[The Chief]

Name of Forum: etalk

Link: http://www.myetalk.com

Number of Posts: 21,047
Number of Members: 287

Thanks me later dude...

[Hector]

Post Count: 6/10
Member Count: 6/10
Skin and Images: 6/10
Layout: 7/10
Administration: 8/10
Moderation: 7/10
Member Activity: 6/10
Originality: 5/10
Overall: 6.5/10

Additional Notes: Your forum is still new, so remember that when you say it's THAT active. Yes it's active, but be sure to note that most forums start out great and than, in time, start to lose activity.

For 72 members, your post count shows that only about half are even active. Plus, I was there when a large amount were banned, due to obvious reasons. Your skin is nice, but the fact that important buttons and options makes surfing your forum quite a pain sometimes.

While your staff is fine at the moment, your forum idea is not something new. And the name of your forum is used quite alot. While I am sounding harsh, your forum is a fun hangout and I enjoy spending my extra time there. Your members are all very respectful and there level of maturity is one I can deal with.

Like I said, your forum just started so in time, we'll just see how it turns out.

[The Chief]

Thank you for your review Hector, I really appreciate it. I will try to work out on the stuff it lacks. Plus I guess I have to wait and see as I can't do anything more to advance time

[Michael]

Post Count: 4/10
Member Count: 5/10
Skin and Images: 8/10
Layout: 8/10
Administration: 9/10
Moderation: 8/10
Member Activity: 10/10
Originality: 5/10
Overall: 7.36/10

Additional Notes: A very nice and interesting forum you have got here. The splash page isnt really neccessary nor favored by our adorable Search Engines, but i feel that it really adds an edge of originality to the forums. Good work. Also you navbar template on the ./forums area itself is very nice and customized i like how you have added an Avatar preview and login box for guests makes it appear much more enticing to register and join. The site itself is very active and is growing well, you have obviously got lots of good, and active, connections with the Entertainment messageboard community because your activity doesnt seem to be dimming down at all

Perhaps you could move the Shoutbox to the below the forumlistings, it isnt the most exciting thing a prospective member wants to view, they want to get straight to the forum content and not view some spam comments by aload of members and staff unknown to them at the time. Also, i think that perhaps a more stylish and customized skin could be useful here, it looks a lot like the IPB 1.3 default skin. And that isnt a very flattering comparison

[The Chief]

Hey thank you very much Michael. Just a reminder to both of you that I have reorganized alot of the forums and added a brand-new skin that all of you are sure to enjoy. It just adds a touch of glamour

Hope to see another eview from you guys!
Thanks!

[Michael]

Hmm, very nice skin and new splash page.
The site is constantly getting better

[The Chief]

Sorry for that Hector...

Here is an update.

Name of Forum: etalk - Your daily entertainment talk.

Link: http://www.myetalk.com

Number of Posts: 12,180

Number of Members: 218

Other notes: We have just opened around 1 month ago and are really active. We have a portal and gallery.

We also have a two-skin selector at the bottom. From Fixed - to - Fluid.

Thank you so much for your time!

[The Chief]

bump, will anyone be reviewing me?

[The Chief]

another desperate bump....

[Cole]

Post Count: 5/10
Member Count: 6/10
Skin and Images: 7/10
Layout: 3/10
Administration: 9/10
Moderation: 9/10
Member Activity: 9/10
Originality: 1/10
Overall: 6.13/10

Notes: The activity level of this place is over the roof for whatever reason, PM on what you did because I'm interested. The layout would be my top priority. It is way too busy and cluttered, and some users may get easily confused. One element seals the fate of that, and that is the shoutbox. You should never put a shoutbox above the forums, which is the main attraction of your website, because it takes away from posting, move it to the bottom or remove it all together.

I also gave you a 1 on Originality, because although you have many hacks installed, the style is bought from Transverse styles, and if you have the money or the skills, I would highly recommend getting something custom done. (Contact me about that ).

And also, please fix this typo, many sites use Ted's Welcome Headers modification, and this typo just bugs me.

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact support.

[The Chief]

haha, thanks so much for the Review

[Chris M]

Post Count: 6/10
Member Count: 5/10
Skin and Images: 5/10
Layout: 4/10
Administration: 6/10
Moderation: 7/10
Member Activity: 7/10
Originality: 4/10
Overall: 5.5/10

Notes: While your site seems to be good on the eyes, a couple of things annoyed me - Firstly, the logo banner image doesn't correspond to the content - What an FF-like character has to do with entertainment is beyond me...

Secondly, the options - I like displaying as many posts per page as possible - I hate pagenav >_< - I can't do that with your forum as you've either tried to remove the option completely, or have installed something around or over the options which has disabled them...

Thirdly, Usergroups, Usergroup Colours and more Usergroups - While you obviously need many categories, such an extensive and colourful usergroup legend makes you forget what a lightish blue person's role is because there are so many to memorise...

Finally, the Gallery - It displays 15 pictures when the table setup is for 16 pictures - Either display 16 or alter the row settings or something - A "gallery entry" size piece of whitespace is ugly...

Other than that, I'll be watching over, seeing how things develop and may re-visit this personal review in a few weeks

Chris

[The Chief]

Well there isn't anyway of putting 16, that's something that I think is bugged for the gallery...? I put 4 in the row settings so it should display 4 all the way..but it doesn't..?

What would you reccommend for a better banner?

I have no idea what I did for the pagenav thing you have mentionned o_o'?

What do you recommend for the usergroup colors? I put them more towards the blue and red?

And thank you so much Chris for taking the time to review my forum, it is greatly appreciated

[Chris M]

Originally Posted By: The Chief Well there isn't anyway of putting 16, that's something that I think is bugged for the gallery...? I put 4 in the row settings so it should display 4 all the way..but it doesn't..? What would you reccommend for a better banner? I have no idea what I did for the pagenav thing you have mentionned o_o'? What do you recommend for the usergroup colors? I put them more towards the blue and red? And thank you so much Chris for taking the time to review my forum, it is greatly appreciated

Well the gallery bug needs to be sorted - I hate unnecessary whitespace :p

A better banner would be something along the lines of popular TV show/movie characters, perhaps having it rotate between characters of a movie/tv character or two etc - Perhaps a few game-related banners also...

For that you would probably need a custom skin though

The pagenav is to do with the "Posts per Thread" setting in the User Options - It is set to "Forum Default" which appears to be either 10 or 15 - I normally set this to 40, but there is no options in the dropbox...

And for the usergroup colours, I'd suggest either cutting down the number of groups or removing the number shown in the Legend - It clogs up the "Whats Going On?" box...

Chris

[The Chief]

The skin already cost me too much, maybe I will change in one year

The rotating banner could be something done, but will think about it

I will try to work on the Pagenav thing later tommorow, get this thing sorted out...

For the gallery issue, well, I have no idea...

For the usergroup legend, I will maybe remove the names if you think that it clogs it up, but I found it useful when people see what kind of people are online, no?