Forum Name:
InsideUniversal

Forum URL:
http://insideuniversal.net/ (Forum) http://insideuniversal.net/Community/

Comments:
Hey, I just wanted some comments on the community we have going. I undergoing some changes right now, but it should be presentable. Thanks. By the way, I know the forums are rather overwhelming, but it's the only way I could fit all the attractions and features at the park. Believe me, it was worse before.

Overall Ratings per Category
Design
(4/5)

Features and Modifications
(4/5)

Guest Friendliness
(5/5)

Organization and Navigation
(4/5)

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InsideUniversal.net
InsideUniversal.net Community

I'll do a review on this when I come back from school. I'm actually anxious to review this!

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Like Music? Talk about anything music related here!

Design
Category Rating: (3/5)
Category Comments:
You have an attractive site and forum, but there are several problems with the coding, which to me, is part of the design. You have some very serious errors in validation on the home page and on the main forum page (so they likely appear on all pages). These coding errors are the least of your trouble though, as I suspect that your use of so many images and so little text will hurt you SEO-wise. Your home page is almost entirely made up of image links. I believe you could use some of these images as backgrounds and then overwrite them with text, which will provide you with much needed content and hopefully it will be keyword rich so that you have a chance with the search engines.Beauty is only skin deep here. It looks real pretty, but it's broken.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
I'm not familiar enough with the software you are using to make any real judgments, but it appears you have a unique look and plenty of things to keep your visitors busy. If I were planning a trip to Universal Studios, this could be an important site to spend time in the planning stages - and to share the experience afterward. Provided, of course, that my search in Google or some other search engine brought your site to my attention.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
There is nothing off-putting about your site. The site is attractive and graphically appealing and encourages me to look around. There's no warnings, nags or in-your-face attempts to make me register. It has a casual atmosphere, perhaps a little busy, but it does convey the excitement of the park. Good job here.

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
As I mentioned above, the use of images as links will hurt your SEO. There are some important links missing entirely: a sitemap, terms of service, privacy statement, copyright information and the Site FAQ. I didn't visit all the links, but did notice that a couple would-be links weren't (like the FAQ). I am handicapped, so I did look for info on that. There was nothing about the use of mobility assistive devices (I use a Segway, others may use wheelchairs, electric carts, walkers, etc.).You have plenty of navigation and it seems to be consistent throughout the site. Most of it's images though, instead of anchor text. Images aren't nearly as good for SEO as anchor text.The forums could stand consolidation. You mentioned that it's better than it was, but it really has too many forums for the amount of traffic you have. You can always add forums as needed. I would suggest consolidating all rides into one forum until the traffic for an individual ride warrants its own forum. You may find consolidation will work better for other categories of forums too.

Design
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
You are going to have a great site...congratulations. I have one suggestion on the graphics. Some are so big they are pixelating. I would suggest either making the graphic smaller or getting a different picture that looks cleaner. I like the layout but also get the feeling of to much in one place. I kinda get lost. You put alot of effort into this and again I think members are going to love it. Makes me want to go there myself.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (3/5)
Category Comments:
I am not familiar with what is modified and what is standard so I can't comment here.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
It is a bit early to tell here but I'm guessing it will be a fun place.

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
I think your ideas for your navigation and organization are good but again some pages look really cluttered. I still suggest framing the pictures or somehow making them look cleaner.

Design
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
As stated above, your heavy use of images may not be a great thing, however, I do like the design you have. I like the use of different themes on each forum. That adds a nice touch to the forum.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
Your forum provides some additional information on universal studies and information about the rides, the parks, the weather etc. This is definitely a nice thing to add at a community. It provides a bit more incentive for users to come and discuss universal studies.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
You have the nice image at the top informing guests to register. Maybe tell more about your site and what it is, what it provides etc. I know it is fairly obvious, but it's always nice to explain things and your site purpose clearer.

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
With all the images and information on your site, navigation might be an issue, but you've done well with it. I'd just keep tweaking it, making things as clear and foreward as possible, allowing users to get the information they want and reducing clutter, but good job here making things neat with all of the info.I'd also consider some forum consolidation as mentioned above. Combine forums where possible so there aren't an overwhelming amount of empty forums

Design
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
Both the forum and the main site are designed very well. It's very easy to navigate around, and the homepage contains a lot of content that makes me want to explore the site even more. The only negative things are that the images do not have alt text which helps with SEO and is very important for visitors who are using a screenreader.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
It's clear that a lot of work has been put into the site - it's impossible for the casual visitor to tell that you are running on a CMS. However, SEO could suffer because of it. As for the forum, there are no modifications evident to me, but you might be hiding them from guests. Consider adding a gallery feature, and if you already have one, make it open for guests for viewing of some pictures only.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
The welcome text on the main page does a great job of promoting the site to me and is another thing that makes me want to explore further. Also, the welcome text on the forum is great - I particularly like the touch with the drop-down arrow to the register link. It's a very nice touch and not something I've seen done elsewhere [but now it's on the web, expect others to copy it]

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Navigating around the site is a pleasure. It's easy to find what you are looking for and presented in a nice way. However, the forum's theme, while it looks great seems a little inconsistent with the rest of the site.

Thanks for the heads up on the coding. I never noticed that. Looks like I'll have to go through all the files through the site and rework them.

I actually have some good ranks on Yahoo. Search for “Universal Studios Hollywood Guide” and you should see my site.

Thank you, the park is indeed very busy and exciting place and I’m glad the forum conveys it.

[/quote]

Those are in the means of construction at this time. The site is still very unfinished, and there’s plenty more to add. Now, here’s the problem I have with the attraction forums. Universal Studios Hollywood is a very unorthodox park. The whole park idea wasn’t anticipated when building the whole layout-it just happened. Unlike other parks, Universal doesn’t have “themed lands” like say Disneyland (Tomorrow land, etc) so there isn’t a real way to organize the attractions. That was also a huge obstacle in organizing the site with this barrier lingering around noticeably. Adding one forum for all the attractions would seriously impair the whole organization of the site, if you browsed around more. If you look at a page for an attraction, you’ll notice each page is linked to a specific forum.

On the other land, I’ll add some alternative text for each picture and graphic on the site. It’ll take a while though, since the site is growing very large.

Thank you for taking time to review the site, it’s very much appreciated.

Yeah, like I said earlier, I’m working with the organization of the whole site. I’ll work on the graphics, could you point out some specific images that are blurry/unclear?

Just for clarification, I’m using PHP-Fusion and MyBB. Look up the project sites and you can get a better comparison.

Thanks, more themes are coming on the way.

I’ll be sure to add some more information about the site.

I’ll take those suggestions to thought tonight, and see what can and can’t be combined. Thanks again for the review.

[quote=Ashley;130431]Design
Category Rating: Category Comments:
Both the forum and the main site are designed very well. It's very easy to navigate around, and the homepage contains a lot of content that makes me want to explore the site even more. The only negative things are that the images do not have alt text which helps with SEO and is very important for visitors who are using a screenreader.
[quote]
I’ll be sure to add alterative text for those who don’t have image capabilities in their browser.

I am very safety/size minded on the site. As you could see, I have over 200 large resolution photos on the site, which takes most of the hard disk space on the server, and I’m just getting started. I’m looking to have over 700 photos when added all together.

On the member gallery, like I mentioned earlier, I’m very safety minded when on the site. I just can’t have users uploading files onto the server, because of safety issues. I’ve had it abused before, and I can’t take it risk again.

I’ve actually got the idea from Admin Fusion from another member’s site, so kudos to whoever came up with the idea.

Hmm, I tried making the forum blend in as much as possible. Could you point out some continuity issues?

Thanks for the review.

Just another note before I sign off, I’m away from my home desktop, so all changes will have to wait a week before I fly back home.

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InsideUniversal.net
InsideUniversal.net Community