Forum Name: Webmaster Ink Link: wmink.net Type of Review: Medium Extra Notes: None - No login required to view content Your name on Forum: Logix
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WebmasterinkReviewed February 6th, 2012 by a reviewer at Adminforums.org First Impressions: The very first thing that I noticed when visiting the forum was the banner that stands out; however unfortunately it stands out in a bad way. The forum banner looks like it's been made smaller but not to the correct proportion. It looks like it's been squished horizontally when it should really be done horizontally and vertically. Saying this, I think that the overall look and feel of your theme for a first impression is awesome, because it really stands out when it is full of warm greens, with colors that blend. Discussed more in next paragraph. (24/25) ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------- Look and Feel:As stated in the paragraph above, I really like the overall look and feel of the forum. I especially like that the forum uses really warm shades of green that blend nicely. However, saying this; this theme could appear at potentially any IPB forum that I visited. I think that if you wanted to get a really decent, amazing theme, it'd have to be a custom one that you make yourself. Making something for yourself for a forum of your size gives you no greater sense of pride that you've done something really good to your community in order to make things better. Also saying this, don't you think that at some point there's too much green? Overall I think that it could potentially be overused. Especially on the sidebars where the white text with the really light shade of green is very hard to read. I think that as a simple fix you could use a very dark gray with a white shadow on it to make it an invert type style. It would make things much easier to read. (23/25) ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------- Organization: I really like the organization of your forum. I think that you could probably hide some of your subforums since one forum has about 7. If you were to hide, it would make your forum look that much more organized. This however, is your choice. VERY well done on this section. (24/25) ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------- Members and Staff: I don't say this very often. But when I do, I mean it. I think that for a forum of your size, you need to recruit one or two more global moderators (depending on when activity appears). I think that for a forum of 2,500 you need a team that is ready to go if there is a threat to your forum. A bigger forum means someone may want to attack it more, and so more moderators help with that since one is typically online. I don't think that it's too good that your other admin and your only moderator has 40 posts. This may / may not be up to par for you, but I think if someone is going to work as a higher position on a forum, they should be an active poster since moderators are usually the ones who get things rolling. (23/25) ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------- Good Points: Amazing Design, Good amount of members.----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------- Bad points: Too much green!----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- -------------------Total Score: 94/100
DESIGN I see almost not change from the 'Overlay Green' theme (link to it:http://www.ipbforumskins.com/premade/overlay_green/index.php). Well to be honest, I noticed the logo was a bit 'crammed' and with no styling and it looks out of place with the theme, which seems to have been created by someone with more photoshop skills. So this led me to find you're using a pre-made theme. The theme is nice, but you need to 'beef it up'. You have a webmaster forum, the competition is FIERCE. If you're not having a custom designed theme that looks professional enough, you'll get lost among thousands of forums (if not more). In such a niche, dedicated to specialized people), if you don't have a site that looks unique and professional, you're hindering your success. Not all are specialists with theme customization, but even changing some colours, tweaking the CSS can make your forums stand out. The logo NEEDS work. You should take this seriously since in our niche (I'm partially in this niche with my admin forum, but I had a webmaster forum for 6 years and had a unique layout) people are VERY PICKY. If I can choose a forum that inspires me (design wise even, since I am a web designer) and a forum with a 'stock' theme, I will choose the unique design. I have people even now join my so small that it doesn't matter forum telling me 'I came here because I love how it looks'. Get a leverage with the design too, you have no idea how much this can help you out. A unique design will make people love it and wanna be a part of it CONTENT You have more members than actual posts. It's always 'healthy' to remove the accounts with zero posts. Now you don't feel this, but in 1-2 years, when you'll get to 5-7K members your database will suffer. I usually prune my inactives (by inactive I mean people who NEVER posted) to keep my database 'slender'. You have some redundant categories (IMO of course). Could have the suggestions and news in a category (Updates and feedback can be called) .. The marketplace is OK. I'd put jobs and offers together and have a category for FREE stuff (people who donate scripts or want free something) and also advertisement (where they can advertise a contest or an event on their site). Web design sofware and CMS are NOT the same thing. I wouldn't put them together. I usually have 2 categories for this: development software and content management systems. Overall it's a pleasant community and I hope to see it grow and also sport a more unique look as it matures
