Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
First thing I noticed was actually pretty good. The banner. The banner is well laid out and displays what your forum is about quite clearly. It looks great and professional.
Something I noticed right off the bat that does need to be changed is your buttons on your Navbar. This is what I am talking about:
They look almost amateur, the total opposite of your banner.
I would suggest changing the navbar buttons. Try getting some more custom buttons that fit the colors of your banner. I would also suggest changing your forum's style/look completely. It is all blue and black pretty much, and is not very colorful. I would suggest taking the most used colors out of your banner and trying to find a style that fits those colors.
Some colors that I think could be used in a style would be Blue (from the outline of TOY and FORUM), Red (from the box around STORY), and Yellow (from Toy, STORY, and FORUM).
Those three colors go very well together in your banner and would make your board look more "toy story"-like.
(Scored 15/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
First thing I noticed about your site's layout was the Forum Rules section. It is above everything else.Let's be honest, not many people actually take the time to read the rules. Most people will just go with their judgment and not post something that is generally unacceptable. However, even with this said, displaying the rules somewhere is very important. I would suggest putting your Forum Rules section as a sub-forum of Announcements and Information or just making a Rules thread in your Announcements and Information area.
Do you really need a whole new forum/section for one thread?
(Based off of the following stats):
You have a Feedback and Support area. I would suggest making this say Feedback and Suggestions. Some people may get confused by this area and think it is a great place to ask for help. You may want this, but as your forum gets bigger you will find that place clogged with questions AND suggestions/feedback. If you want a support forum, make another forum near the bottom of the site.
You have a Forum Games section right out in the open. As your site grows, you may see that the post count of your Forum Games area is bigger than sections about Toy Story. I would suggest putting your Forum Games section as a sub-forum of Off-Topic.
(Scored 16/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
Forum Stats:
1228 Posts in 226 Topics by 308 Members
You have 308 members. With that many posts either each person has only about 4 posts, or there are a handful of members who post a lot. I am assuming that you have a handful that keep on posting, but a lot of inactive members. There is no real way to fix this quickly, but just keep trying to keep members active and try to get them to stay around.
One thing I could think of would to do Toy Story give aways? Why not give away an action figure every month? Or a movie? Or a Toy Story outfit. Of course, it may cost you some money, but it would drive some users to your site and probably keep another handful active on your forum.
202 Posts in your Off-Topic section.
I must ask why there are more posts in that section than any of your site-related forums regarding Toy Story? A site never looks as good when it's off topic section is where there are the most posts.
You could try only allowing members to view the off topic section once they have 5 posts elsewhere.
Your site is still small though. However, your site is unique and that gives your forum a lot of potential.
You opened on the 30th of May. Honestly, if you really want your site to get some new active members, check out FP's package team (it's fast and cheap), and do some exchanges.
You should also advertise anywhere and everywhere and try to appeal to anyone interested in Toy Story.
(Scored 18/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
This is definitely the hardest area to comment on and rate.
However, I see no stray threads which is really good.
I don't know how many topics/posts you delete or move every day, but I see nothing that is really out of place, which is a major +.
(Scored 20/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
No spelling mistakes found. Very good!
One thing I noticed that MAY be a mistake is in:
Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command
Discuss the spin-off to Toy Story, called Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command here.
Usually in a title the Of should be 'of'
it's like and is never And in a movie title (rare it is though).
(Scored 20/20)
Total Score - 89 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks:
Try to get some more active members. Don't worry about your member count, worry about how active it is. Having 50 active members is better than hundreds of members who post occasionally. Again, sorry for the delay!
What was most liked about the website/forums:
The banner is amazing. Whether you found it somewhere, or made it, it looks great and I love it. Fits perfectly!
What was disliked most about the website/forums:
Style was very boring. All of the icons next to the forum names display 'OLD'. You should definitely find a style unique to Toy Story.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website?
I am not joining anymore sites. I don't have enough time, sorry!
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