Standard Review - Website Forums

[John]

Website Name: Website Forums
Website Link: http://websiteforums.org/forums/
When was your website founded?: Last month
Which would you like?: (No Official Review | Standard Review | Advanced Review | Meticulous Review) Standard
Notes: All constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks!

 

[Cierra]

Your Review is In Progress!​

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Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread, and will finish an official 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 review is complete, you will be free to ask questions and receive feedback so long as your website remains only, and this topic remains reasonably active. You will also be able to request a re-review 14 days after this review is completed.

Thank you, and good luck!

 

[Cierra]

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Website Forums
Review by [user]Cierra[/user]​

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First Impressions
[note]========== BEGIN - First Impressions ==========[/note]
When I first visit Website Forums, I see a nice, simple theme. I do notice the "default" admin/promotion forum blue color, so I suggest changing this to an entirely different color or at least changing the hue or shade. I like how your theme is responsive and mobile friendly also. I also see an index that is not overloaded with a lot of forums, which I like because it makes it easy to navigate around the forum and find everything easily.

I notice that some forums haven't been posted in since last week such as the "Content Management System" forum, which worries me a bit. If I was a visitor thinking about potentially joining your site, I would want to see that most, if not all forums were active, at least having one post or thread within the last forty eight hours or so.

This is a pretty easy issue to fix, the staff team just needs to post in all categories that haven't had a post or thread in the last forty hours. Nothing should be older than that. The logo seems a little bland, I think you can do better than that. Adding more color, or even a little mascot image would make it a lot better. There are already a lot of designers here on Forum Promotion, so I would start here.

When scrolling down into the footer and clicking the social media icons, they do not lead anywhere. Guests may be looking to follow you on those social media platforms, so I suggest adding them soon.[note]========== END - First Impressions ==========[/note]
Good

Site Statistics
[note]========== BEGIN - Site Statistics ==========[/note]
Website Forums current statistics (as of 4/14/2015) are: 158 Discussions, 539 Messages, 23 Members, 1 Blog Entry, and 8 Directory Sites. For only being open since March second, these are pretty good statistics. Although, the amount of members you have could be better.

You might want to go the paid advertising route, by using services such as Google Adwords or BSA (BuySellAds). This would help get Website Forums more exposure, which would hopefully turn into more members. Of course, regular promotion would help also, such as posting on forums like Forum Promotion. Here is a helpful list right on Forum Promotion of some advertising and promotion forums you can use to help you get started-http://forumpromotion.net/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5786.

You only have one blog post right now, and it is pretty short. The blog look bare. Try to have each staff member write one post a week that will easily help the blog fill up with more content fast. You can also offer prizes or money for member submissions to the blog.
[note]========== END - Site Statistics ==========[/note]
Average

Site Structure
[note]========== BEGIN - Site Structure ==========[/note]
With only four categories, your forum is easy to navigate, which has the added bonus of not making the index too long or hard to scroll. I would keep this setup and not add a lot more categories. A suggestion I have is to rename the “IDGAF Zone” to something else, maybe “Forum Fun” or just simply “Forum Games”. Right now, “IDGAF Zone” may turn off potential members because the foul language could be seen as offensive, and you wouldn’t want that.

I also suggest adding tags or more sub-forums in the “Website Promotion” forum, that way it makes it easier to find what you are looking for instead of eventually having to scroll through pages and pages of threads to find what you are looking for. I suggest also doing that same thing with the “Market Square” forum. You could add sub forums such as “Software”, “Domains”, “Forums/Websites/Blogs”, “Licenses”, etc. As far as scrolling on the index, I would like to see the back to top and bottom button a little bigger to make it stand out more.


[note]========== END - Site Structure ==========[/note]
Excellent

Final Remarks​

You have a good base to grow, now you just need to build upon it. With a lot of hard work and dedication, Website Forums can be successful.There are many admin/promotion forums out there so you do have some competition, but I bet you can beat them. Good luck with Website Forums [user]PoH[/user]!​

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Your Score​

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[Migi]

Cash has been Deducted!​

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Thank you for using the Forum Promotion review service. We have deducted 100 FP$ from your account in exchange for conducting a Standard Review. You can request another review in 14 days.

To request a re-review, post on the Service Upgrades thread.

Leave a feedback for our review service!​

 

[Deleted member 25872]

You have a great website. I think you need to have more sub-forums in the "Off Topics" Category. I noticed you only has one blog post, you should try and get your staff members to write a few more. Apart from that, nice website and keep up the good work! 🙂

 

[John]

Thanks for the feedback thus far. 🙂

Does anyone have any more? 🙂

 

[Ash]

Looks good. The theme is simple but suits the promotion niche well. The only thing is the content which maybe you could add more to and maybe post around other forums offering post exchanges and buying post packages.

 

[Escape Advertising]

When i visit your site it's looks very simple and easy to way click to one section to another and the color of your theme is exactly matching. The fonts size is also good and easy to read any thing around your website. 🙂

 

[Thomasss]

I love the look of the website; the recent blog post seems a tad weird however everything else looks clean and simple, and threads are easy to get to so overall I love it. 🙂

 

[kaizax]

Your theme is very modern and clear. But I think your favicon is not impress and the logo is the same.

 

[John]

I requested a standard re-review. Please tell me what you'd like to see improved. 🙂

 

[Geoffrey]

Your Review is In Progress!​

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Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread, and will finish an official review within at most 72 hours. In the meantime, you will receive informal feedback from other reviewers and members at Forum Promotion. Once your official review is complete, you will be free to ask questions and receive feedback so long as your website remains only, and this topic remains reasonably active. You will also be able to request a re-review 14 days after this review is completed.

 

[Geoffrey]

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Website Forums
Review by Geoffrey​

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Design Quality

The design of Website Forums is clean and professional. I believe it fits your website niche rather well, appealing to the flat, simple and modern trends in website design today. Your dark blue color is typical for a lot of forum themes though and your theme doesn't really stand out all that much, there isn't anything too memorable design-wise about your forum. While I've probably never seen this exact theme before, I feel like I have because it just looks that common. I recommend making some modifications, using some custom icons or images, etc. that can make your forum theme stand out.

Moving on from the overall theme to the logo, I'm less impressed. I'm not sure what the image in your logo is even supposed to be of, it just looks like a bunch of lines forming a rough circle. I would think you could find something more identifiable and branding for your niche.

Overall, the design quality is good but it doesn't really impress or 'wow' me.

Good

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Originality

When I first heard about this forum, I was expecting "just another admin forum" and I'm pleased to report that I was wrong, in some ways. The name Website Forums does set you up to be different. It means you can specialize in talking about websites and web development and not on the same forum and community management topics we see on so many boards. Your layout is even set up for that. Your forums are appropriately named and organized to focus on more "hard" (concentrated) discussions. But the content in those forums doesn't really hit the same mark.

The Website Management section borders on that "community management" area I mentioned above. The rest of your on-topic sections don't really offer anything new, though they do tend to focus a bit more on your actual niche. I don't feel like I'm getting any discussions on WF that I can't find at a number of other forums, even though your forum does seem to want to separate itself from those other admin/webmaster communities. Find something you can offer, a service you can provide, etc. that makes members want to join and discuss on your board compared to another.

It seems like you got a good idea for a unique webmaster forum, but you fell a little short on the execution of that idea (but you can certainly recover from it with just some more focused content).

Average

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Site Structure

One thing I do not like at all on your site structure is the sidebar. This could be a lot of personal preference, but because we read from left to right in the English-speaking world, I like to see the main content area of a site start on the left. Instead, on WF, I see a sidebar on the left with various stats and site information that aren't really too helpful (at least not until I've joined the site or made a post). I recommend switching the sidebar to the other side if possible, and if not possible with your current theme, a new theme wouldn't be a bad idea (refer to Design Quality section).

As for the layout of your forum sections, I have one main suggestion. I've already said I like the focus you've placed on the web discussion areas but you can still put more focus on them. Move your Webmaster Discussions and Webmaster Resources category to the top of the page, possibly even combining those categories. Then move your "Website Forums" category below that and add your Off Topic section (in a category by itself now, which doesn't look great) below that. This will put a lot better focus on your niche discussions and once you focus in on "harder" content, this will help you.

There's nothing too extraordinary right now about your site, but it has potential.

Average

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Final Remarks​

I like the potential your site has, and it still being a bit young has room to grow. Narrow in on your focus and brand your site how you want it to be and it can grow quite quickly.​

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Your Score​

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[MasterA]

I think you should offer more themes to your members. I can see that you have two themes at the moment, one being the default Xenforo theme. For your default Xenforo theme, the logo still says Xenforo so if you are going to offer it to members, then I think you should change the logo to Website Forums. Other than that, everything looks greats to me. 😀

 

[John]

Cash has been Deducted!​

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Thank you for using the Forum Promotion review service. We have deducted 100 FP$ from your account in exchange for conducting a Standard Review. You can request another review after 14 days.

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[John]

I've decided to revamp WF. I'd appreciate all feedback. 🙂

 

[Kino]

Re-review approved per:

Topic Link: viewtopic.php?f=207&t=130028
Upgrade Requested: Standard Re-Review
Expected Total: 100 FP $
Notes: I understand you cannot write a proper review without grading activity, but please do not spend an excessive part of the review on it. I already know it's not very good. Also, I understand some of the forum might not be seen as very "professional", but that's kind of the intended purpose. Please give me suggestions to improve as well.

 

[Joshua Farrell]

Your Review is In Progress!​

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Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread, and will finish an official review within at most 72 hours. In the meantime, you will receive informal feedback from other reviewers and members at Forum Promotion. Once your official review is complete, 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 14 days after this review is completed.

 

[Joshua Farrell]

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Website Forums
http://websiteforums.org/
Review by Joshua Farrell​

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First Impressions
To be honest, when I first opened the forum, it looked a bit bland like any other default theme I have seen XenForo forums have, except that the side bar was on the left instead of the right. What comes to my mind about this is that even though it does cost a bit of money, one could think that you and Cameron don't really want to pay for a theme that jumps out at you, that identifies the forum as what it is geared towards, just by the theme. I would suggest talking with the other staff to consider possibly a new theme (or modification of your current theme), to help blend it a little more with the forum subject.

Then as I went down the page, looking for things that I can use as a consideration subject for new potential members, is that a few of your forums don't have 10 or more topics in them yet. Probably should work on that. 🙂

Also, I took note of the ad in the header, and decided to do some digging around. I like the fact that you only have that header ad there, and that you are not yet plastering ads to the forum's potential ad placement like some forum admins would do. Though, it does seem a little odd to have that, since the forum has yet to really launch off with activity. Since you are already approved for ads through publicityclerks, I might as well not suggest removing the ad till the forum is more active, but I will atleast suggest that you wait till your forum does get better success, before you add more ads to the forum.

And finally, I am assuming that you two are now trying to reactivate the forum? One potential item that might help, is providing better board descriptions, so that your members, and potential members can better identify what some of your boards are for, other than the basic descriptions. 🙂

Rating: Good

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Site Statistics
Ofcourse, to reiterate what I mentioned above, you have a few boards that you could potentially increase the number of threads in. To go further into it, my minimum of 10 topics could be expanded to have up to 20 minimum topics started in each board. I know most staff hate the idea of being required to make so many topics a week, but that may very well help the forum statistic wise with discussions, and potentially new members.

If you do decide to go and have a minimum topic amount required by staff, just by asking for 5 new topics made by each staff member, you can get 20 new topics made a week, which might actually help encourage those members that are coming on, to create topics of their own, and reply to topics. That itself can do your forum good!

Honestly, if I didn't know that the forum went inactive for awhile, the number of posts and topics made, per member ratio could be seen as a little low for the type of forum you run. That is part of the reason why I suggested that you encourage your staff to create a minimum amount of topics a week, as to help boost you statistically, to not be so low on the numbers for how long the forum has been around.

Rating: Average

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Originality
As far as Originality goes, honestly half of the forums I see are general forums I would typically would see some Webmaster Forums have to offer for their members. The good thing? I see a few boards that I don't normally see, and a few others that their topic of discussion are more defined, so that it is easier to find those types of discussions. Good job on thinking about having software related forums have an actual focused place of discussion, instead of a general area that may drown out a topic on a particular type of online software if it was active!

Though the one thing that confuses me, is that I remember the forum having a Community Council, and I know I have seen atleast one user with that user title, but where are the pinned topics that help define the board that is titled "Community Council Elections", and how would any normal user know what that means? Probably would want to do something about that, as I myself am confused over that.

Rating: Good

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Final Remarks​

If it wasn't for the fact that your forum has what appears as a basic, close to default theme, had gone inactive, and that it doesn't have as many posts as I thought it would have had with it's current membership, your forum probably would have gotten a 4 star rating. If you can work on some of the above, the rating I gave probably will increase to a 4 star. 🙂

Good luck!​

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Your Score​

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[Kino]

Cash has been Deducted!​

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Thank you for using the Forum Promotion review service. We have deducted 100 FP$ from your account in exchange for conducting a Standard Review. You can request another review in 14 days.

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