Our first review :D

From ForumPromotion.net







First Impressions - (Out of 20)
The
following image is an example of an unneeded line of
. You
basically have extra space that isn't filled and just bumps your forum
down the page a few lines. Look in the coding and if you see

tags remove at least one there.

Of course this is not necessary, but I think it would make it look a little better.

Your
forum is a broad discussion board, yet you keep your services
(packages, reviews, etc) and your shop at the top. They are also not
that active. You should put those elsewhere. Your first forum/category
should be for announcements, introductions, and suggestions.
Announcements, because they are important. Introductions, so newcomers
know where to get started. And suggestions, because any suggestion can
help your site out and suggestions are encourage on pretty much all
forums and websites.
(Scored 18/20)

Site Layout - (Out of 20)
Keep
in mind what I said above, about your Shop area and your Services area.
These should be moved down to your Extra area. They are not active and
nowhere as active as your General Discussion forum which has 775 posts.


I am sure you want people to use your services, or earn points
for the shop, but as they are pretty much inactive there is no need to
have these right at the top. Of course there are benefits to having
them at the top. They are noticeable and easy to find. However, if
hardly anyone is using them you mind as well put them in the Extras
section.

If someone really wants to use your services or shop I am sure they will still use it even if it is near the bottom.

Your
music section. It currently is more active than your Media section. You
could combine these sections or make Music a sub-forum of Media. Music
is media, and would fit perfectly.

Debates. Again not very
active. Debate sections are always nice on a forum and sometimes those
sections become very successful, but you could always make it a
sub-forum of general discussion. I say this because right now you have
a lot of forums on your board. The less there are, the more easy it is
to navigate.
(Scored 16/20)

Forum Statistics - (Out of 20)
It looks like your board came out July 21, 2009 (based off of the fact that your board opened 5 days before your grand opening)
Great statistics for a little over a week.

Your
general discussion forum has over 700 posts, but has less than 30
topics. You should definitely start up some new discussions there.

If
you don't have enough topics for people to respond to, eventually the
topic will die causing inactivity in certain parts of your board.

When I did this review...
Our users have posted a total of 1835 messages
We have 34 registered users

Just get some more topics started.
(Scored 19/20)

Staff Moderation - (Out of 20)
From
what I see there is one admin, and two moderators. There may be more,
but I can't find any more without registering. This is a good amount of
staff. You are not running it alone which is good, and you don't have
too much staff.

As your board gets bigger you may want to hire Super Moderators, and Moderators. Each would have different permissions.

Right
now though, it looks like your board is doing just fine with 3 staff
members (that I can see). Each staff member has a responsibility which
is good because it means they will stay active and the staff members
won't ignore something thinking that someone else will moderate an area
for them.
(Scored 20/20)

Spelling and Grammar - (Out of 20)
Only spelling mistakes I found were in your member's names, but that's perfectly normal of course.

Only small thing I found was in your rules thread.
"THe rules will change over time so check back every so often"
THe should be "The".

Try
to make your rules thread look professional. If it looks sloppy or
unprofessional users will be under the impression that rules aren't
enforced and staff aren't taking their moderating positions seriously.
(Scored 19/20)

Total Score - 92 (Out of 100)

Final Remarks:
Good
looking site. You should offer some style options for users. Try having
a light option, and a dark option. However, the style you have chosen
is fine and looks fine to the eye (of me at least). Good luck with it!

What was most liked about the website/forums:
I
like how the login feature and some statistics are on the right side.
Some forums mess this all up and it looks terrible, but this looks fine
on your forum.

What was disliked most about the website/forums:
Some
inactivity in certain areas (It's okay, I am pretty sure your board is
new). It would just be nice to see some more topics instead of sections
full of replies.

How could I get you (The Reviewer) to join my website?
I
am really not joining any more forums, as I have my obligations on my
own site, here as a reviewer and my personal life, including my job.

(Final Score 92/100)


After you have read your review, please click the following link and rate our service to help us make it better for you ... Cilck Here!





From help.forumotion.com

Display/Layout:

Organization: I think that your organization, is very good. I did not see a problem.(Score: 10/10)

Categories & Forums:
Okay, in your art section, there's a forum, called anime/manga. That
has nothing really to do with art. Other than that, your forum is fine.
(Score: 8/10)

Index & Portal Appearance:
Your index doesn't really look appealing, in my opinion. You should
have more pictures, and brighter colors, cause all black, doesn't seem
neat. I suggest a portal, with some entertainment, and games, cause
it's a forum about anything. (Score: 7/10)

Total: 25/30



General:

Staff Population:
In total, you have two administrators, and two Moderators. I think
that's good enough for a forum with 31 members. I suggest, you should
add more staff, when your forum, get's about 150 members. (Score: 5/5)

Staff Activity & Moderation:
Okay, your staff activity, wasn't good. Okay, one admin is active, and
the two other moderators, are also. But one of your admins, isn't even
on your top posters list! And the lowest person, only had 26 posts. (Score: 3/5)

Staff Groups:
Okay, you're staff groups, are good. But you have some empty staff
groups. I suggest, when you get more members, you should add members to
them and or make them hidden till you get more members and can fill in
the spots. (Score: 3/5)


Total 11/15







From

Nice work to the forum

Also rename this to 'Our First Review'

Yeah I just saw that

Its the best first review I have ever had on one of my forums

Well that's impressive!

It's all thanks to me and my amazingness that this forum is going so well!
And I of course... Am just kidding. Or am I?

No, I am. Good job tig, your doing great!

Your heling in your own special way Riley

and thanks

Generalities

1. First Impressions (Score: 8/10):
   I'm
   generally impressed when I first look at your forum. It is dark, but
   one of the best dark themes there is going around for me.
   
2. Index Appearance (Score: 7/10):
   I
   quite like your forum index in general. It's nice to look at, but it's
   very default,you have not changed very much at all to a forumotion
   theme, perhaps experimenting with images, colours etc could set your
   forum apart from the rest.
   
3. Forum Layout & Color Scheme (Score: 7/10):
   As
   I said it's very default to a Forumotion theme, but it's one of the
   bests. As I said though, I'd like to see a few more different and
   unique look, that only belongs to your forum, because this theme is
   being used on alot of other forums.
   
4. Categories & Forums (Score: 7/10):
   You
   have all the 'general' sort of categories and forums that are expected
   of a Genaral Discussions sort of a board. When activity picks up there
   will be alot of good interesting discussions happening, and a whole
   range of ares you've covered. But from a grammar freak's *coughMEcough*
   point of view, none of the forum descriptions have fullstops at the
   end. I'd suggest you add them, to give it a bit more appeal.
   

Generalities total: 29/40

Forum Style

1. Banner & Navigation Bar (Score: 8/10):
   Banner
   I
   really like your banner, it goes well with the theme, the only think I
   suggest is that you expand it a bit, not so it stretches out matching
   the whole index width, but I just feel it's a little bit too small.
   
   Navigation Bar
   You've
   gone with the themes default navigation bar, it's very 'plain schmain'
   though, I'd like to see your own navigation bar made personally.
   
2. Images & Icons (Score: 7/10):
   Once
   again, they're the default images of the theme you've chosen, but they
   work, they're nice, they're appealing and not too 'out there' which to
   me is the important thing.
   

Style total: 15/20

Forum Moderation & Groups

1. Staff Population (Score: 7/10):
   Administration- 1 member(s)
   
   Moderation- 2 member(s)
   
2. Staff/User Groups (Score: 7/10):
   You
   haven't gone overboard with hiring people as soon as they join and make
   a few posts, which to me is a big mistake that alot of admins make
   these days. You most definitely don't need any more staff as of yet,
   not until activity picks up (which I can see happening one day).
   

Usergroup total: 14/20

Forum Activity

1. Post/Member Ratio (Score: 8/10):
   (Presuming
   that I'm not mistaken), your forum is still very new. You have almost
   2000 total posts on your forum, and 34 members, this is a good start.
   
2. Member Activity (Score: 8/10):
   As
   said, it's a decent effort that you have almost two thousand posts with
   just 34 members on a newly created forum. Just keep advertising, and I
   can see big activity on your forum in due time.
   

Activity total: 16/20


What could be done to improve your forum:
Not a whole lot as of yet, just maybe re size your banner, and add proper punctuation to your forum description.


The best thing I like about your forum:
Your banner in general, it's very appealing to a guests point of view.


Owww I forgot to check forumansion review here it is

Awesome reviews! nice work!

I know but I'm not s sure about the FM one

I'm thinking of a review for my forum, now, lol. But nice review, Tig!

nice, we're doing well

Yeah thanks guys

Your Forum Review
The Broad Discussion Board

Generalities




First Impressions (Score: 7/10):
I open you forum and I see a nice looking banner, a nice looking home made navigation bar, a chatbox, one of those cooooool chatango things , and all the standards. I see that you've gone with ForuMotion, which I think would have to be the easiest host to use, but one of the hardest to get things going with.


Index Appearance (Score: 8/10):
Yeah, I like your theme, but i'd have to say, everyone has seen this theme soo many times, on soo many forums, I really think you should change things a little a lot, to set your forum apart from the rest.


Forum Layout & Color Scheme (Score: 7/10):
Some people might tell you, I'm not a huge wrap for dark themes/skins. This theme, however, the darkness works, correct me if i'm wrong, but it was designed by Jalokim? And Jalo never comes up with a dark theme. Correct me if i'm wrong here as well, but, apart from your banner and navigation bar, you haven't changed the theme at all. I suggest you do so, as all good GD forums have things that set themselves apart from the rest, that keeps members coming back for more, and at the moment i'm just not feeling it with your forum.


Categories & Forums (Score: 8/10):
You have an efficient amount of sub forums, your index page isn't too big. I might suggest though that you merge a few forums together and create a two on one sort of things, to make the activity in the particular forum look bigger. You have pretty much all the required forums that a forum of The Broad Discussion Board's type should include, (Announcements, Introductions, General Discussions, a Graphics section, etc) I might suggest, though, that you create a 'News and Current Affairs forum, as alot f forums have that sort of thing.



Generalities total: 30/40

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Forum Style




Banner & Navigation Bar (Score: 8/10):
Banner
I quite like your banner, it looks nice, and welcoming to members. I recommend that you increase it's width though, not so that you have to stretch it equivalent to the width of the whole forum, but just make it a tad larger, as at the moment it's a very small banner considering other forums.

Navigation Bar
Nice, I like your navigation bar, I think you've made it yourself, as I haven't seen it any other place. I think though maybe you should change the font, as at the present time it looks a bit too plain and simple. I also like how you've coloured certain buttons, to put emphasis on the important ones.


Images & Icons (Score: 7/10):
As i've said, you haven't changed the images at all to the default theme, I personally think you should, as I see alot of potential in forum. Just change icons, and buttons etc, to give it it's own look and feel. But given that they are nice buttons and icons to go well with your theme, i'm scoring you a seven.



Style total: 15/20

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Forum Moderation & Groups




Staff Population (Score: 6/10):
Administration- 2 member(s)

Moderation- 4 member(s)


Staff/User Groups (Score: 7/10):
You have two administrators, and four moderators, this for me is right on the limit of what you need currently, given that you only have forty-six members, going all out and hiring alot of people isn't necessary, you definitely don't need any more staff for a while until your forum picks up.



Usergroup total: 13/20

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Forum Activity




Post/Member Ratio (Score: 6/10):
You have a total of 4194 forum posts, made by a total of 46 members. I'm not sure exactly how old your forum is, and how long it's been opened for, but this certainly isn't a bad effort, I do see alot of potential in this forum. Just keep advertising and getting the word out and it'll eventually become active.


Member Activity (Score: 7/10):
You have ten members with over one hundred posts, this isn't a bad effort given the context of your post/member ratio, but it certainly could be improved. You also have twenty one users who've visited over the last 99 hours, it's not a bad little start, I think it's slowly starting to become active and users are slowly starting to come back, keep using promotion services though, packages are the best way to get more posts and members, especially on a general discussions board.



Activity total: 13/20

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Overall Mark: 71/100


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Conclusion
What could be done to improve your forum:
Change it alot, from the default theme, all good forums have their very own look, and given that this theme is up on hitskin, and you haven't changed it very much at all, and it's on so many different forums nowadays, that'll take some of the credit away from the actual context of the board.


The best thing I like about your forum:
Probably the banner and navigation bar, it's a nice little start on creating your own graphics, I just think you should work on it more on different areas around the forum.

THat was the second one from Forumansion and we went down by 3 marks

ii think the first review was a little picky, like the THe thing.. but it was a great review we go

ii think the first review was a little picky, like the THe thing.. but it was a great review we go