graphics/design layout

[Admin]

kinzisland

Congratulations! Your free forum review has been completed. The forum review will hold many tips, suggestions, comments, and feedback that's convenient and voluntary for your forum. Here is your forum review:

Graphics

1.Banner(Score: 10/10):
Well, i think your banner is very good, its well thought out, fits well with the forum theme and also the christmas theme too. I Really like the way that you have the holly border around the main banner, this adds to the christmas feel of the forum, its always good to see a bright, vibrant banner on a forum as it shows a sense of community within the forum. The banner is the first thing your members see as they enter the forum so it has to make a good impression and i have to say, yours does that very well! Its a cartoon snapshot i think of a snowy winters day with loads of animals making snowmen and stuff, its like a minature story, its great! Also you don't let the name of your forum get lost in the scene as you have made the text stand out by making it rainbow coloured and very bold, it also links in with the banner too! Well done with the banner, its great and well thought out, i can't think of anything you could improve on in this aspect!

2.Navigation Bars/Buttons(Score: 6/10):
Your navigation bar is split into two parts, its kind of hard to navigate around using this as it is complicated too look at, the navigation bar as a whole (the one with the buttons, not the text) fits into the theme very well without being camouflaged, it doesn't merge in with the background and stands out enough to be clearly visible. The black border helps it stand out more and so does the slight change in blue colour. Keep this as it is, now you see the text part of the navigation bar is not very good as it doesn't stand out very well, alsoyou have a blue bar above the main navigation bar just with three links on, the left is left blank, really you need to merge the two navigation bars together so either make the whole navigation bar white text, or the whole navigation bar the blue buttons (i reccomend the blue buttons) as it would make it look more proffesional and would clear up your style a bit more. I ove the 4 clocks ontop of the forum, i think thats helpful to your members and there also a great design feature too! They fill in some space and add something to the look of your forum, not to mention that it makes your forum look more organised and proffesional!

3.Images and Icons(Score: 9/10):
I think your mac style bar at the bottom of the screen is very good and its custom too, you have added a black border which makes it match your navigation bar perfectly, good idea. Also all your icons on the mac bar are sectioned up into categoeries this makes them look well organised and makes it easier to use that bar to navigate to different places which are important to the forum. The icons on it are clear and well designed, there's no distortion on them and they look professional, great work on the mac bar! keep this feature definatly as it is a great aspect of your forum. Ok now on to your forum/topic icons, the forum icons you have at the moment are great and well designed (like the rest of your forum really) they do match with your forums theme even though they are a completely different colour, but they do match. All your forum icons link in together, you have a bag with a + on for new posts, nothing on for no new posts and a X on for forum locked, they areeasy for members to look at and know whether a forum has any new posts or not, good job and a nice size for the forum icons. Now on to the topic icons, you have letters for new posts etc.. and flags for announcements. I think this is a great idea as they link in to the purpose of what the icons purpose is, but i have to say that i think that they are a bit too big for topic icons as they really should be smaller that the forum icons and yours aren't, they are again easy for members to understand which topics have new posts etc but they really are a bit to big, not a major issue but it would help your forum by making them smaller. Your who is online picture is very detailed and does what its purpose is and also fits with your forums blue theme too, good work on the icons. I liked your categoery images which seem to be a seethrough blue colour, which behind you can see the same holly design that is on the forum logo, you can really see that you have made sure that all the aspects of your forums design link together, your forum is amazing to look at.

SCORE: 25/30

Display/Layout

1. Organization and Index/Portal Appearance(Score: 8/10):
Your portal is well layed out with your widgets on the right hand side and the important announcements on the left, also on the far left you have a gap where you can see the background, which is good, and then some special features of the forum vertically displayed down the side, although i would suggest that you should put the links on the far left horizontally not vertically as it would use up theat blank space and would make it easier to read the text as i find it hard to read vertically, don't know about you but these are only my opinions. I Like the way that on your portal you have the most important topics at the top of the page and the least important at the bottom although i have to say that your portal is just too long, it needs to be shorter. your mac bar that follows you wherever you go really needs to be centered as at the moment it really annoys me that is slightly off center, it would help if you centered it so it is in the middle of the page. In your forum the widgets are on the left hand side and the forum is on the right hand side, it would be nice if there was some consistancey between your forums pages so that the widgets are on the same side all the time, you could think about working on that. other than that, your index (forum) is a good length, not to long or short and is well layed out, keep it up!


2.Categories and Forums(Score: 6/10):
You have 6 categoeries fo which the first three have a nice, equal amount of forums in, but then you have the three categoeries at the bottom which only have 1 or two in each one, if i was you i wuld be thinking of merging the categoeries into one to reduce your categoery number and keep the amount of forums per categoery the same throughout, at the moment it doesn't help your forums layout and makes your categoeries look uneven, so as i said, try merging the categoeries into 1 or add some more forums to ech categoery to make them equal like the top 3 categoeries are. you have 24 forums and sub-forums all together, this is a good amount to have as it doesn't make your forum overcrowded although i would suggest that in your general forum, you have 5 sub-forums, the most sub-forms you should really have on any forum is three, sort that out and it will look better and would not be as crowed as it is. Alot of things to clear up on this section, good luck!

3.Forum Colors Scheme(Score: 10/10):
As i have said in earlier topics your forums colour scheme is very good, you have matched the categoery tables design with the forums banner and the mac bar matches with the navigation bar, your forum icons fit with the colour scheme well, although you wouldn't think so and so do your topic icons. The blue text stands out against your white background of your tables which makes the forum descriptions clear to read and see and you havekept your forums blue and white theme throughout all the oages that your forum has, nothin gis an issude with your colour scheme as everything you have at the moment works well together, keep the blue and whit colour scheme definatly as it gives a calming effect to your members and gives i vibrant and bright apperance to your forum, its always nice to make your forum look like a friendly happy place with a bright colour scheme than a dull black and grey colour scheme which makes everyone feel sad. Full marks for this section as it is your forums best feature by far!

SCORE:24/30




Overall Marking: 49/60
You have passed!

What could be done to improve the graphics of your forum:
You could merge the two navigation bars you have together to make it look more proffesional and clearer for your members to see.

The best thing I liked about the graphics of your forum:
Your consistant colour scheme is your best feature by far as it gives a light airly feel to your forum and it all links together.


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Code:

[center][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/yourfo10.png[/img]

[color=limegreen][b][font=Trebuchet MS Bold Italic][size=24]kinzisland
[/b][/font][/size][/color]
[/center]


[table][tr][td][img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/review12.png[/img][/td]
[td]Congratulations! Your free forum review has been completed. The forum review will hold many tips, suggestions, comments, and feedback that's convenient and voluntary for your forum. Here is your forum review:[/td][/tr][/table]


[b][color=blue]Graphics[/color][/b]

[b][color=green]1.Banner(Score: 10/10):[/color][/b]
Well, i think your banner is very good, its well thought out, fits well with the forum theme and also the christmas theme too.  I Really like the way that you have the holly border around the main banner, this adds to the christmas feel of the forum, its always good to see a bright, vibrant banner on a forum as it shows a sense of community within the forum.  The banner is the first thing your members see as they enter the forum so it has to make a good impression and i have to say, yours does that very well!  Its a cartoon snapshot i think of a snowy winters day with loads of animals making snowmen and stuff, its like a minature story, its great!  Also you don't let the name of your forum get lost in the scene as you have made the text stand out by making it rainbow coloured and very bold, it also links in with the banner too!  Well done with the banner, its great and well thought out, i can't think of anything you could improve on in this aspect!

[b][color=green]2.Navigation Bars/Buttons(Score: 6/10):[/color][/b]
Your navigation bar is split into two parts, its kind of hard to navigate around using this as it is complicated too look at, the navigation bar as a whole (the one with the buttons, not the text) fits into the theme very well without being camouflaged, it doesn't merge in with the background and stands out enough to be clearly visible.  The black border helps it stand out more and so does the slight change in blue colour.  Keep this as it is, now you see the text part of the navigation bar is not very good as it doesn't stand out very well, alsoyou have a blue bar above the main navigation bar just with three links on, the left is left blank, really you need to merge the two navigation bars together so either make the whole navigation bar white text, or the whole navigation bar the blue buttons (i reccomend the blue buttons) as it would make it look more proffesional and would clear up your style a bit more.  I ove the 4 clocks ontop of the forum, i think thats helpful to your members and there also a great design feature too!  They fill in some space and add something to the look of your forum, not to mention that it makes your forum look more organised and proffesional! 

[b][color=green]3.Images and Icons(Score: 9/10):[/color][/b]
I think your mac style bar at the bottom of the screen is very good and its custom too, you have added a black border which makes it match your navigation bar perfectly, good idea.  Also all your icons on the mac bar are sectioned up into categoeries this makes them look well organised and makes it easier to use that bar to navigate to different places which are important to the forum.  The icons on it are clear and well designed, there's no distortion on them and they look professional, great work on the mac bar! keep this feature definatly as it is a great aspect of your forum.  Ok now on to your forum/topic icons,  the forum icons you have at the moment are great and well designed (like the rest of your forum really) they do match with your forums theme even though they are a completely different colour, but they do match.  All your forum icons link in together, you have a bag with a + on for new posts, nothing on for no new posts and a X on for forum locked, they areeasy for members to look at and know whether a forum has any new posts or not, good job and a nice size for the forum icons.  Now on to the topic icons, you have letters for new posts etc.. and flags for announcements.  I think this is a great idea as they link in to the purpose of what the icons purpose is, but i have to say that i think that they are a bit too big for topic icons as they really should be smaller that the forum icons and yours aren't, they are again easy for members to understand which topics have new posts etc but they really are a bit to big, not a major issue but it would help your forum by making them smaller.  Your who is online picture is very detailed and does what its purpose is and also fits with your forums blue theme too, good work on the icons.  I liked your categoery images which seem to be a seethrough blue colour, which behind you can see the same holly design that is on the forum logo, you can really see that you have made sure that all the aspects of your forums design link together, your forum is amazing to look at.

[center][b]SCORE: 25/30[/b][/center]


[b][color=blue]Display/Layout[/color][/b]

[b][color=green]1. Organization and Index/Portal Appearance(Score: 8/10):[/color][/b]
Your portal is well layed out with your widgets on the right hand side and the important announcements on the left, also on the far left you have a gap where you can see the background, which is good, and then some special features of the forum vertically displayed down the side, although i would suggest that you should put the links on the far left horizontally not vertically as it would use up theat blank space and would make it easier to read the text as i find it hard to read vertically, don't know about you but these are only my opinions.  I Like the way that on your portal you have the most important topics at the top of the page and the least important at the bottom although i have to say that your portal is just too long, it needs to be shorter.  your mac bar that follows you wherever you go really needs to be centered as at the moment it really annoys me that is slightly off center, it would help if you centered it so it is in the middle of the page.  In your forum the widgets are on the left hand side and the forum is on the right hand side, it would be nice if there was some consistancey between your forums pages so that the widgets are on the same side all the time, you could think about working on that.  other than that, your index (forum) is a good length, not to long or short and is well layed out, keep it up!


[b][color=green]2.Categories and Forums(Score: 6/10):[/color][/b]
You have 6 categoeries fo which the first three have a nice, equal amount of forums in, but then you have the three categoeries at the bottom which only have 1 or two in each one, if i was you i wuld be thinking of merging the categoeries into one to reduce your categoery number and keep the amount of forums per categoery the same throughout, at the moment it doesn't help your forums layout and makes your categoeries look uneven, so as i said, try merging the categoeries into 1 or add some more forums to ech categoery to make them equal like the top 3 categoeries are. you have 24 forums and sub-forums all together, this is a good amount to have as it doesn't make your forum overcrowded although i would suggest that in your general forum, you have 5 sub-forums, the most sub-forms you should really have on any forum is three, sort that out and it will look better and would not be as crowed as it is.  Alot of things to clear up on this section, good luck!

[b][color=green]3.Forum Colors Scheme(Score: 10/10):[/color][/b]
As i have said in earlier topics your forums colour scheme is very good, you have matched the categoery tables design with the forums banner and the mac bar matches with the navigation bar, your forum icons fit with the colour scheme well, although you wouldn't think so and so do your topic icons.  The blue text stands out against your white background of your tables which makes the forum descriptions clear to read and see and you havekept your forums blue and white theme throughout all the oages that your forum has, nothin gis an issude with your colour scheme as everything you have at the moment works well together, keep the blue and whit colour scheme definatly as it gives a calming effect to your members and gives i vibrant and bright apperance to your forum, its always nice to make your forum look like a friendly happy place with a bright colour scheme than a dull black and grey colour scheme which makes everyone feel sad. Full marks for this section as it is your forums best feature by far!

[center][b]SCORE:24/30[/b]


[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/yourov10.png[/img]

[b][color=#0000e0][size=20]Overall Marking: 49/60[/size][/color][/b]
[size=24][b][color=limegreen]You have passed![/color][/b][/size]


[img]http://i87.servimg.com/u/f87/13/67/77/07/conclu10.png[/img][/center]

[b][color=teal][size=14]What could be done to improve the graphics of your forum:[/b][/size][/color]
You could merge the two navigation bars you have together to make it look more proffesional and clearer for your members to see.

[b][color=teal][size=14]The best thing I liked about the graphics of your forum:[/b][/size][/color]
Your consistant colour scheme is your best feature by far as it gives a light airly feel to your forum and it all links together.