[Toucan42]

Forum Name:
TalkWhatever Open Discussion Forum

Forum URL:
TalkWhatever.com - Open Discussion Board For Home, Office, School and Online Life

Comments:
TalkWhatever is just a wee bit over one year old. I have never sought a review of the forum and would very much appreciate some feedback.

For a general overview of some of the stuff we have going on over at TalkWhatever (I'd love some opinions on these things) we have:

Blogs with dedicated subdomains (username.talkwhatever.com)
Scavenger Hunt
Book of The Month Club
Travel and Dining Guide (in BETA testing - if you want a sneek peak just ask)

We have photos, arcade, radio and the new Blogs system.

Anyway the community has really started to take off with over 20,000 posts in the first year and over the last few months we have seen better retention of our members.

I'd like your input on any or all categories and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Overall Ratings per Category
Design
(5/5)

Features and Modifications
(4/5)

Guest Friendliness
(3/5)

Guidelines and Staff
(4/5)

Organization and Navigation
(5/5)

[Flashgear]

Design
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
When i first came onto the site the first thing i saw was the logo, a nice bright fresh colored logo, which made me immediatley want to check out the rest of the site. The design overall is very nice and suits the theme of the board. And its good that the google ad blends into the theme.

Features and Modifications
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
The features and modifications of the board are okay, Its good that you havent just loaded loads of them onto the board like similar boards to yours. I see you have made a blog feature which is good as the members seem to be using the feature. I couldnt comment on the photo feature as i need to be registered, I think you should change it so guests can view. I like the radio feature, nice selection of submitted music and stations.

Guest Friendliness
Category Rating: (3/5)
Category Comments:
Hmm, I don't think its that friendley as a guest, the design is nice, thats what i would join for to start with, then start to get to know the community and post. If i was you i would think about putting an image where the default welcome vB module is. Like explaning about joining and benefits and it linked to the register form. Make it blend in with the same colours of the theme though. I think that would make your forum alot more appealing to guests.

Guidelines and Staff
Category Rating: (4/5)
Category Comments:
Your guidelines/forum rules are easy to get to, and they are clearley stated so there can be no confusion for breech of rules. At first look your staff look like they know what they are doing. And i think you have a large enough staff base, I think you have to many for the size of your forum. I wouldnt go about demoateing any though i just wouldnt recruit anymore at the moment.

Organization and Navigation
Category Rating: (5/5)
Category Comments:
The navigation and organization of the site is superb, The main links to the features and the register button are in a clear to see font along the top of the forum. Its good that you havent crammed alot of your links in the navigation, theres nothing more than i hate than a cluttured nav bar. The forum organization is good, The welcome and announcement forum is at the top which is good. I prefer them at the top, not at the bottom like AF does, But it's better to have it at the top in general boards.

[Toucan42]

Wow - thank you for taking the time to review my forum. Several points you bring up are great for me to hear!

1) I haven't spent time as a guest just cruising the forum looking at how it seems to a guest - this is probably something I ought to be doing!

2) The size of the staff is indeed large, but it is actually helping to bring some really good ideas to fruition - though I appreciate this point of view (echoed often here on AF) I am of the mind that my staff continue to encourage one another to be active - it's a good situation from where I see it.

3) The blog is working out OK - what I am finding is that there is a built-in community of folks willing to comment - something that most blogs don't achieve right away - so the sense of someone listening is truly built in.

4) Registration - noted. Goes with being a Guest Account - need to work on a few things there.

Thanks again for your time and input - appreciated!

[Flashgear]

No problem