of this new tag.
Thank you for your understanding.​
 

STRIKE'S REVIEW
​
Hi there, I thought, I would lend some advice and suggestions for your site. I hope you don't mind? I am Strike by the way. I believe we have conversed before. I will do my best to give you a review you would like!

Design

The best thing about your site is that is super clean, super fresh. It does follow design trends of a few years back but, that does not seem to affect how the site looks. All the colours have been carefully chosen and that balances out the overall look of the site.

The ranks are the only thing, I feel let the site down. I think flat ranks are what needed to go with the theme of your site. Just PM me if you want some help here

Content

There seems to be a great abundance of content with a wide range of scopes and fields, it makes the site very well versed and allows us as new users to know that your forum is the one for great IT help and support.

Teams

I love how you have seemed to split users into sections rather than having staff, I may be wrong about that but I think that showing which users specialties are is a cool and unique thing!

Overall

Well, I love your site, I feel quite at home and ready to join just from arriving on your site. I would look into team names being half in italic and others not. Other than that you have a very very cool site!
 
xanaftp said:
You have a good start to the forum. However, I personally was turned off by the fact regular users cannot use signatures to do a little bit of shameless promotion of their works or their websites. I was also turned off by the fact there is no option nor statement in the guides on account deletion. I would have stayed as a member if those two obstacles were not in the way. But, I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Signatures require 5 posts minimum for spam reasons. As it profiles are not allowed to be deleted due to accidental or rage deletion.

Strike said:
STRIKE'S REVIEW
​
Hi there, I thought, I would lend some advice and suggestions for your site. I hope you don't mind? I am Strike by the way. I believe we have conversed before. I will do my best to give you a review you would like!

Design

The best thing about your site is that is super clean, super fresh. It does follow design trends of a few years back but, that does not seem to affect how the site looks. All the colours have been carefully chosen and that balances out the overall look of the site.

The ranks are the only thing, I feel let the site down. I think flat ranks are what needed to go with the theme of your site. Just PM me if you want some help here

Content

There seems to be a great abundance of content with a wide range of scopes and fields, it makes the site very well versed and allows us as new users to know that your forum is the one for great IT help and support.

Teams

I love how you have seemed to split users into sections rather than having staff, I may be wrong about that but I think that showing which users specialties are is a cool and unique thing!

Overall

Well, I love your site, I feel quite at home and ready to join just from arriving on your site. I would look into team names being half in italic and others not. Other than that you have a very very cool site!
Click to expand...
I really appreciate it strike. I am trying to improve everyday. Thank you for the kinds words and review!
 
techheadsusa said:
As it profiles are not allowed to be deleted due to accidental or rage deletion.
Click to expand...

This is a big turn off for people like me. Websites that do not have the ability for people to delete their profiles can be compared to, say, a grocery store that locks you inside and forces you to buy their stuff. If a user does not want to be involved in a service, they should have the ability to leave... aka delete their account. Now, I get it, this leaves a huge moderation loophole open because say if I break the rules and then delete my account, I can just create a new one and have a clean record again. I work around this by having the best of both worlds:
  • Users who are in good standing may request to have their account deleted by staff (it is stated in our FAQ and on the profile edit screen).
  • Users who are not in good standing can have their account content wiped, but the account itself cannot be deleted as then all their disciplinary records would also get deleted.
  • Users who insist on having their account deleted but are in bad standing can have their account deleted, but they will be banned by username, IP, and email address to prevent them from re-registering to take advantage of the moderation loophole.
I feel a system like this is better than denying any user the ability to have their account deleted. Again, people like me get very mad and upset at websites that do not offer the ability to delete accounts (if it's allowed via staff contact, that should be clearly stated on the website) because it makes me feel like I'm being forced to use their service "forever" as soon as I sign up, whether I like it or not.
 
xanaftp said:
This is a big turn off for people like me. Websites that do not have the ability for people to delete their profiles can be compared to, say, a grocery store that locks you inside and forces you to buy their stuff. If a user does not want to be involved in a service, they should have the ability to leave... aka delete their account. Now, I get it, this leaves a huge moderation loophole open because say if I break the rules and then delete my account, I can just create a new one and have a clean record again. I work around this by having the best of both worlds:
  • Users who are in good standing may request to have their account deleted by staff (it is stated in our FAQ and on the profile edit screen).
  • Users who are not in good standing can have their account content wiped, but the account itself cannot be deleted as then all their disciplinary records would also get deleted.
  • Users who insist on having their account deleted but are in bad standing can have their account deleted, but they will be banned by username, IP, and email address to prevent them from re-registering to take advantage of the moderation loophole.
I feel a system like this is better than denying any user the ability to have their account deleted. Again, people like me get very mad and upset at websites that do not offer the ability to delete accounts (if it's allowed via staff contact, that should be clearly stated on the website) because it makes me feel like I'm being forced to use their service "forever" as soon as I sign up, whether I like it or not.
Click to expand...
I actually already have this in place. I just do not publicly advertise it due to the forum being so new. I will put it in the help section. Thank you for the feedback 🙂
 
Last edited:
I apologise for the delays.

Official Review of Tech Heads USA
http://techheadsusa.com/index.php
by Kaynil
​

first%20impressions.png
First Impressions:
The very first impression I got was that the community is pretty organised.
I didn't even realise that it was using MyBB because the skin is pretty smooth.

By the name I was expecting to find a community dealing with electronics like computers and mobiles and Tech Head USA sure delivers. You got well covered different angles that people might be interested in discussing when they heard the name of your place.

The forum seems young but with a firm base. No empty forums except the advertising area, which makes me wonder if there are some given rules before being able to use the zone. If that is the case perhaps adding a link to it in the board description or making a pinned thread with info and instructions for those interested in the zone can be of utility. The rules just say it is not permitted and staff need to be contacted for exceptions.

The rules in general could use a bit of formatting. Right now they are 21 items you read without any sort of break or theme. You are reading an item about post content, then moderation, then about your profile. This makes harder to the visitor to focus and absorb the information on one go. You could group together the items regarding moderation, content, etc to make it easier to read and come back later for a quick reference.

Excellent



originality%2016x16.png
Originality:
Technology orientated communities is not anything new under the sun they have been around for over 15 years and are still going. Some do it better than others and it can be dificult to find a unique spin that helps the community stand out, as it is right now and as well done as it looks, it is nothing extraordinarily unique I can point out as being unique to tech heads and no other tech community.

The theme is definitely original and really well suited so that extra effort is definitely something I cannot finish my review without bringing up. It makes the forum look unique and serious.

So while I have to mark Average for this section in terms of standing out I must make clear that I believe the site structure, content and forum in itself are being executed without trying to copy or depending on poor practices. To my knowledge this community is a genuine effort from the ground up and I really hope that keeps paying up.

Average



The thing I liked the best: The theme and site structure works very well.
The thing I liked the least: The apparent contradiction between rule 16 and a dedicated advertisement board.


Overall Mark:
3.5.png

I honestly think you are starting your community with the right foot, you seem to have made sure to take the extra steps and I can definitely see it growing into something nice if you can motivate people to join and stay active on it.​
 
Kaynil said:
I apologise for the delays.

Official Review of Tech Heads USA
http://techheadsusa.com/index.php
by Kaynil
​

first%20impressions.png
First Impressions:
The very first impression I got was that the community is pretty organised.
I didn't even realise that it was using MyBB because the skin is pretty smooth.

By the name I was expecting to find a community dealing with electronics like computers and mobiles and Tech Head USA sure delivers. You got well covered different angles that people might be interested in discussing when they heard the name of your place.

The forum seems young but with a firm base. No empty forums except the advertising area, which makes me wonder if there are some given rules before being able to use the zone. If that is the case perhaps adding a link to it in the board description or making a pinned thread with info and instructions for those interested in the zone can be of utility. The rules just say it is not permitted and staff need to be contacted for exceptions.

The rules in general could use a bit of formatting. Right now they are 21 items you read without any sort of break or theme. You are reading an item about post content, then moderation, then about your profile. This makes harder to the visitor to focus and absorb the information on one go. You could group together the items regarding moderation, content, etc to make it easier to read and come back later for a quick reference.

Excellent



originality%2016x16.png
Originality:
Technology orientated communities is not anything new under the sun they have been around for over 15 years and are still going. Some do it better than others and it can be dificult to find a unique spin that helps the community stand out, as it is right now and as well done as it looks, it is nothing extraordinarily unique I can point out as being unique to tech heads and no other tech community.

The theme is definitely original and really well suited so that extra effort is definitely something I cannot finish my review without bringing up. It makes the forum look unique and serious.

So while I have to mark Average for this section in terms of standing out I must make clear that I believe the site structure, content and forum in itself are being executed without trying to copy or depending on poor practices. To my knowledge this community is a genuine effort from the ground up and I really hope that keeps paying up.

Average



The thing I liked the best: The theme and site structure works very well.
The thing I liked the least: The apparent contradiction between rule 16 and a dedicated advertisement board.


Overall Mark:
3.5.png

I honestly think you are starting your community with the right foot, you seem to have made sure to take the extra steps and I can definitely see it growing into something nice if you can motivate people to join and stay active on it.​
Click to expand...
Thank you for the kinds words on the review. I do know that I have been trying to get to make rules for the advertisement board. I will really look into this today as we speak. Again thank you for the kind review and taking time out of your day.
 
Your Request has been Closed!​

Thank you for using the Forum Promotion review service. Your topic has been closed, as it has been inactive for two months. Feel free to create a new thread or if you prefer to keep this one, contact a Review Team Member. Either choice will cost 30 FP$.

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