Access Online

[sam]

Access Online is a new forum, I was not going to begin promoting my boards until January the sixteenth but I decided to get opinions about my message board now. I am new to graphics, I have Photoshop but have only about three weeks experience, so don't judge my graphics harshly. When we get more members I will look into getting a good graphics designer to assist in that aspect. I am looking into getting a decent background at a later stage, I would like to use a gradiant background instead of a plain coloured one instead.

I have limited the amount of boards I have until I get more people. Personally, I think it is somewhat intimidating to have hundreds of boards for a new user to look through so I have just set a couple for now. Access Online is about anything and everything - Why limit what we may talk about? We have differant boards for differant subjects and when people would like to see another board we will add it if we think it should be.

Spelling wise, I make sure my spelling is spelt correct and I don't use the net speak, especially for my board index. I have many upcoming ideas, I am lookin for staff members and more codes to add. If anyone can suggest anything or has some constructive or creative feedback for me to help my new boards then please let me know. Remember, they are not completely done yet. I am constantly revaluating and modifying most aspects of the small, new board.

accessonline.proboards85.com

I appreciate all opinions and suggestions for my new forum.

[helpmeee]

boring board.. 80% of proboards are the same.. whats the point?? theres like 10000000 more proboards with the EXACT same topics

try something new.. something fresh, specialise in specific subject and concentrate on that 1 area of advertising

not dissing the board though, the way its layed out is something ill never be able to do, its very good, but nobody is gona visit a board cus it 'looks pretty' unless they're total MORONS!

REMOVED and don't mention spam bots here again.~~~

[me]

helpmeee said:

boring board.. 80% of proboards are the same.. whats the point?? theres like 10000000 more proboards with the EXACT same topics

try something new.. something fresh, specialise in specific subject and concentrate on that 1 area of advertising

not dissing the board though, the way its layed out is something ill never be able to do, its very good, but nobody is gona visit a board cus it 'looks pretty' unless they're total MORONS!

if you take my advice i coded spam bots that will display your info to THOUSENDS upon THOUSENDS daily!

Could you try to be a little bit nicer towards members here when rating. It's ok to give some negative feedback, but please follow that up with some suggestions on what to do to get started in creating a awesome forum. Give suggestions for some codes or suggestions on colors for a cerain area...etc. Please stop hinting about your forum with this promotion/advertising stuff. Add that stuff to your siggie and let's keep GOAYB to rates and suggestions to improve the forum.

[stinky666]

By what yu were saying, i thought your forum was going to look very default, but to be honest, it doesnt..

Banner: The banner is a quite simple one and the effects are quite simple, but i think the effects on the banner work well with the color theme. The colors of the banner obviously also work well. The text on the banner isn't too good, the font used i mean, maybe just use a normal font that is already on your computer, such as Times New Roman etc. The color of the fonts/text is ok, and seems to match pretty well.
Banner Rate: 14/20

Menu Buttons: The menu buttons are just normal text, but work well and the colors are good. But i would suggest making some pixel buttons, like what we have on here. Image buttons always make forums look that bit better.
Menu Buttons Rate: 10/20 (Because they are just text)

Grads: The category grad is a good grad and works great with the colors you have chosen. Simple though, but match well. The title grad when you make one, should be the sort of window color, then it will look superb i think.. Dont make it with too many effectson though, just make it like you have with the cat grad.
Grads Rate: 17/20

On/Off Icons: Im not keen on these icons, because i dont think they match the forum theme at all. The actual design doesnt match, nor does the color. Maybe just make an orb or interface button for your on off icons. Or be creative and make something else... Make sure the color of 'on' icon matches the cat grad and the text color.
On/Off Icon Rate: 09/20

Color Theme: The color theme is an excellent choice, as i havent seen too many forums with thsi color. The text color is great and is easily readable, the text size is maybe slightly too small. Maybe either change the color of the link color, or give it a hover color. Also, the boards always look better with a cell highlight, so give them one
Color Theme Rate: 18/20

Overall Rate: 68/100 = 6.8/10 (Which isnt a bad rate considering)

Additional Comments: Like you said, you need a BG for sure, BG's always make forums look better...


Good Luck!!

[sam]

I appreciate the feedback.

I am very bad with Adobe Photoshop and still working the basics. Those On and Off icons are temporary, they were the best I could pull up at the moment. I am looking into getting a graphics designer to make some matching On and Off icons, seeing as I can't do any better. The menu buttons is just the same, I can't work with Photoshop or any image modifying program at the moment, I am not that all good with graphics, I am still new to it. So temporarily, I just have the text. Hopefully I will get a graphics designer to make some or teach me how. Either way, it is temporary. The Banner was all that I could muster as far as getting a good piece of graphics design work. I like it, it's simple, easy on the eyes and works well. The colour theme is my favourite bit about the boards. I don't think many boards have a greyish silver and deep blue colouring to their boards. It really is something better then the electric blue and hot pink coloured boards, hahah.

HelpMeee - I appreciate the comments... I agree that the subject is basic but remember, and the news fader says this, "We will be customizing our boards shortly" - Right now, what I have is basically just the backbone or an imprint of what I intend on changing. I will be adding more boards, categories and sub boards shortly. But generally, what do you mean by "It is boring, eighty percent of boards are about the same subject or product" because generally, there is a ProBoard for every subject, if you wanted me to do something fresh then it wouldn't be... Because there are boards for all subjects across ProBoards. Access Online was intended to be a standard online community, with content about graphics, the media and entertainment and general chat. We're not trying to be anything that we're not and we're definitely not trying to think about a new idea or exceed to a new level. This is a standard board, it was intended to be one. If you wanted a fresh one from me then please clarify. Anyway, appreciate the comments thus far.

Stinky666 - Appreciate the feedback. I agree the On and Off icons are bland, it is something that I will be changing in the future, I am still in a basic stage with graphics, I am working with what I have and right now, I can't seem to find any On and Off icons to my liking. I will be looking into it at a later stage. The banner, I agree, is simple. I like the text, don't think I will get Times New Roman though, the text looks too bland and more of a default rather then a board like this, to say the least. The fundimental construction of the boards are still basic but I hope to change things in the next couple of days as I modify and exchange certain aspects and ideas.

I appreciate all of the feedback thus far. Thank you.

[frufru~`'-]

helpmeee said:

boring board.. 80% of proboards are the same.. whats the point?? theres like 10000000 more proboards with the EXACT same topics

try something new.. something fresh, specialise in specific subject and concentrate on that 1 area of advertising

not dissing the board though, the way its layed out is something ill never be able to do, its very good, but nobody is gona visit a board cus it 'looks pretty' unless they're total MORONS!

if you take my advice i coded spam bots that will display your info to THOUSENDS upon THOUSENDS daily!

DO NOT OFFER TO SEND SPAMBOTS FOR PEOPLE!!!

THAT IS THE WORST AND MOST DESPERATE FORM OF ADVERTISING EVER

[Ross]

frufru said:

DO NOT OFFER TO SEND SPAMBOTS FOR PEOPLE!!!

THAT IS THE WORST AND MOST DESPERATE FORM OF ADVERTISING EVER

Not to mention it breaks the TOS.....



Sam, I'm not much of a rater so only have two quick suggestions. The first concerns your banner. It seems a little bit short to me and just look 'odd' next to the google adverts. Maybe move the google ads to the very top of the forum and make the banner a bit taller?
The other thing that I wanted to mention was where you're listed as moderator of very board. Personnaly speaking, I don't feel it's really necessary for admins to be listed as moderators at all, afterall they already have powers in every board
Overall though, it looks nice

[sam]

Thank you. I didn't actually realise that there was an ad at the top of the board. I don't know why I don't see it on my computer? It's just a blank spot that blends in with the background, I can't see anything. I'll just put it at the bottom of the board again.

Thanks.

I changed the On and Off icons as well.

[stinky666]

The on/off icons look much better and suit the theme alot better...