Quick Review For Discussion Dog
- Thread starter David S
- Start date
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Discussion Dog
Quick Review by phio_chan
Quick Review by phio_chan
Analysis:
Strength:- Decent content variation.
I think this is currently the best aspect of the forum so far. I will touch about the organization of the content later, but at least the threads are quite varied and cover a wide range of topics for a general discussion forum. It can definitely be improved on, for example there is one section with completely no posts at all. Branch out and add more content should hopefully help to raise more interest from visitors and members.
Weaknesses:- Theme hurts the eyes!
Let us start from the very first point of appearance. I am personally a fan of dark themes as it is easier on my eyes, but this is an example of how dark themes can go wrong too. From the index page, one serious problem is the navigation bar. The size is very small and the text becomes very hard to read. For those who are used to using forums this may not be a grave problem, but for new users it can be hard for them to find menu or links they need to use. The problem continues when I click on a thread to read (for example this thread). Text becomes so hard to read, especially in quotes. With such a dark background, dark colors such as black or gray should not be used as it makes reading twice harder than usual. This could potentially make members or visitors lazy to read around, so I believe this needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Other than that, for a more general suggestion, the elements of the theme do not complement each other yet. For example, tThere is no custom banner for the forum; it still uses the standard "Forumotion.com" banner/logo. Being hosted in Forumotion I can understand the limitations you may have in regards to modifying the themes, but I believe there are better themes to use out there which can help to make browsing easier for everyone. - Is enabling guest posting a wise choice?
This point can be debatable between administrators/webmasters, so I'm addressing this point more as another point of view instead of a weakness of the forum. Usually forum administrators are against the idea of allowing guest posting. Mainly because that makes registration a useless tool since they can write a reply even as a guest. Not bound by an account, can stay anonymous, and can hardly be tracked. For the forum itself, the activity may become dependent on the rate/frequency of guest posting which cause lack of registered users. Other than that, there are other problems such as possibility of high level of spam posts from spam bots as they can even post without registering an account. Those explanations are considered counterproductive and harmful to forums. I do not know the reason you enabled guest posting, but I would advise to reconsider this decision. - Disorganized layout and content.
As much as the forum has quite a decent content variation, the organization is rather confusing and probably out of place. I was wondering why the forum had stand-alone categories for gaming and sports. Gaming sections are more alive compared to sports one, though. Being a general discussion forum, while it could be a great idea to dive deeper into various topics, it would be wiser to start focused and simple first. Branching out can be done once the forum has established steady activity, especially in those specific topics. I notice some thread duplications, such as this and this thread. I also do not commend this kind of discussion. It is very unproductive and not healthy. Instead of saying like and dislike only, you could elaborate more why you like or dislike it, which series made you think so, and so on.
Final Remarks:
It looks like Discussion Dog has been around for some time now. There are still components to be worked on to provide better discussion environment, especially in this fierce niche. At its current condition things do not look so good, so I hope my opinions above can help to push the forum to a better situation. The forum needs serious and all-out "attack" from the administrators and staff members so give it your all and do not hesitate to try new things to make the forum unique. Good luck!
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You can make a new review request again on 3 June 2014.
Thank you for using the Forum Promotion Review Service. Since you requested a review under Free Service Weekend, no FP cash will be deducted. If you would like to give feedback on our services after reading your review, you may do so by clicking here!
You can make a new review request again on 3 June 2014.
David Smith said:
I see, thank you for clarifying. However, I recently visited the forum again and I could make a new topic without registering or logging in. The permissions said I could even make a reply although I could not find where the reply button is.
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