bump

oh sorry won't happen again

Tagged & will be completed tomorrow. Please, be patient.




I'm going to be reviewing your forum with Windows XP latest & updated version of OS, 1680 x 1050 pixels resolution and Google Chrome web browser. I also want to say that I haven't meant to be rude, or insult you or your form by writing this review. I just wanted to point out flaws and mistakes that, by my oppinion, should be corrected or replaced. So, no rudeness and insulting of any kind intended. Also, forgive me my gramatic and tense mistakes, I'm not a native English speaker, it's my second laguage and still improving it.


NOTE >> NOTE >> I was maybe too strict with grades in this review, but this is because I couldn't decide well among Poor and Average in some cases. Please, concentrate more on the text, less on the grades. << NOTE << NOTE

First Impressions - Poor

The first thing that caught the eye is that the forum body is translucent. With the fact that the background is not consistent, but has a gradient of white and black tones, it automatically reduces the readability and usability of the entire board, and hence reduce the activity because members do not want to strain their eyes while reading. The forum has too many ‘mobile’ things and it’s a bit glowy, which badly affects the eyes during the browsing. Also, the arrangement of categories and sections is very bad, you have a few crucial spelling errors (It's not DOMAIN to our forum, it's DONATE – if you wanted to say that you'll get a domain, you should rephrase it). The background is not good for all resolutions and screens, which automatically reduces the quality of the design. The navigation has a loop and some pictures can not be loaded. There are too many usergroups, and therefore too many colors that give forum a motley look. When you read the posts, the profiles have, for me, an inexplicable part which is a huge biography of each member, so it vastly extends the post and makes 7-8 posts page seem abnormally long. Also, a few sections have some kind of mini userbars, and other don’t. Be consistent, either make all the icons, or none, because this gives the impression of disorganization. The only thing that is worth, at first glance, is a header which is very effective and dosed (plain text + mascots are always great choice). In general, too bright forum, especially for the nightly visitors who usually surf at night. I would recommend urgent makeover in aspects of design and layout, as well as the overall section & category hierarchy!

Graphics & Layout - Average

As I said, the background does not fit in all screen sizes. My suggestion is to visit the web for tutorials and coding snippets regarding this issue. Header is quite good, while navigation is bad because it is mixed and some are missing (can not load the images). The marquee part would be much better if you replace it with Nivo Slider or some mini thumbnail gallery because it draws too much attention on itself to the detriment of forum and categories. Forum body shout not be transparent/translucent, considering background design and texture. Widgets are nicely arranged, but I think the clock is unnecessary because everyone has it with their PC / Mac device. I would suggest centering exchanged banners in widgets, too. Icons are good at size and shape, although I'm not sure what do the contain (probably a character/monster from the Bleach series). The WIO and statistics are quite simple, but the tech icons do not fit with the rest of the anime design. Portal is too cluttered with external scripts (MixPod, Slideshow, Flag count), and I think that they are mostly unnecessary. All in all, fix everything you can, or consider partial redesign.

Forum Activity - Poor

Cosidering the fact that forum exists for more than a year, number of members (571) is very good, while the number of posts is very low (8119), when one takes member count and time of the forum existance into the consideration. I would attribute this to the many sections (if you reduce it’s number, people would find their way better, because it’s quite disorganized at the moment), poor design, andprobably the forum topic, although I have no expericene of how the Bleach series are popular in general. Since you have already made successful banner exchanges, I would suggest, after the redesign, to create a partnership action with other forums where after the visitors register, you give them online services, gifts or wallpapers, etc. This will increase the number of visitor to visit in the campaign and the forum, and also register themselves.

Staff & Usergroups - Poor

Since there are many groups, I can hardly find my way and assess to the information of who is staff and who is not. As far as I can tell, you have 4 admins, which is too many for this level of activity, with only two admins to appear on the list of the last 99 hours. Since I’ve only noticed GFX mods, which are coloured the same as the soul’s group, I can’t get that situation clearly. But it is not so important. It is important to reduce the number of staff members as long as activity is low, and increase the number when you get more members active.

Originality & Unique Quality - Average

The forum quality is lower because of the design, organization of sections, external widegts overcrowding and too many groups that are confusing. As for the uniqueness, you certainly are not the only one Bleach forum, but with better design and fixing all stated in the review, you can contribute a lot to the overall uniqueness and quality. Therefore, get to work and don’t stop trying.