Review: Computer Hotfix

Forum URL: http://computerhotfix.net
Request Type: Full Review
Extra Notes: Please write a review that is good, Thank You
Test Account: Username: demo Password: demo123

Hope you will review.

Can I also have this reviewed by Fred100.

Thank You

Alright , I'll do this one as well
Your review will be done within 48 hours because I'll be doing my previously tagged review first and then this second
*edit*
Marked "next in line"

Fred, do you mind if I do this one? I have waited, and didn't do a review for a while. I know the requester wants you, but could I? If I can't I'l lwait for another then..

Ferb, the requester`s word is "sacred" in this matter. If he wants Fred to do it, you should let Fred do it. I see that there are plenty of reviews to do now so you can take one where there is no reviewer requested. Thanks for understanding.

Oh dangit matey!
I'm extremely sorry that I almost forgot about this review!
I'll get it done right away as well!

Hi,
Is my review still okay. Fred, if you have no time to review, I am happy for Ferb to do it.

Thank You

Hello, it seems that Fred is currently away. Please wait while another reviewer gets to you on this

Alright, Nick will handle it from here.

Forum's Appearance and Design (20 marks)
You currently have installed a Green vbulletin skin.What i have to say is that i really like vbulletin skins,i prefer them much more that mybb skins .Your forum name is Computer Hotfix,however i didnt see anywhere any logo or an area that says "Hotfix".At the place where the logo of your forum should be i found just the default logo of the name of the vbulletin skin you purchased.I am definitely sure that you really need a logo or banner for your forum,because this will make your forum better looking.Not only that,but a banner is the first thing that your forum should have.Having installed a skin without any modifications to your forum gives an unproffesional look to your forum(and to yourself as well).I liked the shoutbox that you have placed to the header of your forum.Its a really good choice of you to have a shoutbox installed because it gives members the ability to chat.Something i also liked was the forum icons.These rounded icons are not something special however their gloss gives them a better look.Since your forum skin(and forum) looks simple,i think its okay to keep them.However you will need something better looking when your forum gets more complicated in design,categories etc(This will happen when more guests will keep coming and start registering to the board).I also liked the way your board and widgets had rounded corners.This may not be something special however that gives a special look to your forum and makes it look more stylish and modern.Something that took my attention was the <<share>> buttons and icons at the bottom of each tread.Thats great because as we all know "sharing is carring" so with this method your forum will get more popular to famous social websites such as twitter,facebook,myspace,delicious,Digg etc.As a result,more members and guests will be coming to your forum.Your forum needs to be great looking in order to make guests register to your forum.So,lets move to the cons:
As i mentioned above,its bad that you dont have installed a logo to your forum.A thing that got me annoyed was the fact that you had many widgets placed to the right and they were small in height and content.This makes your forum look messy and got me a little mad.For example,your first widgets' content is less that 5 lines and after these widgets there is a HUGE(oh really HUGE!) showing the latest threads at your board.Since your other widgets are small in height,you have two choices:1)make your other small widgets bigger in height or 2) make the height of the "latest threads" widgets smaller by reducing the amount of the threads displayed to the widget content.For a great-looking combination of widgets you will have to make the footer of the last widget matching width the height of your last category footer.This is something challening to achieve,however this will make your forum appearance much different and more proffesional looking(I saw a huge gap between the last widget footer and the last category footer.This is something you can do by reducing the amount of cateogies you have at your board or add more widgets,remember however that your widgets shouldnt be so small in height!).To sum up,i have good first imppresions about your forum.However there are some basic design mistakes which are making your forum look bad.The worst thing was the fact that there was no banner,logo and i could see nowhere the name of your board,and thats the place where you lost many points.

Score - 12/20

Forum's Layout and Categorization(20 marks)
As i could clearly see,you have too much categories at your forum.As i can see from your forum title,its about Computers isnt it?I can see categories ,for News,Support about computers,coding.These are okay and they are definetely needed in a computer forum.A thing i dont understand was the Life,media,and a huge fun category,are they really needed in that type of forum?I really dont think so...if a member want to have fun,he will go to a forum about fun,not at a computer forum.I agree that there should be a forum for relaxing members like a fun section,but not a huge category with 10 forums inside!I suggest you to delete these forums as they are empty,or if you dont want merge them as subforums to the Fun forum.That should make things a little bit better =).There is nothing more to write here,i move on and write my mark.

Score - 15/20

Forum's Activity and Amount Of Users Online (20 marks)
Only 2 users active in the past 15 minites,only one member(actually me) and a guest.Your forum looks inactive however i got sick when i saw your users online record of 86 users!!!!(and that happened 3 days ago).I just wonder,what did you do that time?A huge blast of advertising or did you say your friends to visit the forum to break the who is online record?It is clear that that record didnt happen because your forum was famous,since that happened 3 days ago.If your forum was famous,there would be around 70 guests to the forum the time i was reviewing ...3 members have loged in to your forum in the past 24 hours and 41 guests...thats pretty good for a forum that starts now.I am sure that a huge advantage of your forum is the domain.However,i believe guests didnt register to your forum due to the appearance of it(check what i have written at the start of the review).Nothing more to write here,the mark is clear.

Score - 17/20

Forum's Posts Count and Members(20 marks)
A total of 104 posts in 70 threads.8 registered members registered at your forum.This makes us around 8 posts per member.Your forum is brand new and shiny and i really think that this is a fairly good start for a new forum,since there are not many members registered so that you can start posting and your forum gets active.However,as i have noticed,there is 1 thread at each forum you have at your board.This is not really good,as it makes your forum look really really empty.Try getting more members registered by advertising and upgrating the board.

Score - 13/20

Forum's Spelling and Grammar (20 marks)
The grammar looks pretty good.And the spelling as well.I have nothing to write here.

Score 20/20

Final Comments
Your forum is new to the boards,as a result,i was not going to expect to much from the beggining of the review.Its a good try though,you just need to make it look better by following my advices at the whole review and i am sure more members will keep comming to your forum and you will feel proud of yourself!

Thank You For The Kind Review, I Still Have To Improve, About Next Year I Will Review Again, yes, I did quite alot of Advertising at alot of places.

Great review Nick! Love it!

Completed, 30BPs deducted