I run a forum, and I've been running custom skins since I started it. Wanting some good advice and opinions on it. geek4ums.com
I like the site alot. The icons on each section are very nice. Very user friendly as well. I may use this forum in the near future. *Bookmarked*
Thank you very much. Any suggestions to improve would be great as well. I'm not sure if all developers and designers feel the same way I do, but I can always find a way to dislike my own work.
My advice: Lose the fixed width that's too small for 1600x1200 users and too big for 800x600. Add some more spacing between the big icons and the text next to them. Switch to fonts that obey the system metric (this is a common affliction of phpBB boards) - 10px and smaller fonts are ******* useless to 'large font' users and people with very high-res LCD's. phpBB has ALWAYS been a total /FAIL/ in the font size department, so no shock there. add some padding around all text elements so they aren't running right up against the borders near them. Make the color difference between alternating posts more pronounced - doesn't even show up on my laptop... and make the headers/post title a bit more pronounced too. Center the content in the user info boxes. Get the headers for each column aligned like their content. and I say this whenever phpBB is involved - switch to a forum software that DOESN'T have security holes big enough to drive the USS IOWA through, lets you actually skin it WITHOUT diving into it's internals, doesn't require endless mods that nueter your upgrade path just to add the most basic of functionality, and hasn't been responsable for one of the most widespread and destructive worms in the internets history. Those who lived through "nevernosanity" and still use phpBB are, well... just a bit 'special' in my opinion. (as in some olympics are 'special') SMF, vBulletin, Invasion - Plenty of alternatives you don't have to mod the crap out of for simple shit and let you ACTUALLY skin them without nuetering the upgrade path - hell, I'd sooner see someone use InfoPop (formerly UBB) than phpBB, a forums I have some less than kind words for as well due to bloat and security issues.
I agree with what deathshadow is saying. MouseOver effect should be added to the links with the icons (Home, User Control Panel) When you choose a topic and hover over a post, the grey's turn white, but the white's don't turn grey. You should use a consistent hover approach. I would like to know how you got traffic flowing to your site. Ben Blanchard webfabric.blogspot.com
Deathshadow and bpb2221 basically covered it but after a few adjustments it will look like a good forum(Not saying it doesn't already).
Yeah, don't let all my comments dishearten - you've got nice images for those buttons, and the color choices are both easy to read and easy on the eyes (those two actually rarely mix)
Really? I designed those ones. What do yours look like? I never use icon packs...Dont like looking too much like other forums.
Your site is very nice. However, i feel that it's better to have another link color for forum section title so that it's different from the link "Moderation Team".
though i liked the design...but not happy with the font u have used in logo and in main links...plus icons are good which u have used but need lil bit of retouch...make all of them of equal in size and also fix search and new post icon, they are cutting from top and bottom...
I really like the small icons and images you've used with the forums, as already pointed out by a lot of people here. I think you can improve the fonts used in the footer headings, like Login, Register, Who Is Online and Statistics. They seem to be too blended and not highlighted at all.
Don't you think that there is not enough space for icons? Icon for "Join" looks not very good. I like your site cause it isn't similar to most of forums.
Hey, just wanted to let you know you have a great site! This is one of the best phpBB designs I have ever seen. Keep up the great work.