Vamp it up, man. Vamp it up. That bass guitar logo needs to go, change it to something like... ...with your forum name on it. You can get a great logo made right here on DP. Make the logo's background transparent so that you could change the header's background to whatever you want. For instance, your header's background could look something like: You need at least 8 more categories to make it look full of interesting content from the get-go. There's so much you can come up with: - Bass guitar for beginners - Bass guitar advanced lessons - Bass guitar for pros - Bass guitar solo videos - Famous bass guitar players - Hire a bass guitar tutor - Bass guitar tutor ads - Hand-made bass guitars - Local bass guitar player conventions (if there are such) etc. etc. As of now it really looks like a ghost town, the design itself and the content. I'd start with upgrading the design, then adding a few categories, then promoting it actively through social media.
Forgot to mention. It may sound like I am being critical, but I am not. Since your forum is brand new, you can change your domain name to whatever and it won't negatively affect anything. What made you stop on the .us name? If you ask me nothing, absolutely nothing works as good as .com, it's just what people are used to. .Net, .org, .us should never be used for your everyday site or forum. I guarantee you even bass-lesson.com will get you what you want faster than basslesson.us.
Yeah don't use .us it will always play second fiddle to .com. Heck you're better off with .net/.org over .us.
Thanks for the suggestions, but some pioneers need to develop .us at some point. If somebody doesn't, then who will? By the way, I have some other reviews. Feel free to comment on them. https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/drumming-lesson-forum.2791441/ https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/guitar-lesson-forum.2791442/ https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/music-lesson-forum.2791443/
You're on a wrong path with all your forums. I've never seen @sarahk say to someone on DP "I hate the name, I hate the logo." as she did it in that first link. Maybe you will pioneer something new, it's possible, but then again, why try to re-invent the wheel? .Us domains just don't work, have never worked for anyone. You should go with .com if you want your forums to see any light of day. Again, I am not trying to be rude, I am just saying it like I see it. Sorry, if it offends you.
I agree about the logos and themes. Possibly I will try to get some premium themes and logos in the near future. That's a problem on nearly all of them, except the guitar one.