ForuMotion's TSC Review

Note: This was not written by one of the 3, main, official ForuMotion site reviewers, but it is still considered official by the staff at FM, this is only here to denote that it may not be the highest of quality because of this reason, however, you may take it for what you will.

___________________________________________

Congratulations! Your free forum review has been completed. The forum review will hold many tips, suggestions, comments, and feedback that's convenient and voluntary for your forum. Here is your forum review:

Generalities

1. First Impressions (Score: 15/20):
   
   Wow, Looking at your forum, all I can say is dedication. Everything about your forum is Sonic... It's a little dark for my liking, and I reccomend adding maybe other options for your background such as lighter options. Your font is the other thing i noticed. I don't particularly like the Times font on a forum, maybe switch it to something more stylish (Note: This is just my opinion)
   
   
2. Categories & Forums (Score: 7/10):
   
   Looking at your forums made me a little confused. The top category is Community Issues, and it has News Discussion and a Store, Usually Issue means problems, so this may confuse some other people. Also, you have some grammar problems in your forum. Under New Member; is this introductions? If so, Call it that, or change it to New Members, because New Member doesn't make sense. Also, all about you shouldn't really fit under New Member, because non new members could post there too. Maybe you should rename the category to About or Members, or Our Members. Other than this, I haven't other issues with your categories and forums, They just need a bit of re-organizing to make them look more professional. I've put a list below that might help you organize it.
   
   Community Forums
   
   Site News
   Site Discsussion
   Store
   
   Member Discsussion
   
   New Members
   All About You
   
   All about Sonic
   
   Video Games
   Cartoons and Comics
   Characters
   
   Off Topic
   
   Entertainment
   Random Stuff
   
   Gaming
   
   General Gaming
   Forum Games (moved)
   SEGA
   Nintendo
   Microsoft
   Sony
   
   Fan Media
   
   Fan Art
   Fan Sites
   Fan Fiction
   
   

Generalities total :: 22/30

Graphic Design & Layout

1. Graphics (Score: 17/20):
   Banner
   
   I like the banner, It includes all of the characters from sonic, and provides a reflection below. I also like the Evil Dude in the background (sorry, i forgot his name). To make it stand out, maybe make the next a lighter color, overall it's a great banner, well done :)
   
   Navigation Bar
   
   Your nav bar is clean and simple, and is easy to read, which is a big plus. It's elegant, stands out well against the background, and the register and Log In is the most visible, which is always good a forum. Well thought of.
   
   Forum Icons
   
   Sonic Community really fits, Because once again the forum icons are Sonic. I like how they are gray, makes it noticeable that there clearly isnt a new post, and then when they change is better :D Well done.
   
   'Who Is Online?' Image
   
   Sonic looking at the names and scraching his head is pretty cool. I like that alot. It's creative, especially how he looks right down the line of registered users. Creative once again. Well done.
   
   
2. Forum Layout & Colors (Score: 6/10):
   
   As I've discussed about the forum layout above, there's some things that can be improved (Check my list)... To repeat, there are some grammar issues, and also some of the forums don't belong in their categories.
   
   Colors... Hmm... It's too dark for my liking, Like i suggested before maybe have different color choices hooked into your theme (I don't know how to do this so you'll have to ask someone who does to follow through with it.)
   
   

Graphic Design & Layout total :: 23/30

Usergroups

1. Population of Groups (Score: 8/10):
   
   Administrators: 3
   Moderators: 4
   Retired Staff: 25
   Artists: 9 (NOT counting retired)
   Writers: 9 (NOT couting retired or artists)
   Randomers: 11 (Not counting Retired, artists or Writers)
   
   I find it good how Moderators and Administrators are balanced, Aswell as Artists Writers and Randomers.
   
   
2. Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: 8/10):
   
   You have 2 staff groups to 4 usergroups (unless artists et c count) then you have 5 Staff groups to No Usergroups. Maybe you should add some user groups such as members group.
   
   

Usergroups :: 16/20

Forum Activity

1. Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 7/10):
   

   Our users have posted a total of 92207 messages
   We have 800 registered users
   The newest registered user is lightthehedgehog

   
   For your posts divided by users, on average each user has about 115 posts... Or Should... However, your top 20 posters are almost all above 2000, which means 20 of your users have almost half of the total posts in the forum.
   
   
2. Users Active (Score: 7/10):
   

   Members connected during last 24 hours : Albino Nega, Auflodern, Bria, Caper the Fox, Celestial Emerald, Chaos_Overlord, chris9801, DarkTheHedgehog, Desertbabe, Erazor, Excalibur Sonic, Gin93, Independence76, karkooshy, kingshadowac, Kuriboh, loanstar744, Mario94, Miles24, montage, Phantom, Pianta, SonicFanPS2, Super Racer Z, Sweet Silence, Sweet_Savannah_Charmy, T@ilz, The Freedom Fighter, The Prodigious Ult Zerda, TheShadowWalker

   
   That's 33 members, out of 800.. this isn't good for activity... Here's what I reccomend make a contest every month or something similar, Prize can be mod for a week or a rank of some sort.. You decide... It would make the forum more active
   
   

Forum Activity total :: 14/20

Good news, Zez! Good news! Congratulations!

I knew you were a good admin, and it is because of this that our forum is scoring very well.

Now please include this in your advertising, so that TSC will have opportunities to accept even more members than usual, and for us to grow overall.

How could he not remember eggmans name!?!?
Anyways, yay too us!

so... we got a 70...

that's a downer...

Auflodern wrote:so... we got a 70...

that's a downer...

No overall score was given.

22/30=73/100
23/30=76/100
16/20=80/100
14/20=70/100
_____________+
299/400
_____________
74.75% overall

Why in the world would he suggest mod for a week? That just might be the worst prize EVER thought of. It'd be chaos.

Spoiler:

Not everything...just mostly everything. And really, that's a good thing, since we rarely talk about Sonic, it's good to keep in people's minds this place is about Sonic.
Darkness saves watt power, so yay for being economical. But the Skin Selector would have helped this.
Eh, Times is fine, really. It could be different, but oh well.
So...yeah...5 points lost because we're trying to keep a Sonic vibe and being economical...huh...

Spoiler:

Until they read the forum names, which will clarify it with absolute ease.
All the New Members thing makes sense, I suppose.

Spoiler:

Forum Games under Gaming because....? I suppose you could say it relates as it's games, but he should have clarified it anyway. And besides, Gaming is more about professional gaming.
The overall score is a bit harsh, using the faults of a couple of boards to drag down the entire score.

Spoiler:

So what dragged the score down 3 points? :???:

Spoiler:

Not really...the only one was All About You, and that's pretty easy to change.
It would be easier if ForuMotion allowed for more Skins on their own Skin system instead of Zezima having to make his own, but oh well.

Spoiler:

So...Retired Staff drags us down? Why? Explanation please.

Spoiler:

We do...you just said them...you did do research on this site, right?

Spoiler:

Alrighty. I guess that's acceptable...I guess.

Spoiler:

That's very dangerous to make a member a mod. Not to mention other sites don't offer it and seem to hold activity. However, I do like the idea of contests at least.

That's not all too impressive.

sykog wrote:That's not all too impressive.

Well, they could have given us a much worse score, you know. We should be grateful we got over half marks (doing really well in some areas).

sykog wrote:That's not all too impressive.

Have them review Sonic World, then compare it with us, it'll seem way impressive.

Sweet Silence wrote:

sykog wrote:That's not all too impressive.

Well, they could have given us a much worse score, you know. We should be grateful we got over half marks (doing really well in some areas).

I can sort of agree. We did well, but really, half the time we were judged way harsh and lost points for nothing.
And let me say right now, black is so much easier in the morning...I can't even go to any other site now. TSC is first site I go to in the morning not just because it's good, but because it's so dark it doesn't try to blind me.

When I read the review I laughed so hard xP
He's complaining about grammar, and his review has atleast 15 grammatical errors >.<
A reviewer should not base his scores on opinions. (he kept on mentioning that the skin was too dark- in HIS opinion).
In the Graphics section of the review he gave you 17/20, but when he talked about it, all his comments were positive. He should have mentioned what made you lose those 3 marks.
Sorry you didn't get an official to review your forum Zezima.
If I were to review-the-review, I would've given it a 6/10 (and I'm being generous here).
Ofcourse, you should appreciate his efforts in completing your review :P
but he should have done it properly.

TSC deserves more.

Let me fix these scores up for him.
18/20
19/20
-------
37/40

20/20
8/10
-------
28/30

9/10
10/10
-------
19/20

8/10
7/10
------
15/20
-------
99/110
-------
-------
That's our real score. A.K.A. 90%.

karkooshy wrote:When I read the review I laughed so hard xP
He's complaining about grammar, and his review has atleast 15 grammatical errors >.<
A reviewer should not base his scores on opinions. (he kept on mentioning that the skin was too dark- in HIS opinion).
In the Graphics section of the review he gave you 17/20, but when he talked about it, all his comments were positive. He should have mentioned what made you lose those 3 marks.
Sorry you didn't get an official to review your forum Zezima.
If I were to review-the-review, I would've given it a 6/10 (and I'm being generous here).
Ofcourse, you should appreciate his efforts in completing your review :P
but he should have done it properly.

TSC deserves more.

... what is this I don't even...
Dude that's what a reviewer is!

Not exactly.
You can't review something if you're biased.
If he hates dark skins, that's his problem. He shouldn't include it in the review. Saying a web-skin is bad just cause is dark, is very biased.

Apparently, according to Sony, if we were graded on the scores we received, the score meant that the grade TSC would have got (were we being graded on this stuff) would have been a C.

I'm sure you'll all agree that a "C" is a ridiculously low score for a forum as great as ours. We deserve an A+.

This guy who graded our forum forgot to mention that he found no troll threads. He forgot to mention that we are one of a few forums who can boast that we have never had to close registration due to an influx of trolls. He apparently overlooked the wisdom of our rules and hierachy. He forgot to mention that we don't discriminate between who can follow certain rules and who can't, unlike other forums (Xbox Republic, who allow 360 Fans to be racist), and that we ban EVERYONE (regardless of who they are) for stuff like that. He didn't factor our good leadership, our strength of community or our steel resolve.

And he also doesn't realise that we are an A+ standard forum. NOT a C Forum. We are an A PLUS forum.

I think the dark design was a nice addition. I can't imagine this site being bright and cheerful.

ok guys
I am going to say it here, STOP THINKING WE'RE THE BEST FORUM OUT THERE! God you guys think that we're the greatest thing that ever developed off this blue drug addict. Seriously you guys need to step back and take a look at the better forums out there. When you do then this forum isn't as great.

Auflodern wrote:ok guys
I am going to say it here, STOP THINKING WE'RE THE BEST FORUM OUT THERE! God you guys think that we're the greatest thing that ever developed off this blue drug addict. Seriously you guys need to step back and take a look at the better forums out there. When you do then this forum isn't as great.

And if you took time to look down at the forums worser than TSC, you'd find out that the distance to the bottom is alot longer than the distance to the top- if you get what I mean :faic:
TSC was misjudged.

karkooshy wrote:

Auflodern wrote:ok guys
I am going to say it here, STOP THINKING WE'RE THE BEST FORUM OUT THERE! God you guys think that we're the greatest thing that ever developed off this blue drug addict. Seriously you guys need to step back and take a look at the better forums out there. When you do then this forum isn't as great.

And if you took time to look down at the forums worser than TSC, you'd find out that the distance to the bottom is alot longer than the distance to the top- if you get what I mean :faic:
TSC was misjudged.

That's true. There's a reason why I say that Zezima's the best admin so far that I have met. Trust me, Krieg, though there may be forums better than TSC, there are plenty more forums which are worse than TSC.

Sweet Silence wrote:

karkooshy wrote:

Auflodern wrote:ok guys
I am going to say it here, STOP THINKING WE'RE THE BEST FORUM OUT THERE! God you guys think that we're the greatest thing that ever developed off this blue drug addict. Seriously you guys need to step back and take a look at the better forums out there. When you do then this forum isn't as great.

And if you took time to look down at the forums worser than TSC, you'd find out that the distance to the bottom is alot longer than the distance to the top- if you get what I mean :faic:
TSC was misjudged.

That's true. There's a reason why I say that Zezima's the best admin so far that I have met. Trust me, Krieg, though there may be forums better than TSC, there are plenty more forums which are worse than TSC.

Yep. I'm not registered for many of these types of forums, but I HAVE come across many lame/empty forums.

Hey, this site has King Big's approval.

Sweet Silence wrote:

karkooshy wrote:

Auflodern wrote:ok guys
I am going to say it here, STOP THINKING WE'RE THE BEST FORUM OUT THERE! God you guys think that we're the greatest thing that ever developed off this blue drug addict. Seriously you guys need to step back and take a look at the better forums out there. When you do then this forum isn't as great.

And if you took time to look down at the forums worser than TSC, you'd find out that the distance to the bottom is alot longer than the distance to the top- if you get what I mean :faic:
TSC was misjudged.

That's true. There's a reason why I say that Zezima's the best admin so far that I have met. Trust me, Krieg, though there may be forums better than TSC, there are plenty more forums which are worse than TSC.

Nah, I'm way better. That's why I'm not an admin anymore. :faic:

Generalities

1. First Impressions (Score: 15/20):

Wow, Looking at your forum, all I can say is dedication. Everything about your forum is Sonic... It's a little dark for my liking, and I recommend adding maybe other options for your background such as lighter options. Your font is the other thing i noticed. I don't particularly like the Times font on a forum, maybe switch it to something more stylish (Note: This is just my opinion)

That wouldn't be a bad idea. If we actually finished up a lighter (not full white, mind you, because that's a bit hard on the eyes) skin for use under the optional skin selector, though it'd have to work with the current banner, unless that can be specific to the skin. I don't mind the font though. That might just be because I'm not one to pay attention to the font unless it's horrid, as I read on a few other forums and learned to just read the words, so I have a hard time thinking of fonts that would fit better.

2. Categories & Forums (Score: 7/10):

Looking at your forums made me a little confused. The top category is Community Issues, and it has News Discussion and a Store, Usually Issue means problems, so this may confuse some other people. Also, you have some grammar problems in your forum. Under New Member; is this introductions? If so, Call it that, or change it to New Members, because New Member doesn't make sense. Also, all about you shouldn't really fit under New Member, because non new members could post there too. Maybe you should rename the category to About or Members, or Our Members. Other than this, I haven't other issues with your categories and forums, They just need a bit of re-organizing to make them look more professional. I've put a list below that might help you organize it.

Community Forums

Site News
Site Discussion
Store

Member Discussion

New Members
All About You

All about Sonic

Video Games
Cartoons and Comics
Characters

Off Topic

Entertainment
Random Stuff

Gaming

General Gaming
Forum Games (moved)
SEGA
Nintendo
Microsoft
Sony

Fan Media

Fan Art
Fan Sites
Fan Fiction


Generalities total :: 22/30

Some good observations in there. Member Discussion would probably be a much better name for the thread as All About You isn't a new member only forum, and sometimes discussions go on in the introduction and All About You threads. Community Issues should stay Issues though, because the grammar around it's current use is perfectly fine. It might confuse those who don't understand the word, (and can't Google the definition to learn in 30 seconds) but it's 9 definitions means it fits every topic in the thread. Something other than just Sonic wouldn't be a bad idea for the Sonic thread, but All About Sonic sounds too cheesy. Also, forum games in the thread about actual games? I'm sorry, but that's an hilariously awful idea. Overall, his observations were pretty good, and the score is pretty fair, (more than two thirds of the available points) but his example is a bit of a flop.

However, I shall make my own list if you'd rather see how I think it should be ordered.

Community Issues

Site News
Site Discussion
Store
Topic-which-shall-not-be-viewed-by-mere-mortals

Member Discussion

New Members
All About You

Sonic Stuff or Sonic the Hedgehog

Video Games
Cartoons and Comics
Characters

Off Topic

Entertainment
Random Stuff
Forum Games

Gaming

General Gaming
SEGA
Nintendo
Microsoft
Sony

Fan Media

Fan Art
Fan Sites
Fan Fiction

Graphic Design & Layout


1. Graphics (Score: 17/20):
Banner

I like the banner, It includes all of the characters from sonic, and provides a reflection below. I also like the Evil Dude in the background (sorry, i forgot his name). To make it stand out, maybe make the next a lighter color, overall it's a great banner, well done :)

Navigation Bar

Your nav bar is clean and simple, and is easy to read, which is a big plus. It's elegant, stands out well against the background, and the register and Log In is the most visible, which is always good a forum. Well thought of.

Forum Icons

Sonic Community really fits, Because once again the forum icons are Sonic. I like how they are gray, makes it noticeable that there clearly isn't a new post, and then when they change is better :D Well done.

'Who Is Online?' Image

Sonic looking at the names and scratching his head is pretty cool. I like that a lot. It's creative, especially how he looks right down the line of registered users. Creative once again. Well done.

Not much to say about this, other than I like all of the graphics as well. An extremely talented artist making a custom computer drawn picture with all of the characters or some other crazy awesome thing as a banner would be great, but the banner is good as is.

2. Forum Layout & Colors (Score: 6/10):

As I've discussed about the forum layout above, there's some things that can be improved (Check my list)... To repeat, there are some grammar issues, and also some of the forums don't belong in their categories.

Colors... Hmm... It's too dark for my liking, Like i suggested before maybe have different color choices hooked into your theme (I don't know how to do this so you'll have to ask someone who does to follow through with it.)


Graphic Design & Layout total :: 23/30

Again, not much to say that wasn't already said.

Usergroups


1. Population of Groups (Score: 8/10):

Administrators: 3
Moderators: 4
Retired Staff: 25
Artists: 9 (NOT counting retired)
Writers: 9 (NOT counting retired or artists)
Randomers: 11 (Not counting Retired, artists or Writers)

I find it good how Moderators and Administrators are balanced, Aswell as Artists Writers and Randomers.

2. Staff Groups / User Groups (Score: 8/10):

You have 2 staff groups to 4 usergroups (unless artists etc count) then you have 5 Staff groups to No Usergroups. Maybe you should add some user groups such as members group.


Usergroups :: 16/20

Again, nothing to say. The usergroups are fine, and it seems he agreed.

Forum Activity


1. Post/Member Ratio & Quantity (Score: 7/10):

Our users have posted a total of 92207 messages
We have 800 registered users
The newest registered user is lightthehedgehog



For your posts divided by users, on average each user has about 115 posts... Or Should... However, your top 20 posters are almost all above 2000, which means 20 of your users have almost half of the total posts in the forum.

2. Users Active (Score: 7/10):

Members connected during last 24 hours : Albino Nega, Auflodern, Bria, Caper the Fox, Celestial Emerald, Chaos_Overlord, chris9801, DarkTheHedgehog, Desertbabe, Erazor, Excalibur Sonic, Gin93, Independence76, karkooshy, kingshadowac, Kuriboh, loanstar744, Mario94, Miles24, montage, Phantom, Pianta, SonicFanPS2, Super Racer Z, Sweet Silence, Sweet_Savannah_Charmy, T@ilz, The Freedom Fighter, The Prodigious Ult Zerda, TheShadowWalker



That's 33 members, out of 800.. this isn't good for activity... Here's what I recommend make a contest every month or something similar, Prize can be mod for a week or a rank of some sort.. You decide... It would make the forum more active


Forum Activity total :: 14/20

BTW, someone doesn't know how to spell reccom(m)end or discsussion (corrected it in the quotes though).

Anyways, 33 members out of 801 is absolutely not bad in any way. That's like saying the Sega forums are terribly inactive because there's 90 members out of 122,447 members online right now. That's not the way it works damn it. And even if it did, I'm pretty sure prizes wouldn't help that much.