zoids25 wrote:Sorry for a delay SixenSix, I'm just attending some personal occasions this days, but I finished the half of the review, will finish it completely tomorrow

Clan ARC

Congratulations! Your free forum review has been completed. The forum review will hold many tips, suggestions, comments, and feedback that's convenient and voluntary for your forum. Here is your forum review:

1. First Impressions (Score: 13/20):
   When I first opened the forum, it took a huge time/delay before the whole page showed complete, it's really annoying, I must say, now let's head on to the first impression review, when I came on the forum, the first thing I noticed are the colors(because the portal page is not completely shown), really looks like an XBOX/gaming forum with green colors, but the forum colors looks rough looking at the navigation bars, the next thing is, for my screen resolution, I would have to scroll largely to the right to see the remaining widgets there, the portal looks incomplete with this, let's head on to the portal review, the portal is very informative about the forum, some widgets gives recent information about the forum, nice work, the pictures on the portal are also giving emphasis to the forum's main subject, but with the large picture on middle widget, it makes it slow for the portal to load completely and also makes it long so my suggestion here is to reduce it's size, this will look more good if you do that, the widgets on the portal are placed nicely and neatly, looks organized however, there are 3 widgets(considered many) on column2(middle) which makes it long, so my suggestion here is to just remove the log-in widget there as it has no use, there is a log-in navigation bar so you don't need this, fix this, now let's head on to the index, the index is not really looking that good and everything looks rumbled there and not looking organized, the same here, for my screen resolution, I would have to scroll to the right to see the remaining content there, no I must say here that there are too many widgets on the index which makes it look mushy, having a left and right widgets on the index makes it look mushy and the forums on the middle looks crushed, even though they are informative, you should reduce, but my suggestion here is to have only 1 area of widgets on the index, either on the column1 or column3, so try fixing and removing widgets, the index also is too long, but I must say it looks an active and busy forum! Nice work, so just fix the things I mentioned here.
   
   
2. Categories & Forums (Score: 5/10):
   The number of forums and categories on the index is too many which makes it long and not organized, but I must say that it looks you have a nice and complete set of discussions forum for the subject of the forum which is about XBOX and gaming however, doesn't look good if you will show all the forums on the index, so my suggestion here is to make some forums a subforum of a certain forum or try merging forums, one thing also is i might suggest you to make the 'ARC Info Center' to be in the second portion than having it at the 3rd portion, in this way, important forums like 'announcements' can be easily found and it will look more professional, another thing is the 'general chat' category should be placed at the bottom part of the index because it doesn't relate with the subject of the forum and obviously, it's forums are a little bit off topic on the forum's main subject, so try doing this, in this way, it will look more professional and good, but nice work having the subforums hidden on the index, but further more, I'd noticed that some forums have descriptions but some have none, this makes the index looks under construction, so try to have descriptions on all forums on the index so it will look more informative and not under construction, it will look also professional, so definitely get those things fixed, and so the index will look good.
   

1. Major Graphics (Score: 6/10):
   Banner-When I first looked at the banner, I noticed that it's looking awesome! I liked everything on it, it's pictures, colors, the organization and positionings of the images, the images also relates to what the forum is and gives emphasis on the forum, I liked the design of the background, there are some wavy green effects together with black colors, the color of the banner partners with the forum's color, nicely done, the font used are just fine, nice work here, Perfect!(5/5)
   
   Navigation Bar-The navigation bars are also looking good, having the color that fits to the forum's main subject, they also partner with the banner at the same time to the color of of the forum which is green, however, as I'd mentioned above, it looks really rough with the background, the background of the navigation bars are having 'blackish' background(if you will stare at it) on every navigation bars so my suggestion here is to remove that 'blackish' background on each name of navigation bars so it will look more clean and smooth, so just fix that, the other navigation bars(new topic & post reply) are not looking that good, they look plain and doesn't partner with the main navigation bars, I mean, if you have green colors on the main navigation bars, make green for the other also, so it will look professional, so try to fix this also. Just get those things fixed.(1/5)
   
   
2. Forum Layout & Color Scheme (Score: 5/10):
   The forum's theme is just fine, the colors of the forum which are green & dark green are fine for a gaming/XBOX forum, the look perfect, the colors on the index are looking smooth, wherever I go, it looks green on the forum with most of it's icons and images however, just as I'd mentioned above, the navigation bars looks rough on its colors and try fixing the background of it, but colors like black and green are good for an XBOX/gaming forum also, combining these 2 colors will be awesome for the subject of your forum, I also noticed that the background is just looking plain, if you will retain the current colors on the forum, try having some designs on your background that will fit on your forum's subject. so just fix the things I mentioned.
   
   
3. Images & Icons (Score: 9/10):
   As I'd mentioned on the first impression criteria, the portal has images specifically on the middle widget that gives emphasis to the forum's main subject, the images makes it more informative, the images on the index widgets are also good, very informative also, the 'who is online?' icon looks good and also fits for the forum's subject and colors, however, I'd seen that it's long but it looks good with that size, overall it looks amazing and having a point even though it also looks rough, the forum icons(new post, no new post & forum is locked) are looking good, they're green and definitely fits on the forum's colors, yeah, as I'd mentioned above, there's too much 'greenie' icons on the forum which is good, the topic icons are nicely made! they're impressive! and they're easy to be noticed, nice work on this criteria.
   

1. Population of Groups (Score: 8/10):
   I'd counted a total of 13 staff members of the forum, the quantity of staff are good for a busy forum like this and for many members logging in each period, there 3 administrators on the forum, the quantity looks good relevant to the activity and the number of people logging in each period, but it doesn't fit for 126 members but having 3 makes the forum look under control, still nice work here, there are 6 moderators, 6 is kind of many for a forum having only 200 members and below but as I'd observed, there are lots of posts made while I was reviewing the forum, there are also lots of members logging in so looks good, so just a reminder, you don't need to add more as long as the forum is under control, you still had a nice work here, there are 3 'XBL Co-ordiantor', don't know what's the purpose of this group but the quantity of the members on this groups looks fine as of now, there is 1 'game reviewers', maybe add 1 more member for this group, as I'd mentioned above, the forum is active, so to keep things under control, add 1 more here and it will look fine. Don't know whta's the purpose of 'Southern Hemisphere' group so I won't include it here.
   
   
2. Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: 10/10):
   

   [Administrators],[Moderators],[XBL Co-oordinator],[Game Reviewers],[Southern Hemisphere]

   
   
   I'd say that the groups on the forum is good, the set and amount are brilliant and nice work having less even if the forum is active, this makes the forum more organized, almost all of them have a specific purpose however, I don't have any idea about the 'Southern Hemisphere' group but if if you think other members can't also understand this group, you can rename this group to a more specific name(relating to what is it's purpose), but overall, nice work on this criteria, nothing wrong also with the colors of the groups, I must give you a perfect score on this criteria.
   
   
   

1. Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 10/10):
   

   Our users have posted a total of 81367 messages
   We have 126 registered users
   The newest registered user is ARCCOMMANDER2

   
   
   The total amount of posts on the forum is brilliant, considering you only had 126 members but you've earned 80,000 plus, Brilliant! I'm impressed on the posting activity of the forum, this means that the forum is really interesting and more guests will join for these, most of the forums have the latest post made today and yesterday, however, try also building some posts on forums that are having less posts, the post member ratio is 645, that's incredibly awesome! I'd also seen that new posts were made while I was reviewing the forum, You did a great job here therefore, I should give you a perfect score on this criteria. Great job!
   
   
2. Users Active (Score: 10/10):
   

   Members connected during last 24 hours : ARC Fireangel, ARC Lazy, ARCandy81, baronvongrumpy, BAW69, Blitz, bluegixer, BwA Grape Ape, Captain Jimmy78, deathangel73, Deathbox36, don sitjaipetch, donkeyboy002, dugganace, heavytread, Jamaikan Steve, JustMeD, kandem, Keltic, Killbot, Le Noir Lapin, LittleNose, Lord Farnswaller, MCE 81, Meatcleaver81, monkeyboy2109, mutantblues, Nex Demon, Ninja Bob, norters, nudger1964, nzredracer, Over the Hill, Ozgoat, Pompey dan, realmichael, Rogue Writer, RotoRouterZA, SCAT, sergtp, ShockLink, show gsy, SirReal Madrid, SixenSix, Slayr, smoothnshiny, SnyperUK, Spath21, Test, ThreeMike, tindrum1, Truffl3pigz, Twizzle, UK72, Vader, Vandelay, wesman444, w_a_i_n, Xindianna, Ziggy Coaldust

   
   
   The number of users being logged last 24 hours is also outstanding! Out of 126 users, there are about 30 plus members logging in and that's rarely happening, this means that members comes back and they come back for more! The best thing is you had 31 users being most online, nice work earning this! You did a great job on this criteria too, I also saw about 3-4 members being logged while I was reviewing the forum, almost all of the staff are active, Send out weekly newsletters about the latest update on your forum to get the inactive members back. Keep up the good work! You got a perfect score here!
   

• Aestheticsm: B
  
• Organization: C
  
• Originality: B
  
• Forum Language: B
  
• Professionalism: B
  
• Rules and Terms of Services: C
  
• Cleanliness of The Index/Portal: C
  
• Creativity: B
  
• Forum Features: B
  
• Staff Moderation and Activity: B
  

Overall Marking: 76/100
You have passed!

Code:

[center][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/yourfo10.png[/img]

[color=limegreen][b][font=Trebuchet MS Bold Italic][size=24]Clan ARC[/b][/font][/size][/color]
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[table][tr][td][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/review12.png[/img][/td] [td]Congratulations! Your free forum review has been completed. The forum review will hold many tips, suggestions, comments, and feedback that's convenient and voluntary for your forum. Here is your forum review:[/td][/tr][/table]

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[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/genera12.png[/img] [b][color=limegreen][size=19]Generalities[/size][/b][/color]

[list=1][*][b]First Impressions (Score: 13/20):[/b]
When I first opened the forum, it took a huge time/delay before the whole page showed complete, it's really annoying, I must say, now let's head on to the first impression review, when I came on the forum, the first thing I noticed are the colors(because the portal page is not completely shown), really looks like an XBOX/gaming forum with green colors, but the forum colors looks rough looking at the navigation bars, the next thing is, for my screen resolution, I would have to scroll largely to the right to see the remaining widgets there, the portal looks incomplete with this, let's head on to the portal review, the portal is very informative about the forum, some widgets gives recent information about the forum, nice work, the pictures on the portal are also giving emphasis to the forum's main subject, but with the large picture on middle widget, it makes it slow for the portal to load completely and also makes it long so my suggestion here is to reduce it's size, this will look more good if you do that, the widgets on the portal are placed nicely and neatly, looks organized however, there are 3 widgets(considered many) on column2(middle) which makes it long, so my suggestion here is to just remove the log-in widget there as it has no use, there is a log-in navigation bar so you don't need this, fix this, now let's head on to the index, the index is not really looking that good and everything looks rumbled there and not looking organized, the same here, for my screen resolution, I would have to scroll to the right to see the remaining content there, no I must say here that there are too many widgets on the index which makes it look mushy, having a left and right widgets on the index makes it look mushy and the forums on the middle looks crushed, even though they are informative, you should reduce, but my suggestion here is to have only 1 area of widgets on the index, either on the column1 or column3, so try fixing and removing widgets, the index also is too long, but I must say it looks an active and busy forum! Nice work, so just fix the things I mentioned here.

[*][b]Categories & Forums (Score: 5/10):[/b]
The number of forums and categories on the index is too many which makes it long and not organized, but I must say that it looks you have a nice and complete set of discussions forum for the subject of the forum which is about XBOX and gaming however, doesn't look good if you will show all the forums on the index, so my suggestion here is to make some forums a subforum of a certain forum or try merging forums, one thing also is i might suggest you to make the 'ARC Info Center' to be in the second portion than having it at the 3rd portion, in this way, important forums like 'announcements' can be easily found and it will look more professional, another thing is the 'general chat' category should be placed at the bottom part of the index because it doesn't relate with the subject of the forum and obviously, it's forums are a little bit off topic on the forum's main subject, so try doing this, in this way, it will look more professional and good, but nice work having the subforums hidden on the index, but further more, I'd noticed that some forums have descriptions but some have none, this makes the index looks under construction, so try to have descriptions on all forums on the index so it will look more informative and not under construction, it will look also professional, so definitely get those things fixed, and so the index will look good.
[/list]
[color=limegreen]Generalities total :: 18/30[/color]
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[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/forums10.png[/img] [b][color=darkred][size=19]Forum Style[/b][/color][/size]

[list=1][*][b]Major Graphics (Score: 6/10):[/b]
[size=11][u][b]Banner[/b][/u][/size]-When I first looked at the banner, I noticed that it's looking awesome! I liked everything on it, it's pictures, colors, the organization and positionings of the images, the images also relates to what the forum is and gives emphasis on the forum, I liked the design of the background, there are some wavy green effects together with black colors, the color of the banner partners with the forum's color, nicely done, the font used are just fine, nice work here, Perfect!(5/5)

[size=11][u][b]Navigation Bar[/b][/u][/size]-The navigation bars are also looking good, having the color that fits to the forum's main subject, they also partner with the banner at the same time to the color of of the forum which is green, however, as I'd mentioned above, it looks really rough with the background, the background of the navigation bars are having 'blackish' background(if you will stare at it) on every navigation bars so my suggestion here is to remove that 'blackish' background on each name of navigation bars so it will look more clean and smooth, so just fix that, the other navigation bars(new topic & post reply) are not looking that good, they look plain and doesn't partner with the main navigation bars, I mean, if you have green colors on the main navigation bars, make green for the other also, so it will look professional, so try to fix this also. Just get those things fixed.(1/5)

[*][b]Forum Layout & Color Scheme (Score: 5/10):[/b]
The forum's theme is just fine, the colors of the forum which are green & dark green are fine for a gaming/XBOX forum, the look perfect, the colors on the index are looking smooth, wherever I go, it looks green on the forum with most of it's icons and images however, just as I'd mentioned above, the navigation bars looks rough on its colors and try fixing the background of it, but colors like black and green are good for an XBOX/gaming forum also, combining these 2 colors will be awesome for the subject of your forum, I also noticed that the background is just looking plain, if you will retain the current colors on the forum, try having some designs on your background that will fit on your forum's subject. so just fix the things I mentioned.

[*][b]Images & Icons (Score: 9/10):[/b]
As I'd mentioned on the first impression criteria, the portal has images specifically on the middle widget that gives emphasis to the forum's main subject, the images makes it more informative, the images on the index widgets are also good, very informative also, the 'who is online?' icon looks good and also fits for the forum's subject and colors, however, I'd seen that it's long but it looks good with that size, overall it looks amazing and having a point even though it also looks rough, the forum icons(new post, no new post & forum is locked) are looking good, they're green and definitely fits on the forum's colors, yeah, as I'd mentioned above, there's too much 'greenie' icons on the forum which is good, the topic icons are nicely made! they're impressive! and they're easy to be noticed, nice work on this criteria.
[/list]
[color=darkred]Forum Style total :: 20/30[/color]
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[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/usergr10.png[/img] [b][color=teal][size=19]Usergroups[/size][/b][/color]

[list=1][*][b]Population of Groups (Score: 8/10):[/b]
I'd counted a total of 13 staff members of the forum, the quantity of staff are good for a busy forum like this and for many members logging in each period, there 3 administrators on the forum, the quantity looks good relevant to the activity and the number of people logging in each period, but it doesn't fit for 126 members but having 3 makes the forum look under control, still nice work here, there are 6 moderators, 6 is kind of many for a forum having only 200 members and below but as I'd observed, there are lots of posts made while I was reviewing the forum, there are also lots of members logging in so looks good, so just a reminder, you don't need to add more as long as the forum is under control, you still had a nice work here, there are 3 'XBL Co-ordiantor', don't know what's the purpose of this group but the quantity of the members on this groups looks fine as of now, there is 1 'game reviewers', maybe add 1 more member for this group, as I'd mentioned above, the forum is active, so to keep things under control, add 1 more here and it will look fine. Don't know whta's the purpose of 'Southern Hemisphere' group so I won't include it here.

[*][b]Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: 10/10):[/b]
[quote][i][Administrators],[Moderators],[XBL Co-oordinator],[Game Reviewers],[Southern Hemisphere][/i][/quote]

I'd say that the groups on the forum is good, the set and amount are brilliant and nice work having less even if the forum is active, this makes the forum more organized, almost all of them have a specific purpose however, I don't have any idea about the 'Southern Hemisphere' group but if if you think other members can't also understand this group, you can rename this group to a more specific name(relating to what is it's purpose), but overall, nice work on this criteria, nothing wrong also with the colors of the groups, I must give you a perfect score on this criteria.


[/list]
[color=teal]Usergroups :: 18/20[/color]
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[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/foruma30.png[/img] [b][color=orange][size=19]Forum Activity[/b][/color][/size]

[list=1][*][b]Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 10/10):[/b]
[quote]Our users have posted a total of 81367 messages
We have 126 registered users
The newest registered user is ARCCOMMANDER2[/quote]

The total amount of posts on the forum is brilliant, considering you only had 126 members but you've earned 80,000 plus, Brilliant! I'm impressed on the posting activity of the forum, this means that the forum is really interesting and more guests will join for these, most of the forums have the latest post made today and yesterday, however, try also building some posts on forums that are having less posts, the post member ratio is  645, that's incredibly awesome! I'd also seen that new posts were made while I was reviewing the forum, You did a great job here therefore, I should give you a perfect score on this criteria. Great job!

[*][b]Users Active (Score: 10/10):[/b]
[quote]Members connected during last 24 hours : ARC Fireangel, ARC Lazy, ARCandy81, baronvongrumpy, BAW69, Blitz, bluegixer, BwA Grape Ape, Captain Jimmy78, deathangel73, Deathbox36, don sitjaipetch, donkeyboy002, dugganace, heavytread, Jamaikan Steve, JustMeD, kandem, Keltic, Killbot, Le Noir Lapin, LittleNose, Lord Farnswaller, MCE 81, Meatcleaver81, monkeyboy2109, mutantblues, Nex Demon, Ninja Bob, norters, nudger1964, nzredracer, Over the Hill, Ozgoat, Pompey dan, realmichael, Rogue Writer, RotoRouterZA, SCAT, sergtp, ShockLink, show gsy, SirReal Madrid, SixenSix, Slayr, smoothnshiny, SnyperUK, Spath21, Test, ThreeMike, tindrum1, Truffl3pigz, Twizzle, UK72, Vader, Vandelay, wesman444, w_a_i_n, Xindianna, Ziggy Coaldust[/quote]

The number of users being logged last 24 hours is also outstanding! Out of 126 users, there are about 30 plus members logging in and that's rarely happening, this means that members comes back and they come back for more! The best thing is you had 31 users being most online, nice work earning this! You did a great job on this criteria too, I also saw about 3-4 members being logged while I was reviewing the forum, almost all of the staff are active, Send out weekly newsletters about the latest update on your forum to get the inactive members back. Keep up the good work! You got a perfect score here!
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[color=orange]Forum Activity total :: 20/20[/color]
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[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/genera12.png[/img] [b][color=limegreen][size=19]Other[/size][/b][/color]

Grade Legend: [b]A[/b]- Outstanding! [b]B[/b]-Very Good [b]C[/b]-Good [b]D[/b]-Fair/Average [b]E[/b]-Poor [b]F[/b]-Very Poor

[list][*][b]Aestheticsm[/b]: B                 
[*][b]Organization[/b]: C
[*][b]Originality[/b]: B
[*][b]Forum Language[/b]: B
[*][b]Professionalism[/b]: B
[*][b]Rules and Terms of Services[/b]: C
[*][b]Cleanliness of The Index/Portal[/b]: C
[*][b]Creativity[/b]: B
[*][b]Forum Features[/b]: B
[*][b]Staff Moderation and Activity[/b]: B
[/list]
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[center][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/yourov10.png[/img]
[b][color=turqoise][size=20]Overall Marking: 76/100[/size][/color][/b]
[size=24][b][color=limegreen]You have passed![/color][/b][/center]
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[center][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/conclu10.png[/img][/center]

[b][color=teal]What could be done to improve your forum:[/b][/size][/color]
Follow what I suggested above
[b][color=teal]The best thing I like about your forum:[/b][/size][/color]
The Graphics of the forum

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Since this review request appears to be completed and accepted, I will now lock this thread and send it to the Review Archives section.

::~> Topic Locked
::~> Moved to Review Archives