Forum Name:
Fan Smack

Forum URL:
www.fansmack.net/forums

Comments:
Thanks!

Overall Ratings per Category
Design
(4/5)

Features and Modifications
(5/5)

Guest Friendliness
(3/5)

Guidelines and Staff
(5/5)

Organization and Navigation
(4/5)

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Design
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
I love the design, the colours are very nice and they blend in well. The logo is great too. It's very clear what you forums are all about. How long have your forums been open?


Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
It's good to see you're running competitions. Did the 'March Madness Posting' create much interest for you? I think the 'Fan Smack Points for Cash!' is a great way of building your forum up and help encourage members to join in more. The 'Sports Jokes' is a fun idea but it doesn't look as if it's used that much? The 'News' is also another nice feature and so is the 'classified' section and if you build those up I'm sure they would be a great feature for the members. By joining, you offer your members a lot more. I see you have a gallery, sports predictions, sitemap etc. You seem to have most things covered for the world of sport - well done.


Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (3/5)
Category Comments:
I couldn't see a welcome message but your main page says it all and would tempt any sports fans to join. It looks like you've got a very friendly forum, well done!


Guidelines and Staff
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
The rules are very easy for guests/members to find and they are very clear. Your 'Contacting Instructions' are also very good. The legend you have where members can simply click on 'Super Moderator' etc is good because it makes it easier for the members if they need to contact you or your staff for assistance.


Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
The Site Stats on the right of the page is a good idea where guests/members can see at a glance how many posts, blogs, images, files etc can be found at the forums. I noticied that some of the members introduced themselves in the 'General Discussions' area. Perhaps you may want to consider adding a forum especially for this as it's a great way for members to get to know each other, I'd also be tempted to put it towards the top of your forum so it's more noticeable because it took me some time trying to find it.

Well done and good luck with your forums

Design
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Colors are great, and I like the logo. It's a bit dull but other than that I do like it. One thing I noticed were the different forum icons for each forum. That, I really like!

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
I was very impressed with the sidebar modifications. I also loved the Sports Predictions, Sports Jokes, and the Blog. That, is what separates your forums from the rest of the sports forums. Like I said before too, the forum icons mod is fantastic.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Nothing is really hidden from the guests which I like on this particular forum, but the register link is a little hidden on the sidebar. I would suggest putting it a link to registration of the top nav bar.

Guidelines and Staff
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Very basic and clear TOS. I don't really have much to say about it, since IMO there isn't really anything wrong with it...

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Forums were very well organized. One thing I would suggest is the sub-forum mod for phpBB. I think that the "Miscellaneous Sports" category should be one forum, with sub-forums beneath it. It takes a while to scroll down on 1024x768 screen resolution. . Sidebar is well organized also. Well, that's all I got for a review. Hope you like it

Design
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
I am a little biased on this one, because I am already a member and I post on this board regularly. That being said, here is my review. I love the design. This is about the ONLY site with boxes on BOTH sides that I like. You have virtually all info that a member may look for readily and easily available. I also like the placement of the banner ads at the top, bottom and side boxes.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
I love the fact that virtually every extra you can add IS already part of this board and it feels like it is just a stock part of the layout. That is nice. The one this that I DO NOT like is the random full page ad that sometimes comes up and you have to choose to "skip the ad" to get back to the forum. The other reviewers may not have experienced this unless they are members and post regularly. I think this feature really is aggravating and is not needed on a forum. The forced add that you have to look at is something that will drive people away in my opinion.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (3/5)
Category Comments:
I think adding some sort of non member/guest message would be a good thing. right now when you come to the first "home page there really is nothing telling a non member what to do. This could be somewhat confusing for a new person and could lead them to clicking away, instead of registering and heading to the forums or other features. You might want to add an easily seen link somewhere on the home page to your Help topics (http://www.fansmack.net/forums/faq.php), which really explain everything.

Guidelines and Staff
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
Site Rules and Info is easy to find and the first thing people see. The rules are straight forward.

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
Very easy to find the different categories and the custom icons make it even easier. That is why I am always stressing taking the time to create custom icons AND an icon legend, both things this site has. Good job. Very easy site to get around on.

Thanks so far... The full page ad is only seen if you are on the site for more than so many page views. Also, you only see it once a day at the maximum. I didn't think of it as too big of a deal as the "Skip This Ad" is very big and easy to spot.

I will make some sort of guest message for guests in the next few days that explains the benefits of registering and also that it's free.

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I guess that ad page that comes up bothers me because I have never ever seen it before on another forum. It is a turn off for me, lol.

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The Biggest Boards | Political Disgust | JAMOOZA

Follow Up - Mat, today I went to your site and the VERY FIRST place I went after logging in (the very first click I did) and I got the full page pop up ad.
Just wanted you to know.

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The Biggest Boards | Political Disgust | JAMOOZA

Yes it will do it sometimes on the first visit but it won't occur for the rest of the day. I am going to take it off though.

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