Website Review
First Impressions
Your site looks like the traditional static information sites that exist all over the web. There is nothing that jumps out at me as to being unique or very appealing, but the site is done to inform, not impress. The first thing that jumps out at me is the advert, which doesn't give me a great impression of your site. The logo is nice and clear and the underline makes it stand out well. I like the image you use on the logo as it adds a bit of colour and life to the page.
The rest of the top part of the page I view without scrolling isn't very appealing or visible. There is nothing that gives any kind of depth or levels for the eye to follow. The whole page feels very flat which can cause your visitors to miss important information. Overall the first impressions I get from your site aren't very good. I need to feel that this site is a site I can trust and is going to supply me with quality and accurate information.
Another feel I get from your site is a feel of stress and confuse, mainly because of the disorganised layout. All of the boxes are different sizes and lengths, the text floats around all over the place due to this and it makes the site hard to read and concentrate on. I feel the site needs to be easier to view and make a much better first impression, I want that WOW feeling!
(Score: 10/20)
Appearance
As I already mentioned, your theme isn't very appealing. Mainly due to the lack of colour. The strong blue bar in the background steals all of the attention meaning it is hard to focus on the actual content filled area. An easy way of solving this would be to tone down the blue and make the content area lighter. The advert you have at the top is very annoying and in the way, it is the only thing I see when I look at the screen.
The logo is very good and overall you have quite a good colour scheme. What you do need to work on is making the whole theme clearer and easier to read. The blue becomes too similar to the text colour, making it especially difficult for people with darker or smaller screens to read.
The images you use as feature images for your articles are very varied in size which disturbes the design and layout quite a bit. The whole theme feels messy and thrown together, which isn't a very professional feel. The bottom area of the index has some nice even boxes, something you should strive for in the whole forum. The footer needs re-writing, the bottom text is outside of the wrapper and isn't very neat. You have made good use of the joomla system though.
(Score: 10/20)
Navigation/Layout
Navigation wise your forum is easy to browse. The menu is very clear with good categories that clearly seperate the information on the site. I do feel that navigation on the footer would help to make it even easier to browse your forum and more links on the index to help point new visitors in the right direction.
I have already mentioned the layout, which could do with a great deal of improvement. You need to decide on a structure and image size and then stick to it. If you are going to have three columns then have 3 columns all the way, right now you have both 4 column sections and 3 column sections.
(Score: 10/20)
Content
Content wise the articles and pages of information you have are very well written. There are a few spelling mistakes on the actual content of the forum such as the sidebar where "Main Menu" has been spelt "Man Menu". I suggest you get someone in to proof-read your site to avoid such errors which are easily overlooked if you are continuously looking at the site and knowing what you actually want to be there.
Spelling wise, your actual articles are very good. Grammar wise there are a few things you need to think about. You have quite a good length to your sentences, but there isn't a proper flow in them. A prime example of this is the introduction text on the index. Each sentence mentions something completley different, in no apparent order. This is something a proof-reader can help you with too.
(Score: 20/30)
Footer
Your footer contains the information it should, but is very messy, especially the disclaimer text. Many people forget how important a footer is, something which you too have forgotten. A footer should contain copyright and some kind of navigation for the site. It should also contain links to the disclaimer, terms of service and privacy policy. I suggest you look into adding all these things to your site.
(Score: 5/10)
Total Score
55/100
Final Remarks
A site that I like the purpose and reasoning behind. It needs a lot of work, especially SEO and appearance wise as it isn't a very appealing site right now. There is too much focus on advertising for a help/support site. Good luck!
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