Hello
Violet, I am Sarapha, a friendly reviewer of forums. The way that I review a board is that I look it over as a guest, and write down what I see, in the order I see it. Then, I take another look, and see what details can be tweaked. I'm brutal, I'm honest. I don't sugar-coat. You'll find this to be the best help, though, because potential members judge even worse than I possibly could. I have 8+ years of experience with Proboards and its glory. Let us start
Main BannerNot too bad, it tells me that the site is about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (a show dear to my heart growing up). What it does NOT tell me, though, is whether this is a discussion forum, an RPG forum, or really anything else. You have space to the far left in the white text, I would add text clarifying that.
The NameWhile it's always nice to have the fandom in the name somewhere, "MMPR" doesn't mean anything to me until it's explained what it stands for. A good idea is to have an actual name of the site, followed by MMPR RPG or MMPR Discussion. That will take care of people not knowing what the site is, but also gives you an official title to call yourself. For instance, the official title of my site is "Accio Nox : HPRPG". Tells you all you need to know, right there in the title. The site is called Accio Nox, it is a Harry Potter Role Play. Anyone looking for that sort of thing knows they are in the right place. "MMPR United" tells me first, that the title is too long to have an actual name, and second, it is about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Not enough to get me enticed into the site, despite my love for MMPR.
First LookThere really isn't anything personalized or customized about this forum. Lacking a lot of color, lacking a lot of description in the boards, just has a lot of blank space.
BoardsI don't see a welcome board... That is important. The welcome board tells your members what the site is about, and why they should join it. At this point, it appears to me that maybe this board is private, one made between friends that had an idea, and figured that anyone to join also knows that idea.
ColorsThe group color that you have for Aether Nyx is very difficult to read. I actually had to highlight the whole board to tell you what the name was. I'd suggest going darker on that name.
Announcements and Rules boardMy biggest suggestion, if you want your announcements to be paid attention to, is to create a board all its own with the "Rules and Information" (where you give the rules and what the site is about), then the announcements/suggestions/questions board. You have to figure, the announcements will have much more traffic than the Rules and Information board pertaining to posts. However, the Rules, plot, and site information is the very first place any potential guest will go. You don't want them to have to shuffle through tens of threads to find what they are looking for, just like you don't want current members to shuffle through information they already know just to see what the newest announcement is. Also, with the way the boards are labeled, I would not know that the plot was located in this board, as the title only states Announements and Rules.
The PlotThere are two big problems with the plot. The first is an easy fix, and it is the lack of punctuation and grammar knowledge. I could write up right now the correct way to type that. The second problem, however, is not something I can fix. From this, I can gather that the site is an RPG site. What I cannot gather, however, is where I'd be able to fit in, or even what is going on with the plot to be able to know where to start. I understand the story, and I do see where it would be an interesting read for, say, a fanfiction, but I fail to see RP ability in this. It also looks like only Canon people can actually be involved in that plot, giving you a max of 12 members on your site.
The point of an RPG forum is to have an interactive plot that allows many people to be involved, but also to give them some freedom to create sub-plots pertaining to their characters. Based on this plot, I cannot say that there is any freedom to do so, which may be turning off a lot of potential members.
Dictionary/AcronymsI'm confused as to why you have that thread. I understand, needing to alert people of site terms that they may not know already, but... What is the purpose? Are people allowed to RP in what is called Chat-speak? Are there areas of the site that use the terms a lot? Almost everything you have on there is a very common internet term, ones that people should already know, or will pick up on on their own.
The Rules#s 5 and 6 are not technically rules.
For #2, I would elaborate just a bit on what would be considered godmoding, for those who aren't familiar with RP
WelcomeThis thread, I expected, would tell me more about the site... But it gives me a description of RPing. Though this is a good thing, I would change the name of the thread to something along the lines of "What is RP?" I would also cite the link that you copied the text from.
Character CreationDoes your site allow OC's? I can't find that information anywhere. I found a list of Canon Characters, but nowhere does it tell me whether OCs are permitted. That may be something worth putting into the Rules thread. I'm also not finding a date, or a timeframe. How do people know what age their character would be?
Angel Grove CategoryI won't delve into the boards, but I do see quite a few empty ones. Empty boards indicates nonactivity, which will turn people away rather fast. Do you have an account? Have more than one? Post away in the boards. Give people a reason to want to get involved.
Angel Grove BankThese boards are there... But hidden? In cases of you not wanting guests to see something until they have signed up, I would go to your admin account and switch it so that the guest view for the category is off. While you may see it as giving people the anticipation of seeing something after they have joined, potential members don't relate into the mystery, and just see a place they aren't allowed.
Final thoughtsAfter spending about 45 minutes on this board, I can honestly say that my eyes are tired, and it wouldn't be something I can see committing to. The lack of originality in the theme of the site reflects strongly with the lack of originality and interaction with the plot, and all together, makes for an experience that seems more tedious than it would be fun.
