Development Chat

[Hitch]

Hi,

So, last time i posted this, it was a basic skin.

However, since then, i have added a new one, spent hours editing it, and adding a sidebar and such.

So, please can i have a review on http://developmentchat.com

Thanks.

Adrian

 

[LeetPCUser]

The Bad

• Favicon doesn't match the site - Although it is a creative icon representing chat you have it nowhere on your site. Most of the time the logo should somehow represent a piece of your site. Most times it is part of the logo. However I don't see that chat bubble anywhere.
• Too much text - The introduction text at the top is quite annoying. It makes the user scroll all the way down to preview your site. Although this might dissapear after you login, it still is a turn off to new users who want to browse the forum.
• Icons don't match - The icons in the stats don't match the overall color scheme of your site. Your main colors are grey, white, and yellow. However your stats icons are bright green and blue. It would be more fitting to match them in color.
• Title - Your title description says "Powered by VBulletin". I really think you should change this to describe your site a bit better.

Good

• Color scheme - I love the color scheme you have chosen. It is very fitting and yet not too harsh on the eyes.
• Clean layout - Your layout is quite clean and there aren't intrusive ads. I really like how sharp it looks.

Overall
Your site looks amazing. Besides the stats and the intro text I really would love to post at this site just because it looks good! Great job!

 

[fmauniverse]

Forum review

Hi. First of all, the template looks really nice. The navigation bars are sorted in a nice order, the colours and borders are good, the layout is clean. Second, the forum and categories structure is wonderful.

Good luck with your site!

Overall Rating: 9/10

Regards.

 

[Hitch]

Thanks, rep added to both of you.

More reviews welcome.

Adrian

 

[Something Vague]

Hi Adrian - I signed up, - big fan of that theme (I'm aware it is not custom).

The Kickass

• Ad intergration - I see it, and I like it. Your advertising is well defined, it's easy to see, but it blends in very well - it's encouraging to click the advertisements.
• Colors & Theme. I think the skin you've choosen is great, I'm a big fan of it. Though, now that you have settled with it, perhaps try replacing the images with some more custom ones. For example, the forum-status icons. Over time try to replace a few here and there.
• Side Navigation - Who's Rocking It? Adrian's rocking it. The side bar was a great addition to the webpage. Previously, it was difficult to keep status of the forum. I felt like this is "just a forum", with the navigation there I feel like the site pertains additional content that I should be following along with. It's informative, and somehow manages to make your website more professional.
• Forum Categories. It's unique, commonly new webmaster forums tend to have a similar "forum setup" to NamePros, or SitePoint, for example.

Needs Some Loving

• Free Templates, That's Nice. The first time your website loaded up, the first thing I saw was "Free Templates, Suggest a Style". That's great, very encouraging. The second time I came back... aware of message, I had the discouragement of having to see it again and again as I loaded through pages. I am aware of contest, can't I close her down?
• Favicon. I'm not a fan of the favicon, I think at the very least you should revert the background color to black/blue (matching your header background), make the text box white. This may help the favicon and site layout look more related. But, favicons aren't too important, fix the free templates first.
• Navigation - Make her bigger. I think if you made the navigation bar a little bit bigger width wise, it would attract more clicks to the links on the navigation, including your advertised links.

What's the COOL FACTOR? 7/10

Needs a small bit of loving... would be great to see some more forum hacks as well.

Keep Rocking,

CWN