A review of our forum

[mike]

I asked an outside expert (on forums) to review our club site,

Here it is

First Impressions: Upon seeing the forum index I see the colors of the Italian flag. Which are synonymous with Italian automobiles, specifically FIAT.

It took me a minute to realize what your site was about, I should have paid attention to the banner more, instead of looking at the pictures, LOL. Your domain doesn’t lend any help either for clueless guests such as myself. The banner is a bit dodgy but the rest of the forum looks good.

Going through your index, I see some design elements that look terribly out of place, and some other images that aren’t very refined.


Look

Guest's Outlook: The forum looks neat and somewhere I would post if I were an owner of a FIAT Stilo. Going through the forum index, your sections are titled nicely – they get down right to the point. There is a lack of description on the sections, the current ones are OK, but a little more info for these sections wouldn’t hurt. It would also help out members who would like to post a question but aren’t very sure where to put them.

Logos and Banners: As I said in my opening comments, I didn’t understand what your forum’s topic was until I paid closer attention to your banner. Your banner while simple and modern-esque, really lacks certain qualities that people look for. Humans are intelligent, but we also like cool things to look at and nice colors. Don’t be afraid to throw in a Stilo in there and some radical designs. Sometimes it’s good to break out of the norm.

Quantity of Forums: There are plenty of forums to choose and post in. There’s a forum for every type of discussion about the Stilo. One thing I don’t understand is why the “Last Post” field is missing. Personally I find that annoying, since I tend to use that as a marker of whether or not I should join a forum. I wouldn’t like spending time on a forum that rarely gets posted on, I would join a forum that gets posted on a regular basis. And frankly, I would find it annoying to view each and every single forum section one by one just to make that judgment call.

Advertisements: There are some ads on the index page. On the left side – They are companies specializing in FIAT parts, if I’m not mistaken. Have you considered using Kontera or Google AdSense? They can help pay for your server fees! They both basically work off of the content and keywords on pages.

Color Scheme and Styles: The color scheme of the forum is simple; lime green, light grey, and white. It’s a fresh clean approach to forum skins, however, some of the buttons and graphics just don’t go together all too well.

Page and Image Sizes: The forum’s width is fixed to a size that’s acceptable and easy on the eyes.

Favicon, Buttons, and Other Graphics: There is no favicon being used, just the standard vBulletin one. The forum’s buttons match the over color scheme of the forum, however, they look out of place for a car forum. The new posts indicators are interesting, but also out of place for a car forum. Try implementing something related to FIAT or cars in general.

Feel

Theme: The theme of your forum is for FIAT Stilo owners to gather and discuss various things about their cars and anyone else’s car.

Sense of Community and Participation Overview: Participation is steady on your forum. But it isn’t something to write home about. For being specialized for a certain car made by FIAT, that I believe was popular (off of what I remember) your forum is somewhat small. Have you considered in expanding your forum in terms of allowed owners of other FIAT model cars into your forum?

Postcount and Quality: 13,547 posts with 1,527 threads. Not bad for a specialize forum. Post quality is great and informative. Going through some of the threads, I see people diagnosing problems with their cars with help from other members, great work.

Contests, Games, and Diversions: Leisure Lounge and Computing.

Management

Points of Registration: Standard registration with forum rules outlined at the agreement landing page. One thing that stood out is that you’re not using any anti-spam measures, what’s up with that? Have you considered using reCAPTCHA? It’s used on sites such as MySpace, Facebook, bank sites, etc. to prevent spam bots using system resources and doing their dirty deeds.

Rules, FAQ, and Privacy Policy: I saw the rules at registration, but I couldn’t find them when I looked around your forum section. I also couldn’t find the forum FAQ or Privacy Policy. If you have these posted, can you please point where they are and make them easier to access in the future?


Quantity and Activity of Staff: Couldn’t be assessed – Missing Forum Leader’s page.


Overall Impressions: The forum isn’t bad. Just a few things need addressing. You might want to look into other advertising mediums to help you get money. I spotted a donation meter at the top of your forum and these are monthly member donations for premium membership, right? A little more money here and there won’t be bad, now would it? A redo of post indicator, the collapses, and the forum buttons to make it seem car related in a way would be nicer. An anti-spam measure at registration would be a wise investment, it’s free too! The forum’s banner needs working on to show its true spirit and what it’s about. A favicon related to your site will also be something worth your time. It allows people to find your site faster if they use favicons as a means to differentiate between all the sites they’ve bookmarked.

[scottie2065]

some interesting points brought up there mike, whats the plan of action?

[danhans115]

Im not sure I agree with all of it, but definately some good points there. I dont mind advertising either if it covers costs. I had no issue with the banners we had before, and I did see the odd thing that was of interest from time to time..

[mike]

Well,

I will work on some icons and small images

@Dan could you make better forum descriptions perhaps?You know how to add that?

[danhans115]

Well,

I will work on some icons and small images

@Dan could you make better forum descriptions perhaps?You know how to add that?

Yep should be okay, Ill get onto it later today.

[mike]

1) Advertising added
2) Post indicator now shows dates and topics
3) icons now are little Fiat Stilos
4) Forum descriptions are being expanded
5) Favicon created and uploaded
6) Banner updated and now shows a Fiat Stilo blended in
7) Anti-spam is top of the line, although you do not see it (user friendly) it works 100%
8) the little collapse icons are now Stilo wheel Springs

[danhans115]

1) Advertising added
2) Post indicator now shows dates and topics
3) icons now are little Fiat Stilos
4) Forum descriptions are being expanded
5) Favicon created and uploaded
6) Banner updated and now shows a Fiat Stilo blended in
7) Anti-spam is top of the line, although you do not see it (user friendly) it works 100%
8) the little collapse icons are now Stilo wheel Springs

I think the collapse icons need looking at, the spring changes to arrows then not back..

Looking great so far..

[esse-esse]

Have you considered in expanding your forum in terms of allowed owners of other FIAT model cars into your forum?

I like being part of a stilo only family and there already is FF for that. It wouldn't be unique if we just became another FF

[mike]

Nah this was discussed many times,

WE ARE THE ONLY STILO ONLY SITE FTW!

@dan I fixed it

[scottie2065]

just a little point to add, @ the top under the banner on the nav bar it says Home - New Posts - Search

the spacing between New Posts and Search is very small