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Things to help our community
Recently we've started to do an overhaul on tutorials911. We're changing the tutorial system, and adding new features. One of those new features is an online community.
Listed below is the community:
http://www.tutorials911.com/forums/index.php
We would like to know if you think it's appealing to the eye, ease of use, and any suggestions.
It is our first major attempt at creating a community and would love advice, and any volunteer help that you could give us.
To begin with, I am greeted with this at the top:
Below that, almost every image seems to be broken, and everything appears to be white; no tables, no borders, nothing.Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/www/users/template/tutorials911/forums/header.php on line 362
Is it me by any chance? I am on IE6 and WindowsXP.
no, we just had a problem with the boards for a moment. Everything should be ok now.
I like it a lot. If you ever decide to not use it get ahold of me.Only thing I don't like is that I'm not sure I could spend a considerable amount of time there, the lime green on white is a bit much. It's not bad but I could see some people complaining about it.
What color should I use? Myself I think the green on white goes well with the blue.
Last edited by templates911; May 4, 2003 at 06:40.
The new Tutorials911 is up along with the fourms. Pleae Keep sending suggestions.
The green looks fine to me, but the light blue font doesn't provide enough contrast to the background. A bit of a strain on the eyes.
ok, I've changed the color. Hows that?
can you suggest a color then? Paste the # code please.
Try again, I've changed to another blue.
That's much nicer
great, do you see any other things that would help?
I noticed your using XMB...
I used to use that software on various forums, however got sick of its bugs and issues with - plus the seeming lack of features compared to other software.
I'd take a look at something like Invision Power Board or phpBB.
However if you want to stick with XMB, then it looks good.
I'd take out the 2nd header though. Perhaps put the "Member List | Search | FAQ | Today's Posts | Stats" links along the bottom of the first header (left of the search box) and then have a box with either a log in form or user info etc in.
ZOO
I've thought about using phpBB or Invision Power Board but I think it's a little bulky. I just want a simple community. I will expand later as it grows.
I like the look of your forum.
Colours (colors) work for me. Since I just went for a look and didn't log in, all the posts showed as old. It would be more inviting if the New Post icon was displayed.
Cheers
The reason for the New Post icons wasn't display is sadly because not many people are posting yet.
This may sound like a dumb question, but what is the date format on the boards. I took a look at your profile on it and it says 'Registered: 5/4/03' - does that mean you started on 5th of april or the 4th of may?
Anyway my point is you need to post more! (9 posts since april is not good)
People will not sign up and post unless they see an active and busy forum - or at least give the impression of one. Get all your mates and random people to sign up and post messages, dumb questions anything - just get some topics going. Also get some general banter going in General Chat to give the impression of a vibrant community.
Remove forums that have no topics in them - seeing 'Last Post: Never' is a big turn off for many users. One way you can do this is by condensing all the Graphic Software forums into one forum and get some topics going in there. Do the same with your other categories. You can expand them into several forums again when your community becomes more active.
Seeing a few very active forums will look much better to your users than many empty forums, and will help get people signing up and posting.
Just a few tips - they should be a start though...
ZOO
If you want a flexible future then ensure you have a flexible board. I personally wouldn't risk losing data in any future board change, and would suggest something like IPB, which should allow greater scaleability.I've thought about using phpBB or Invision Power Board but I think it's a little bulky. I just want a simple community. I will expand later as it grows.
The colours look fine, excepting your header titles (the dark purple look), which seems a little heavy. Generally fine co-ordination of colour, though.
There's no point repeating your logo twice, though - and note that you also have 2 search features.
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I wouild love to have vB running them. But I wont pay $200 for something thats not garunteed.
I think the forum could do with being at least as wide as the header of the page. Also, the footer is too wide.
Other than that, I like the look.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
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