Hello
mamasoxfan25!
Thank you for offering a template; however, I already have a semi-regular routine I follow. I will start with first impressions so you know what sticks out. Then I will go more in-depth into your boards for both Layout and Content critiques. I will end with an overall summary of your forum... so yea, for the most part I'll cover what you have in your template just in a different format!
Ready? Let's get this party started!
(Fair warning: I did parts of this review offline – my internet connection failed after I had loaded your forum. I am annoyed at my connection most days but today is especially annoying.)
First Impressions: Oooooo. Very handsome people up top! (Supernatural fan here.
) The forum looks interesting and clear. I think I’ll look around.
Forum Banner: So yes, your banner is a tremendous part of a first impression and should definitely draw fans in for a second look (from either show). I remember seeing it earlier when it was a GIF and I am glad you changed it. Not only did your page load faster (slow internet connection when it is actually working even), but it also now enhances the forum rather than taking attention away from the boards.
May I recommend, however, that you mingle the characters more in your banner rather than having Supernatural on the left and Vampire Diaries on the right? By mingling the characters more, you could represent the merger of the worlds members will experience on your forum.
Color Scheme: I like the scheme you have picked out. It’s clean. It’s definitely easy to read. And black just works with the supernatural and vampire mysteries of the world.
If you look to spice it up with a bit of color, I think red would work as it represents both love and blood, integral parts of both shows.
The improvement I would recommend has to deal with your New Post and No New Post icons. I would invert the symbol to white and then remove the box. Honestly, that box breaks things up for me. For the New Posts icon, then you could choose a different color – perhaps red again.
Layout & Boards: I think your layout is good. I like the use of sidebars for both important links and chatting. This also breaks up the “straight boards” feel one may get without it.
For the boards themselves, they are nicely organized with important welcome information up top, RP boards next, and out of character not-so-essential boards at the bottom. In addition, none of the categories has an overwhelming number of boards, especially for a relatively new site.
That being said, I don’t like that the “Out of Character
Fun” (should capitalize fun) category has more boards than the rest. To amend this, I would recommend you move the greetings board (Why do you call it “Hello
/Goodbye thread”?) up to the “Welcome!” category since it would fit best there and you could hide the “Recycle bin”, especially from guests. This would also keep your site from looking like a dying forum when guests view the thread and post count in the “Recycle bin”.
Content: I would suggest you be more specific than the category name of “The RP spot” and more broad than “Time”. Perhaps you could call them “Real World” and “Other Realms”, respectively. Then, of course, you could transfer Heaven and Hell over and perhaps expand on “The World”.
As a new site, however, you shouldn’t have so many boards that you stretch your small member-base. So maybe keep with the same number of boards in your RP world combining Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell together as sub-boards under a singular “Supernatural Plains” board or something like that.
More of a random note: Do you really need a “Special” board for events? My guess is those event will happen somewhere within the RP world. Another note, you spelled spe
cial wrong in the board title.
I like the content you have now and you’ve definitely provided a place for members to expand out your world and plot. With a few tweaks, it will only be that much better.
Rules: And so I come to your forum rules. I read the rules primarily for clarity and to get an idea of the type of admin you may come across as or even the kind of community you hope to build.
First thing I like is the ease at which I could find your rules. Thank you!
Second thing, your rules just on a glance look very short and easily digestible.
For the actual rules, your first “XX” note should have a comma after “here”. I had to read the sentence 3 times before I realized what you were actually saying. Sorry.
For the last rule under Registering, I think it would be more clear if you wrote it “We are an ANY
LEVEL type RPG.” Just reading through your Character rules, I couldn’t believe some of these rules are needed, I had to laugh a bit. Seriously? You had to put about pregnancy and death happening at the same time? Lastly, in the last rule of your Roleplaying set, “If I catch you making fun of someone homosexual or straight
, you will not be
given any warnings
; you WILL be deleted
from this
board, no exception
s.” The red is what you should change to be clearer.
Overall, your rules are very short and sweet and clear. Good job.
P.S. You should lock your rules and change the permissions to not allow guess to post in your announcements board and especially in your rules.
Overall: In general, I think you have a very good looking forum both in aesthetics and content. I would likely join if I didn’t have too much to do already.
I wish you all the best luck in growing your community and building a successful forum!
Ready? Let's get this party started! 
) The forum looks interesting and clear. I think I’ll look around.
