inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
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Post by Matt on Oct 4, 2015 16:14:11 GMT -8
Hey all, I need some opinions on my forum. This is the Chatterbox, a general chatting forum. we are located at thechattingbox.proboards.comCould I please have some reviews and opinions on this please.
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inherit
143480
0
Oct 30, 2023 19:12:28 GMT -8
Clannibal
290
August 2009
middy
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Post by Clannibal on Oct 5, 2015 8:43:49 GMT -8
Hi! I'll just mention very honestly a few things here and there that I find. My reviews usually discuss the best ways to attract and keep new members. I really love your banner image. It's super cool. Looking it at gives me a very good idea about what kind of forum I'm visiting, and that's important. It's a little rough around the edges and there's probably more you could do in the future to make it even more eye catching (for instance, giving it rounded borders) but as it is, it's a great start! You theme is different from the default colors, but very similar in appearance. You may consider browsing the theme library to download a custom theme, and also the plugin library to see what kind of customizations you can add to make your forum unique. There are a lot of forums out there and you want yours to stand out from others. First thing I'm noticing that's a little off is how you have a thread in the forum rules that leads to another thread, instead of posting all the rules in the first thread. I'm not sure why that is? gameslounge.proboards.com/thread/57/main-forum-rulesNot a big deal, but I kind of dislike how many announcements you have and the fact that some thread titles are capitalized and others are not. I mean, is the forum ranks and colors really needed as an announcement, as it's just a reference that will only be looked at maybe once? On that note, why not have that same color legend joined in with the staff thread, too, as they are the same concept? Your rules are simple, albeit a little sloppily written. Many of the words are incorrectly capitalized which makes it a bit more confusing to read. There were only a couple of spelling mistakes. They were short, firm, but not giving the feel of someone overbearing. You have a healthy amount of boards for people to post in and explore. Too many gets overwhelming, and too few can be boring, but yours seems great. I have never seen a monthly chat thread like you have. It's interesting. Will it discourage members from making their own threads, though? Will they all gravitate to the monthly chat thread instead of making their own topics? Just a thought. From the looks of the September thread, it didn't go over so well. Members may have been uneasy about what they should talk about. Maybe start up each thread with a topic or random thought of your own, such as a question like, "What kind of October plans do you have coming up?" Because it's something I've never seen before, I won't say it's good or not good, but maybe it something that should be halted until you get more members. For now, encourage members to make their own threads about topics on their mind. More threads will make the forum look more active, and more topics can be discussed that way. All in all, your forum is done right. It's clean, the subject is easy to ascertain right away, and it has enough content to hopefully grab at more people. Good luck!
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 5, 2015 16:34:57 GMT -8
Hi! I'll just mention very honestly a few things here and there that I find. My reviews usually discuss the best ways to attract and keep new members. I really love your banner image. It's super cool. Looking it at gives me a very good idea about what kind of forum I'm visiting, and that's important. It's a little rough around the edges and there's probably more you could do in the future to make it even more eye catching (for instance, giving it rounded borders) but as it is, it's a great start! You theme is different from the default colors, but very similar in appearance. You may consider browsing the theme library to download a custom theme, and also the plugin library to see what kind of customizations you can add to make your forum unique. There are a lot of forums out there and you want yours to stand out from others. First thing I'm noticing that's a little off is how you have a thread in the forum rules that leads to another thread, instead of posting all the rules in the first thread. I'm not sure why that is? gameslounge.proboards.com/thread/57/main-forum-rulesNot a big deal, but I kind of dislike how many announcements you have and the fact that some thread titles are capitalized and others are not. I mean, is the forum ranks and colors really needed as an announcement, as it's just a reference that will only be looked at maybe once? On that note, why not have that same color legend joined in with the staff thread, too, as they are the same concept? Your rules are simple, albeit a little sloppily written. Many of the words are incorrectly capitalized which makes it a bit more confusing to read. There were only a couple of spelling mistakes. They were short, firm, but not giving the feel of someone overbearing. You have a healthy amount of boards for people to post in and explore. Too many gets overwhelming, and too few can be boring, but yours seems great. I have never seen a monthly chat thread like you have. It's interesting. Will it discourage members from making their own threads, though? Will they all gravitate to the monthly chat thread instead of making their own topics? Just a thought. From the looks of the September thread, it didn't go over so well. Members may have been uneasy about what they should talk about. Maybe start up each thread with a topic or random thought of your own, such as a question like, "What kind of October plans do you have coming up?" Because it's something I've never seen before, I won't say it's good or not good, but maybe it something that should be halted until you get more members. For now, encourage members to make their own threads about topics on their mind. More threads will make the forum look more active, and more topics can be discussed that way. All in all, your forum is done right. It's clean, the subject is easy to ascertain right away, and it has enough content to hopefully grab at more people. Good luck! Thanks for reviewing my forum. Let me explain a few things. about the forum rules thread, I had the main forum rules posted in an announcement which appears at the top of every forum board, That is why I had that link in the rules section. Do you have any suggestions as to which announcements I should remove? I will agree with you that I have too many Announcements. The banner was made by a friend of mine. The monthly chat thread. We used to have Daily Chat Threads on a forum I used to be on, Then it slowly lost activity over the years and then they switched to monthly chat threads and now that forum is almost completely dead, This is where I got that idea from. It's basically meant as a thread to chat about pretty well anything, I never thought about the possibility of it taking away member activity from the boards. I like the chat thread though, Its just a nice relaxing place to chat about basically anything that doesn't fit in a thread of its own. My main concern is getting members, I advertise on the Advertisements board and i got one member out of that but it seems tough. I only have a few members right now. If anyone has any tips for how I can get more members.
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inherit
143480
0
Oct 30, 2023 19:12:28 GMT -8
Clannibal
290
August 2009
middy
|
Post by Clannibal on Oct 5, 2015 17:26:50 GMT -8
I gotcha! Announcement wise, I think most all of them could be safely removed, especially the "Forum ranks and colors" thread and even the staff thread. These are generally ones that will only be viewed once or twice upon joining. Lots of people like having their rules everywhere, but of course that's not necessary either . It'll all depend on your personal preference. Yeah getting fresh members is a pain in the butt! The easiest way is to make a board dedicated to advertisements. People will usually have a regular ad board called "first timers" where people can post their ad on your site. You then have a different section called "link backs" where people post their ads in response to the ad you posted on their site first. It's basically a tradeing of ads. It will generate a lot more traffic. I will also scour Google of similar proboard genres and post ads on good ones I find, usually ones with a decent amount of activity/ visitors.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 5, 2015 19:37:49 GMT -8
I gotcha! Announcement wise, I think most all of them could be safely removed, especially the "Forum ranks and colors" thread and even the staff thread. These are generally ones that will only be viewed once or twice upon joining. Lots of people like having their rules everywhere, but of course that's not necessary either . It'll all depend on your personal preference. Yeah getting fresh members is a pain in the butt! The easiest way is to make a board dedicated to advertisements. People will usually have a regular ad board called "first timers" where people can post their ad on your site. You then have a different section called "link backs" where people post their ads in response to the ad you posted on their site first. It's basically a tradeing of ads. It will generate a lot more traffic. I will also scour Google of similar proboard genres and post ads on good ones I find, usually ones with a decent amount of activity/ visitors. Thanks for your help! Yes this is my first time running a forum so its kind of a learning experience, i enjoy it though and I hope I can build a good community. Thanks for your review.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 7, 2015 13:06:18 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 8, 2015 5:15:14 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 15, 2015 18:18:28 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 16, 2015 15:07:00 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 17, 2015 6:27:10 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 18, 2015 7:50:04 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 23, 2015 6:01:59 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 23, 2015 18:21:45 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 24, 2015 7:34:29 GMT -8
Bump.
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inherit
224902
0
Feb 15, 2017 12:50:39 GMT -8
Matt
2,940
September 2015
mattyboo1
|
Post by Matt on Oct 27, 2015 13:02:44 GMT -8
Bump.
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