Before anything else, I would like to apologize for how late this review is. My real life has been crazy lately between family stuff and other things. I hope that you understand.
First Impressions: (6 out of 10)
At first glance, I like the overall look and feel of the forum. The design is unique and bold with few flaws. It has a lot of potential, in my opinion. However, the recent lack of activity concerns me.
Number of Posts & Members: (2 out of 10)
For as long as the forum has been open, the number of posts and members is extremely low. The site should have a least a six figure number for posts, and several hundred members, at two years old. I highly recommend advertising by making use of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Almost all social media platforms allow the use of #hashtags which does help advertise when making posts. If you post a picture of something on your site and use #hashtags related to your site's content, it'll show up for people when they are looking for it. So, if you put #pokemon, anyone who searches for Pokemon or #pokemon, will likely find your post and the link to your site. #Hashtags work exceptionally well on the three social media sites I mentioned previously.
In addition to hashtags, there are a ton of groups and pages on Facebook for Pokémon fans. That said, utilize them. Join the groups and like the pages. Read each group's or page's rules. Many of them will allow advertising one time a day or one time a week. From experience, posting ads on pages or groups related to a niche will help you gain new members. Then, the content will come flying in.
Activity Level: (2 out of 10)
The forum doesn't seem very active. There are some days where there are several posts. Then, there are other days where there's no content added to the forum. As a forum owner, you need to make sure you are creating content on a daily basis. Doing so will help members and potential members have content they can contribute to.
Several of the forum's boards haven't been posted in since "yesterday" or on a specific date. Those boards need the most attention, in my opinion. I don't know enough about Pokemon to help with that. But, as an admin, it's your responsibility to ensure that is remedied.
I'm not sure if you've tried lately as at this point I've not looked into recent announcements yet, but you should try a posting contest or something similar to increase the activity of the site. Set up a contest of sorts and send out a mass email to all your members (and a private message) letting them know about it. Hopefully, that will help bring more activity to your site.
Alternatively, you could send out a newsletter once a month via email to all of your members. In it, be as descriptive as possible about anything major. Update the members on important threads, welcome new members by name, and maybe even recognize a specific member for their recent contributes. If done right and not spammed every week, Newsletters do work.
Site Structure: (20 out of 20)
The site's structure is where I started to get impressed with the forum. Everything is easy to navigate. I love the overall structure of the homepage and the forum list. Honestly, I have no recommendations or suggestions related to the Site Structure.
Design Quality: (14 out of 20)
Overall, I find the design of the forum to be bold and unique. There are two things I want to touch base on, however. First, the logo. I love the overall design of the logo. That said, I think the text needs to "pop" way more. The way it is right now, it blends into the logo/banner design way too much, and it isn't very noticeable or easy to read. Maybe try a white colored font, instead of the gradient yellow/gold.
The other issue I have is more of a pet peeve than anything else. On the forum list page, where all the forums are displayed, you have the name of each board. Underneath each board's name, you have a small graphic. I think that is unique and original. That said, it's repetitive. There is no reason to include the name of a board twice. I think the text should be removed from each of the small graphics.
Originality: (7 out of 15)
Pokémon is such a popular topic for a forum. Aside from the design and layout of the forum, I don't see anything that stands out and is original about yours compared to others like it. I feel like the site would do better if it focused on just a few specific Pokémon games instead of a whole bunch of them. With the name of your site, Pokémon Trainer, maybe you could focus on training Pokémon for specific one or two specific games as opposed to openly discussing them all. Just a thought.
Spelling, Grammar & Professionalism: (7 out of 15)
Spelling and Grammar could use a little work, especially when posting an announcement or competition. That said, I didn't catch very many important errors. I did see a few poor word choices in the Giveaway post. For example, you cannot "write" on a computer. Simply, you "type." There were a few others as well, but they aren't as obvious unless you are specifically looking for them.
The professionalism of the staff seems to be okay, but not perfect. When interacting with members of your forum, you need to ensure that you continue to use the correct spelling and grammar as well as remain professional when posting. Specifically, any replies to any threads in the support forum.
Thing you liked best about forum: I love the overall all design and structure of the forum.
Thing you liked least about forum: The lack of activity and cluster of various boards turns me away.
Overall Mark: (58 out of 100)
Overall, I think Pokémon Trainer could have a lot of potential as a major Pokémon discussion forum. I wish you the best of luck with your forum and look forward to taking a look at it again after some of my suggestions (if any) are implemented.
