Your Forum Review
First Impressions & Appearance - (Out of 20)
As soon as I opened the forum, I knew immediately I was on a forum that was news related. The forum is very well done, and it's pretty obvious you have your priorities in order. I like that you're using Zetaboards, and using them to the affect. The theme is ok, but sort of basic. I do like that you have a selection of themes to use.
Under the user legend, where it lists
Honored Retiree · Premium Member · Full Member, I don't see any differences between the groups. What I mean is, like with the staff, they have colored names, and a bolded rank, or italicized. I would maybe make the Honored Retiree an italicized, and make Premium Member either a light color shade, or underline.
(Scored 15/20)
Site Layout - (Out of 20)
All in all, the layout of your forum is very good. However, I would suggest making the
Entertainment board a sub-board under
The Lounge. I noticed the
Interviews section, which is a clever idea. I know your forum is based around this, but if you ever decided to become more graphics friendly, I'd make a few sub-boards under
Design, as design can pretty much be anything.
The major thing that pushed me away from your forum was the Shoutbox being on the main page, and viewable to guests. From experience, I know for a fact that Shoutbox discussions between friends can get a little crazy, and can sometimes be seen by guests as rude. Or if friends are joking around calling each other names, guests could think it's serious and not want to join thinking the forum is full of bickering members.
(Scored 16/20)
Statistics and Activity - (Out of 20)
175,000+ posts, and 1K+ members is a very good ratio. This tells me that not only is your forum active, but the members are dedicated. Normally, on hosts such as ZetaBoards, ProBoards, and other free hosts, the activity is hard to get off the ground. But you've taken an idea, and ran far with it.
What sort of has me bothered is, the top 3 posters are the admins. While it is a good thing that the admins are active, all 3 admins have a few thousand posts more then other members, and we all know it takes allot of posting to even reach the thousand mark.
(Scored 14/20)
Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
I look in the staff list, and find 3 admins only. Well, I give you props for only having 3 staff members, but I personally would never see a need for 3 admins. But then again, your forum's situation is a bit different since you're like a news studio.
😛
3 staff members is good for now, but I'd not advise making anymore staff, or, if you have too, maybe just a moderator.
(Scored 16/20)
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism - (Out of 20)
Quite honestly, I had to look for a second opinion when trying to find faults on this one, and even he couldn't find anything wrong. The descriptions on each board are very professional, and do a good job at saying why the board is there.
I have been to several forums where there is at least one or more grammar mistake, but your grammar and spelling, for that matter, are just about flawless.
(Scored 20/20)
Total Score - 81 (Out of 100)
Final Remarks: The forum is by far one of the most professional I've seen.
What was most liked about the website/forums:
The overall professionalism.
What was disliked most about the website/forums:
Despite the few negatives, there really isn't a dislike about this forum.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website?
I'd join in a heartbeat if I had the time. ^.^
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