Social Hut
Full Review by pandaa
Scoring:
First Impressions & Appearance – (11 out of 20)
I'm a big fan of the look of IPB, I've said this before. Overall, your site has a really refreshing color scheme. That's a huge plus. I also really enjoy the use of some of the latest CSS/HTML techniques, like the frequent use of shadows and bordering. However, there are a few things that I would prefer to be changed. The first thing I see when I load the site is a banner that says "Advertise Here." I think that really degrades the overall value of your website. I like money as much as the next guy, but as a new owner, I really would not suggest adding ads as one of your first actions. More than that, the placeholder ad you have isn't exactly visually appealing. The font is too big compared to other things on the site. So, if you're stuck on remaining with ads, then I would recommend finding a new placeholder. Try looking at ones used by sites such as BuySellAds or PublicityClerks. Just a few other things worth mentioning. I think that the text that says "Sign In" has too strong of a shadow. Reducing it to 0.15 or 0.1 would make it look much better. And strongly consider getting a logo. The text logo always will work, but it would look a lot better having a Photoshopped image. I'll get into this more in the next section, but there is a lot of content above the actual forum related content on your index, so I would look into reducing the clutter a little bit. As I said, the next section will go into specifics, but overall, you're on the right track as far as appearance goes.
Site Layout – (13 out of 20)
The layout of the actual forum is great.The only thing I would recommend in that area is to remove the "Admin Zone." It doesn't fit with your site at all, and it won't really help you out in the long run. Other than that, the number of subforums you have is almost perfect, and they are in the right order. The Lounge is obviously the most active, which isn't really a problem on a general chat site. You want your users to feel at home, and if they feel like they can talk about anything, they will. But, I really am not a fan of the section below the header. I don't see a need to show the avatars of over 50 people right off the bat. And as far as the "Recently discussed forum topics" section, I would suggest removing that. Sure, it's a good summary, but it doesn't let people get directly involved with the forum. I could see how a viewer would just go straight to that section, and not even look past there. Once that's removed, your visitors will be interacting with content from the moment they load the page, instead of having all of those things to distract them. The only other thing I don't like is the text adverts. They confuse me a little bit, and I don't see what purpose they have. Maybe I'm just missing the point. Always try to strive for practicality. A simple, easy to use site will prosper far more than a site that offers a lot of small perks.
Statistics and Activity – (9 out of 20)
Your statistics are not bad upon a first glance. 32,939 posts, 121 members. However, upon further investigation, I really get the feeling that Social Hut has been pretty inactive for awhile. I know you're the new owner, and probably have plans to change that, but these points are still valid. If you look at the Most Online stat, it is 17 members. That's out of 121, or less than 15% of your member base. So what that tells me is that a lot of people aren't finding what they're looking for, and not returning to your forum. As for those online today, you're down to four members; three of which are staff members. This needs to be changed. It's really tough to advertise a general chat forum, but with enough effort, it will definitely be possible. When you look at the content, it's refreshing to see that a lot of it is from different members, including staff. However, it's not that recent. New content is what I would prescribe. I sound like a broken record, but strive for one new thread a day. Just one. Write down your ideas. Pretend that your forum is like a plant. Every day, it needs water. You can't just give it a lot of water one day and hope that it'll be good for the next week. The constant flow of activity from you, and iPhonefreak (if he's going to remain admin), will help breathe life back in Social Hut. As a side note, make sure topics are going in the correct subforum. A lot of the topics that are in the lounge could belong in a different section, which would definitely help make you appear more active.
Content – (14 out of 20)
There's not too much to say here, so I apologize if this section is rather short. In a general niche, the content is whatever you want it to be. I see a wide variety of topics, which is excellent. Keep that up, go with any topics you think of. The more personal and interactive your topics are, the better. As I suggested above, the only thing that needed to be improved is the amount of content. One of your sections, "Literary Luminary" seems to be a little weak. Try to bolster it a little bit. I don't think it's empty enough to be merged, but it might need some special attention.
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism – (17 out of 20)
Once again, I only have a few suggestions for you. Overall, it seems that you have paid a lot of attention to maintaining a professional site. Your posts aren't of low quality, and everything is typed in the correct case, with almost no spelling errors. Just a few I've noticed though. Under Technology, the description reads "Talk about all sorts
if tech!" Obviously that should be "of." Easy thing to overlook. And under "Music and Movies" the descriptions reads "Discuss that chick
flik or that new hot album!". That should actually say "flick." Other than those two typos, I really can't find anything else that needs to be fixed! Well done, 17 is a pretty high score, and I'm glad to award it to someone who has put significant effort into treating their site with the respect it deserves.
Total Score - (64 out of 100)
Final Remarks:
Your site is one of the nicer ones that I've had the opportunity to review. Pay close attention to the layout, and make sure you're putting a lot of time and effort into new content. With those minor changes, you could easily bump up your rating and activity. Best of luck in the weeks to come, congratulations on the new ownership, by the way!
🙂
Strengths:
- - Professionalism.
- Design/color scheme.
Weaknesses:
- - Lack of new content/activity.
- Cluttered layout, in spots.
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