Full Review for New Horizons

middo2 at 05h47

Jun

2010

Name of the Forum: New Horizons
Address: http://newhorizons.englishboard.net/index.htm
Area's you wish the reviewer to review: Full Review

Thank You

1 KingOfSports, on 11/06/2010 at 23h00

Tagged

Will be completed in 72- hrs.

2 middo2, on 11/06/2010 at 23h58

Bad timing >.< , the skin that was using just got messed up today due to photobucket. Could this be postponed a bit till I fix the skin? :S

3 KingOfSports, on 12/06/2010 at 00h05

Sure, just post here when it's fixed.

4 Jophy, on 12/06/2010 at 02h59

Locked at the moment to prevent spam/flood, just pm anyone of the reviewer if you want this to be unlocked.

5 KingOfSports, on 15/06/2010 at 03h15

Unlocked as the forum is now ready to be reviewed.

6 KingOfSports, on 15/06/2010 at 21h45

New Horizons

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:

Generalities

First Impressions (Score: 17/20):
The first thing I did on your forum was scroll through the categories. I like the fact that you have a guest forum. It didnt work out so well on my forum, but I personally like the idea of giving the members a chance to experience the forum before the commit to it by registering.

I think that the introduction forum should be in the 2nd category (or just move it up a bit) so that people dont have to scroll down in order to see it. It should be one of the first forums that they see when they first log in so they feel like they have a place to go to so they can be welcomed.

I then noticed that you have 3 categories with only 1 forum in them. I would either put all of them into the same category so it looks more intact with the rest of the forum or I would make them sub-forums in another forum.
Categories & Forums (Score: 8/10):
I said a lot of what I wanted to see in the first impressions. The graphics and art, technology, and role playing categories only have 1 forum in them. I would assume that the graphics and art has more forums once I register, but I cant confirm that.

Other than that, the only thing I would change is the location of the intro forum

Generalities total :: 25/30

Graphic Design & Layout

Graphics (Score: 15/20):
Banner
This banner doesnt seem to fit the topic. Its a plus that it has the forum name and a slogan. However, I dont know what all the other things are. For example, the black area behind the letters New Ho and the other random specks of black on it. Other than that, I think it takes up a good amount of space for a banner.
Navigation Bar
I would center the navigation bar instead of having it to the right. There also isnt really a need for the line before the Home button. The font is ok but it looks like it matches the black lines in the banner which is cool. I dont know if that was intentional or not, but it looks good.
Forum Icons
I can only see the no new topics one so I dont have anything to compare it to. To me it just looks like a blob of paint or something. It does fit with the light grey color of the forum though.
'Who Is Online?' Image
Firstly, this image is very tiny. I almost didnt notice it when I was looking. It looks like two smiley faces from a chat/IM service or something like that. That really works for your forum because its a chat/general discussion forum. I would just try to make it a little bigger so its noticeable and takes up more space.
Forum Layout & Colors (Score: 8/10):
Normally, I like forums that use 2 main colors and then have others to complement it. On this forum, there werent really 2 main colors. There were several shades of grey and then just other places had white and blue. I think your forum looks decent with this color scheme, but I think it would look even better if you had 2 main colors.

As for the layout, Ive spoken about it a couple times. Just fix the forums a bit and it should be fine.

Graphic Design & Layout total :: 23/30

Usergroups

Population of Groups (Score: XX/10):
I cant see the groups, so I will not score this.
Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: XX/10):
There is really no point for a Co-Administrator and a retired moderator group so I would get rid of them. I would add the co admins to the admin group and get rid of the retired moderator group completely. Again, I cant see the amount of people in the groups, so I cant rate you on that.

Usergroups ::XX /20

Forum Activity

Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 11/10):

Our users have posted a total of 111871 messages
We have 345 registered users
The newest registered user is Jewelz

This is simply amazing. Over 100,000 posts for only 345 users! Thats 324 posts per user! That is the highest I have ever seen. Great work in that department.
Users Active (Score: 6/10):

Members connected during last 24 hours : Ace, Ahmed IV, Craig, Dark Flame99966, fifi, Jewelz, jj16802, Lev_93, Marwa, Mr.Muffin, Paradox,Passion, preid1220, Sayfullah, SmexyGenius

This isnt very good for 300+ users. I would want at least 50 logged in during the last 24 hours.

Forum Activity total :: 17/20

Would you like to share your review on your forum, on another forum, or with your friends? Then here you go... grab the code!

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]New Horizons[/font][/b][/size][/color] [/center] [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] [img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/genera12.png[/img] [b][color=limegreen][size=19]Generalities[/size][/color][/b] [list=1] [*][b]First Impressions (Score: 17/20):[/b] The first thing I did on your forum was scroll through the categories. I like the fact that you have a guest forum. It didnt work out so well on my forum, but I personally like the idea of giving the members a chance to experience the forum before the commit to it by registering. I think that the introduction forum should be in the 2nd category (or just move it up a bit) so that people dont have to scroll down in order to see it. It should be one of the first forums that they see when they first log in so they feel like they have a place to go to so they can be welcomed. I then noticed that you have 3 categories with only 1 forum in them. I would either put all of them into the same category so it looks more intact with the rest of the forum or I would make them sub-forums in another forum. [*][b]Categories & Forums (Score: 8/10):[/b] I said a lot of what I wanted to see in the first impressions. The graphics and art, technology, and role playing categories only have 1 forum in them. I would assume that the graphics and art has more forums once I register, but I cant confirm that. Other than that, the only thing I would change is the location of the intro forum [/list] [color=limegreen]Generalities total :: 25/30[/color] [img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/forums10.png[/img] [b][color=darkred][size=19]Graphic Design & Layout[/b][/color][/size] [list=1][*][b]Graphics (Score: 15/20):[/b] [size=11][u][b]Banner[/b][/u][/size] This banner doesnt seem to fit the topic. Its a plus that it has the forum name and a slogan. However, I dont know what all the other things are. For example, the black area behind the letters New Ho and the other random specks of black on it. Other than that, I think it takes up a good amount of space for a banner. [size=11][u][b]Navigation Bar[/b][/u][/size] I would center the navigation bar instead of having it to the right. There also isnt really a need for the line before the Home button. The font is ok but it looks like it matches the black lines in the banner which is cool. I dont know if that was intentional or not, but it looks good. [size=11][u][b]Forum Icons[/b][/u][/size] I can only see the no new topics one so I dont have anything to compare it to. To me it just looks like a blob of paint or something. It does fit with the light grey color of the forum though. [size=11][u][b]'Who Is Online?' Image[/b][/u][/size] Firstly, this image is very tiny. I almost didnt notice it when I was looking. It looks like two smiley faces from a chat/IM service or something like that. That really works for your forum because its a chat/general discussion forum. I would just try to make it a little bigger so its noticeable and takes up more space. [*][b]Forum Layout & Colors (Score: 8/10):[/b] Normally, I like forums that use 2 main colors and then have others to complement it. On this forum, there werent really 2 main colors. There were several shades of grey and then just other places had white and blue. I think your forum looks decent with this color scheme, but I think it would look even better if you had 2 main colors. As for the layout, Ive spoken about it a couple times. Just fix the forums a bit and it should be fine. [/list] [color=darkred]Graphic Design & Layout total :: 23/30[/color] [img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/usergr10.png[/img] [b][color=teal][size=19]Usergroups[/size][/color][/b] [list=1] [*][b]Population of Groups (Score: XX/10):[/b] I cant see the groups, so I will not score this. [*][b]Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: XX/10):[/b] There is really no point for a Co-Administrator and a retired moderator group so I would get rid of them. I would add the co admins to the admin group and get rid of the retired moderator group completely. Again, I cant see the amount of people in the groups, so I cant rate you on that. [/list] [color=teal]Usergroups ::XX /20[/color] [img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/foruma30.png[/img] [b][color=orange][size=19]Forum Activity[/color][/b][/size] [list=1] [*][b]Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 11/10):[/b] [quote] Our users have posted a total of 111871 messages We have 345 registered users The newest registered user is Jewelz [/quote] This is simply amazing. Over 100,000 posts for only 345 users! Thats 324 posts per user! That is the highest I have ever seen. Great work in that department. [*][b]Users Active (Score: 6/10):[/b] [quote]Members connected during last 24 hours : Ace, Ahmed IV, Craig, Dark Flame99966, fifi, Jewelz, jj16802, Lev_93, Marwa, Mr.Muffin, Paradox,Passion, preid1220, Sayfullah, SmexyGenius [/quote] This isnt very good for 300+ users. I would want at least 50 logged in during the last 24 hours. [/list] [color=orange]Forum Activity total :: 17/20[/color]

7 middo2, on 15/06/2010 at 22h50

Thanks a lot King of Sports Wink

8 KingOfSports, on 15/06/2010 at 22h54

No problem.

Locked and archived.