Review: SportForum.net

[labrocca]

Sports Forum

I would like opinions about my new sports forum.
http://www.sportforum.net

I worked on it about 2 weeks ago but decided today to start getting it running. I bought a database to have some posts there but the theme is entirely custom. I would like to know what others think. Also I want to know your opinion about forum categories,structure, and navigation.

Thank you.

[garysims]

Hi,

Clearly it is a standard forum but you have worked hard to make it look nice. I like the little graphics (soccer pitch, baseball pitch etc) at the end of each forum.

It is very USA biased, there is no Football (the UK's national sport) or Cricket (the other UK national sport) or F1 (very international).

Your biggest problem will be getting traffic and users. It says at the bottom: "Forum Contains No New Posts" and also it says "The most users online at one time was 2 on 08-06-2007 at 12:00 AM" which was like a LONG time ago for the web.

Anyway, good luck... If you get the traffic I think it should work as the site is good enough.

Gary

[Ckrismoney]

Looks Great!

It seems to be off to a good start, I like the full page look you have, no sidebar with Google ads.
Good Job!

[devilzfan300]

Not crazy about the layout, colors, etc, but forums are unique in that I think if they have really good content, these things will be overlooked. Keep getting the posts up and bring in new members (pay if necessary) and you should do good.

[Sharkyx]

The layout seems ok, but i would change the header and the "SF" graphics in front of forums; you could change them to specific sport icons. i.e. hockey forum to a 'puck' or something, soccer to a 'soccer ball'. You get the idea. Hope it helps regards.

[watley]

Forums, for all that they are extremely standardized, are startlingly easy to screw up when someone is 'improving' them. Thus it's a pleasant surprise to see a forum design that manages to be both distinctive, functional, and professional. Clearly you've put both thought into the organization of your information and time into the presentation, both of which are a cut above the average site. I see some are unenthusiastic about your layout/color choice, but I am partial to blue and think you have successfully implemented a nice palette. Very often, design isn't just about getting the correct color, but the correct range and combination of colors that manages to avoid both the monochromatic blahs and the colorblind clashes which adorn far too many sites.

Your division by sport is clear and logical, and navigation appears solid. The inclusion of the little graphics to differentiate the areas of the site (the sports field graphics) are a particularly fine touch and help enormously to break up the visual layout and make it easy to find what you're looking for. I have just a few suggestions, nothing serious.

1) The little navigation graphics below your logo seem small, pixellated, and out of place with the otherwise smooth and distinctive graphic work on the site. I'd suggest either coming up with a more contextually appropriate set of graphics for these links, or maybe just leaving text links.

2) The "SF" logo at the left of the columns on the home page is a bit overbearing. Plus, although you plaster it all over, it doesn't appear as an element in your actual header. I'd consider modifying this.

3) The banners which you use on each sport's home page (baseball, hockey, etc) to show which division each thread covers seem a bit too homogenous. Upon closer inspection, it's clear that each is a nice montage of team logos from within the division in question. But as the background color is the same gradient red in each banner, the overall impression is that all the banners are the same. What if you used different background colors for each of these banners - nothing too bright, but something distinctive enough to underscore the differences between the leagues?

4) A minor quibble: You capitalize the second "b" in "BaseBall" and "BasketBall", which is a bit odd, but you don't in "Football", which makes the spelling look inconsistent. I'd just use lowercase b's throughout.

Thanks for sharing your site with us. Hope this is helpful.

[SportsNarrative]

It is a very nice looking forum and it looks like you have a decent number of posts already.

Not related to the design but it appears as though you need to register to even view posts. I think people would be more willing to join if they could look at the type of posts and posters there first.

[TheFriend]

I think it looks very nice. I would be happy if i made it

[mit]

Done A Good work at design, but very less member you have on forums.... Try to make some more members buddy... there are many sports lovers in this world....