♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
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Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 6, 2009 13:13:58 GMT -8
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130622
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Oct 19, 2012 8:00:30 GMT -8
Thor
99
September 2008
kentucky827
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Post by Thor on Feb 7, 2009 8:33:58 GMT -8
Skin / Template:I think that your biggest issue is your skin. To start, I would put your site's name on your banner, so it's very clear where you are. I would next make the text size a bit larger: in the info center and board descriptions it isn't easy to read. I like your color choices, though; it's easy on the eyes. I would change the old/new icons to match the blues a bit more or at least to a lighter green. I noticed in your info center you have images for info and users online, but there's a little default birthday cake sitting there all by itself. xD Lastly, I'd get rid of the photograph background---they tend to make forums look cluttered and a bit messy. You could either go with a solid background, maybe a darker shade of blue, or request one to go with the skin. Forum Theme & Content:Since you're generally following books, I'd say that straying too far form the plot wouldn't be a good thing, so that's a plus there for you. Boards, Categories, & Organization:Organization and boards are fine, I would just make your board descriptions quite a bit longer and more descriptive; therefore more appealing. Codes:The few I can see you put up are good, except I would bring the side tables up so that they start where your welcome table starts. I would also make your banner as big as forum (just noticed that). Other Thoughts:Not half bad overall. Evidently, there are some improvements that oculd be made, namely with the skin and graphics. Overall Rating: 6.5/10 Hope that helps. :3
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 7, 2009 9:30:51 GMT -8
It sure does thank you so much
I only have to ask you one thing: When you said that the text should be bigger you meant on the side boxes or on the forum overall?
Also yes the forum is based on the Books however it has been active since 2004 so the plot has very much evolved and the incidents take place almost an Age after the last bok
I'l make pertinent changes guided by what you mentioned, thanks again.
I am still open to more critiques XD
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inherit
130622
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Oct 19, 2012 8:00:30 GMT -8
Thor
99
September 2008
kentucky827
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Post by Thor on Feb 7, 2009 9:35:24 GMT -8
The fourm overall, as far as text size goes, but mostly in board descriptions. Glad to have helped.
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fantasmic
inherit
-3226048
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May 11, 2024 2:11:53 GMT -8
fantasmic
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January 1970
GUEST
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Post by fantasmic on Feb 7, 2009 9:44:01 GMT -8
I commend you on having a forum running for so long! I can barely get mine off the ground -_-;; Haha. Grumbling aside, on to the rate. Looking at the boards, they look very thorough. You've got everything you need, nice activity, and everything. And there aren't so many that new members will be intimidated by the sheer mass of everything. I would focus on working on the skin though. The background is awfully busy. I wouldn't suggest using an actual image as the background. It's very distracting. Try a subtle pattern, or even a solid color that works thematically with the forum. You want your focus to be on the boards, not what's behind them. Also, your old/new images are very large and hard to read. I'd suggest use either a small icon, a transparent word (just "new" or "old"), or something of the like. Remember, with the internet, less is usually more. Simple is your friend. You wanna keep all those DSL users out there in mind when optimizing your board. Also, you've got several different color schemes going on. The member categories are bright and harsh on that beautiful blue, which makes them a bit painful to try read. Also, you've got some greens going on and that blue. Pick a color, and run with it. For LOTR, I'd probably stick with that foresty look. I dunno why, but that's the only part of the movies I remember XD; and That Orlando Bloom made a pretty blond, but... yea. ._.;
Also, your side bars are kinda messy looking because they don't align with your banner. Speaking of which, do you have two? You really love killing those DSL's, doncha Pick a banner that works with your site, it's name and its theme, and run with it. Just like the colors. Everything, especially in an RPG, should have a purpose and work together. And work on getting your banner and side bars to align. It looks lopsided. And I'd suggest making sure the board and banner are the same width. I like neat and tidy xD;!
Anyways, I think if you work on that skin, your board will be near perfect. I give it about a 7/10, points deducted for the skin but added for the amazing activity and organization of the forum in general =]
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 7, 2009 10:28:11 GMT -8
Thank you so far guys I will keep all that in mind and will work on it asap I will have to wait for the Staff in charge of the graphics though but I will work on it.
thank you so much *hugs*
Anyone else wants to give it a go? I wont bite XD
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inherit
112282
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Apr 17, 2020 0:06:58 GMT -8
•• cha hoppy
47
October 2007
29cha
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Post by •• cha hoppy on Feb 7, 2009 10:51:45 GMT -8
Overall, your board has a nice feel to it. However, there are some things you can do to make it better. I'm just going to go through and list some things as I see them.
Background: It's busy. You have it at full opacity, so you see every little detail of the image. This distracts the eye from the board itself. You want something a little more low key that complements your board. As you want the eye drawn to the boards and not the background. After all, the boards are the key part and not the background. I would suggest fading the image into a background color, which would lighten the details in the picture and blend it more into a color, so it doesn't just draw the eye to it. Otherwise, perhaps as someone else suggested a repeating pattern that is low key, nothing really pops out at you when you look at it.
Board Color: With your current skin, your theme seems to be more more greens and grays. The blue-ish hue you currently have, though nice on the eye, does not really seem to flow well with the rest of the graphics. I'm just wondering if perhaps going to a light (somewhat blueish?) gray, with dark text, would help to link it all together, as a lighter table color may help to dim the background, or to balance it.
Off/On Buttons: They really stand out in your skin. They don't really follow the flow you're trying to create. Personally, I'm not a fan of off/on buttons that have text on them. I feel they draw away from the boards, which themselves are text. I would suggest a simple image, like a round button or design, the one being a brighter hue than the window color, and the off fading into the window color. This will allow you to easily tell between the two.
Side Bar image: I love how you do a different image with them, however my only complaint, and again this is my own personal preference, I would make them uniform in size. Pick a good height and width and apply it to each image. As it'll help to balance the images and side tables, especially when the images themselves are each different.
Table Widths: For me, I'm getting a scroll bar across the bottom of my screen. This can become a bit of an annoyance to members if they have scroll over to keep reading things properly. I would suggest, setting the width of your boards so that they fit a 1024 x 768 screen, as I believe that is the most common resolution people use. Also, with width, things do not line up right. People are more drawn to things that even. Like banners that are the same width of the board and what not. So as you edit, I would suggest working to make the tables line up together. The side tables are all the same width, and everything on the left side is all the same width. This will give your board a more professional look, as with everything kind off, it makes it seem a little messy.
Banners: I see you have two top banners and a lower banner. From what I can tell, you were trying to get the upper most banner above everything so it's sort of like a cap to the board with the bottom banner forming the bottom cap. This does seem to create too much clutter, especially with the two banners at the top. I would suggest, if you want to keep the wrapping banners [one on top and one on bottom], is to change the second top banner to perhaps the name of your board. Just in a nice script that matches the font color, and the background matching window background, as this will give it its own attention as well as provide the other two banners with their own attention. And the bottom banner, this may actually seem to be the source of some trouble, especially in regards to the table width. If you move it out of the table code [that allows you to create the side tables] it will center the banner like the top one is, to give that capping look. Once you accomplish that, just just make sure everything lines up nicely, you may need to adjust some widths, whether board, side table, or the two banner's widths.
However, I'm not sure if you'd want to cap it with the side boards inside, as depending on how long your side bars are compared to your board, you could have a large gap under the left side of your boards -- especially if the side bars extend past the end of the left side. So you will have to play to see how everything sits. As if you end up with the large gap on the index page, I would suggest having those banners capping the left side of the table instead of everything. In that case, you would need to move the top banner into side-tables code, to where the second column starts.
Over all, after everything I stated, and even if it looks like a lot, it allowed me to dissect your board and try to see what you were looking for in a skin, which was my focus, you have the beginnings of a very nice skin. I think if you can get it to work, it'll end up looking very nice.
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 7, 2009 14:14:39 GMT -8
I was having a problem with one of the codes concerning the header image but it is all fixe dnow. I will work on the old and new buttons and the background as well.
thank you for your advice
I am open for anyone who also wishes to give me some constructive criticism concerning the board XD
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 9, 2009 0:40:12 GMT -8
I could really use some constructive criticism! ;D
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 10, 2009 1:00:44 GMT -8
*bumpos* I could really use some constructive criticism... promise! ;D
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Feb 14, 2009 15:18:21 GMT -8
*bumps* I could really use some constructive criticism... promise! ;D
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Mar 27, 2009 14:39:25 GMT -8
*bumps* I could really use some constructive criticism... promise! ;D
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Nov 5, 2009 8:58:36 GMT -8
*bumps* I could really use some constructive criticism... promise! ;D
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Jan 28, 2010 13:00:07 GMT -8
Bump
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♥ { M.T. } ♥
Junior Member
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
Posts: 366
inherit
31792
0
Jul 13, 2014 8:47:02 GMT -8
♥ { M.T. } ♥
An ni seo a dh?onaidh me
366
October 2004
ourgalaxy
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Post by ♥ { M.T. } ♥ on Jan 30, 2010 10:46:33 GMT -8
Bump
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