Sorry it has taken me so long to get around to this review! Things have been a bit crazy lately.
Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
The first thing I notice is that your header is set up a little awkwardly. Since your logo already has your forum's name on it, I would recommend taking away the text name and description in your header. I would also recommend centering your logo (which I like, by the way) if possible. This will make your header look a little less odd. Your theme as a whole is a little too "default" looking. The green is nice, but it still bears too much resemblance to the default prosilver theme. This default look does little to make your forum stand out from the others. I would recommend looking for a new theme or making one. Your forum doesn't look inactive at a glance; there aren't any empty forums, and your stats look decent. Overall, my first impression was neutral.
(Scored 12/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
Your index is very long! Firstly, I'd recommend getting rid of the whole entertainment category and having one "Entertainment" forum under the top category instead. I'd also recommend either getting rid of the "Textures" forum or making it a sub-forum under the "Talent Arena" forum. The guide forums don't appear to be getting very many posts. You may wish to combine those into one "Guides" forum and place the new forum under the "Animal Crossing Games" category. Furthermore, you could get rid of the "Trades and Meetings" category, merge the forums in it, and put the new forum under "Animal Crossing Games." Another recommendation is to rename the "General Animal Crossing Club" category to "Animal Crossing Club Headquarters" or something of that nature. Then, remove the general discussion forums from that category and place them in a new "General Animal Crossing Club" category at the
bottom of your index. These changes would condense your index, make your forum look more active by combining the post counts of several forums, and balance your index more (i.e. put more focus on the Animal Crossing forums rather than your general category).
(Scored 8/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
According to my calculations, your forum is currently receiving an average of just under twenty-five posts per day. Your forum is not dead, but there's certainly room for improvement. Your forum is still
relatively new, so post exchanges are still on the table. Post exchanges will make your forum look more active to prospective members. After you have a good amount of startup posts, begin advertising your forum through services such as banner ads, text ads, et cetera on Forum Promotion and abroad. Your forum has a decent ratio of posts to members, so that is one thing that you have going for you at this point. You may wish to sign up on some gaming forums and post around a bit wearing your forum's signature banner (if you have one). This may attract the attention of some people who are interested in Animal Crossing. Be careful not to spam other forums, though.
(Scored 5/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
Your forum has a copious amount of staff members (I count at least ten). That means that nearly one out of every five members is staffed. On top of that, several of them appear to be extremely inactive. I think that you really need to cut your staff down; you especially need to cut the more inactive members. If you have too many staff members, it becomes difficult to manage your staff. Having a large percentage of your members staffed can be a turnoff to prospective members as well. On the positive side, your staff members seem to be professional and friendly on the forum.
(Scored 5/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
You have very, very few grammar mistakes in your forum descriptions. However, I think your descriptions are a little too repetitive. There are some categories where every single forum description starts with the same few words. I know that I'm a dork, but I believe that having interesting descriptions can really be impressive to prospective members. I would definitely recommend throwing some variation in your descriptions. Normally, I would point out some grammar mistakes, but I don't see much point in that since I want you to change your descriptions (maybe if you request a follow up review, we can talk about grammar).
(Scored 17.5/20)
Score - 47.5 (Out of 100)
Closing remarks: Don't let the low score bother you. Your forum really does have potential; it just requires some more work.
Forum's strong points: Your forum has a nice logo.
Improvements to make: You need to cut your staff down, find a new template, and get your activity rolling.
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