Driven - comments appreciated

[ldm68]

Hi,

Please take a look at the forum below and give any comments on how it could be improved or what is missing etc.

All advice will be greatly appreciated,

driven.boards.net/

Many Thanks

[ldm68]

Any advice?

[ldm68]

Nothing?

[flin]

The cons-
I'm not fond of the color scheme. It would probably be more appealing if it were more neutral colors, but then that could just be my taste, and someone else might like the bright colors. However, to draw more people to your site, I would suggest something more neutral that doesn't distract people from your content.

The pros-
I like your banner! Only thing I would change is make it bigger so it fits in the top of your site.

[Antique_Traveller]

You've put a lot of effort into an original appearance and design for your forum--and it shows--but you also have a lot of empty boards on the main page. My suggestion would be to limit the number of forums at the moment with such a low member base, in order to avoid all the tumbleweeds.

I'm sort of encountering the same problem with mine at the moment.

[ldm68]

Thank you both for your comments, at least it gives me a few things to think about and maybe tweek. Its difficult to decide how many forums to add, to many and as you say tumbleweed, to few and not inviting enough for people to feel ok to post.

Any other comments will always be appreciated.

[slasher128]

First Impression: Blah

Likes: I like the layout of the boards. The old/new tags are cool.

Things to work on: Ok so the colors are ok but there isn't anything that really grabs my attention. I will admit cars are not my thing so getting my attention is a little harder. I would suggest side tables, I am a huge fan. You can highlight topics and members that way. I would suggest centering your banner as well.

Hope this helps. ^_^

[ldm68]

Well its been a while and I have managed to keep it going (just) but wondered if anyone has any further advice?

The truth I guess is that there are plenty of established forums already so attracting people to yet another will always be difficult also the likes of Facebook / twitter must have had quite a big impact.

Any thoughts always appreciated.

[ldm68]

Well its been a while so any more views would be appreciated!

[Bones]

First Impressions:
Outwardly your board is not too bad but I feel it could do with a bit of re-organization and color scheme more fitting with the theme. Personally I don't feel the right side table is needed and IMO having the info section hidden is usually an indication of a board struggling with activity and to gain new interest and therefore going stale. The about us could easily be a permanent sticky thread or announcement for example. Here are some helpful hints:

layout: The second section and third section aren't too bad just be aware of any boards that are struggling and are worth keeping. It's hard to tell if all the boards in the second section are needed as again the info section is hidden so I can't tell how many members the forum has in relation to activeness, visiting in the last 24 hours. The first section is too big however, it needs to be split into two. Ideally a first category could have help boards, introductions and Forum Suggestions / Problems, all the first arrival kind of stuff. The rest of the boards in this section are mostly car related so could easily form a new second new category. Forums should relate to the category they're in, they should also related to each other within those categories.

Theme: To be honest motoring is more atypically masculine related, I say atypically as of course there are plenty of female petrol heads out there, so perhaps a more masculine darker theme would be more fitting with the theme. Perhaps blacks and grays with accents (links, categories, borders lines) with either the yellow (If you wish to keep it) or perhaps even red as an accent. You're spot on with having darker text on lighter backgrounds rather than the big no-no that is dark text on dark back grounds and light text on light backgrounds a first timer mistake. So you're definitely on the right track. If you do go darker on the theme just make sure any text and links are readable. If you did go darker you would have to match your banner of course.

Activity:
It seems only the same two or three posters posting from what I can see on the boards without any info center, so that is not good and it is clearly struggling. Which is why I think a slightly more fitting color scheme and slight re-organization would mass benefit the forum if you want it to succeed. More so, any forums with the last posts still in 2015 need new threads and activity if your going to try and attract new members, and admin should always be active and adding content to their forum.

Overall You've got a good basis but need to work on it, a small re-organization will help, deciding what forums to keep and not keep. Above all is to keep adding content to gain new interest, especially those last post : 2015 ones I mentioned.

[ldm68]

Thanks for the comments!

Lots of things to think about and can see what you suggest makes sense.
The hidden areas were purely because I felt a bit uneasy having posts open to all that maybe had too many details about members cars etc. It probably doesn't make much difference thinking about it realistically.

[Bones]

You're welcome, hope some of them help.

[ldm68]

I have been "tinkering" so as always comments are appreciated.

[ldm68]

As always comments / advice appreciated!

[ldm68]

Anything else?