I recently added a Homeless Forum to our site, (vBulletin) if anyone has some tips on maying it look a little more homely (LOL) or just jazzing it up a little I'd like to hear as I'm not much of a graphic designer.
Hi Dominic Well I would change the default VB colours to make it a bit more of your own and your logo needs to look a bit more part of the forum Glade there are posts on it , as that is normally the number one fault - people say hay look at my forum and all I see is empty cats... Good your`ve got the archive running but I think you should have ads on the main forum too ( althought click throughs are always low on forums ) Think it will be a winner as there is a market / need for it Good luck and any help you now where Iam
Looks cool, you even have a love and relationship section there hehe http://forums.homeless.org.au/forumdisplay.php?f=20
I know - the 'love zone' LOL. I've spent a decade chatting with homeless people on the actual streets and they want to talk about regular stuff so hopefully the ones that use the net at libraries or cafes (there are quite a few), will start participating... and maybe even post in the love zone. With the logo, I'm going to have a look at the vbulletins that have a large - full width of screen image and see if I can design one that loads quickly enough. Will see, I'm not much of a designer. Colours, hadn't though of that, will have a look at it. Adsense that serves on our main site related to this topic is very few ads, all minimum bid, so the asthetic price of putting advertising like adsense into the look of the site wouldn't be worth it. I just put it into the archives as I don't count on many entries to the site via the archive. Thanks for the feedback.
Dominic, the way the economy is in the USA now, I could use a direct link to the forum, please post the link ASAP.
Anthony you should really consider doing some volunteer work with the homeless in your area, your sense of humour and personality would make you a very popular face very quickly. They really relate to down to earth witty people.... I'll make it easy for you - you can volunteer from home! register in the homeless forum and make a few posts, if the forum kicks off well and becomes popular you will really love the warped sense of humour a lot of homeless people have.
Go where, broke? I went out and got a job in the construction business to stay alive, so I know things are bad out there. Keep your day job until your online stuff starts kicking ass big time, you got to do it or you lose everything. PS: Dominic, when I was living in Gainesville, FL, my house was close to downtown, the hippie farm down the street was called "Fort Ganja", where the homeless Rainbow hippies used to hang out and work for room and board. They all used to walk in front of my house down to the St. Francis house to get a shower and a meal every few days. So I know what it is like to be around these guys, some of those hippies became friends of mine and I learned a lot (they have their own slang terms that most folks never heard before "Ground Score" = something you find on the ground, "Dumpster Diving" = Go to the food store through the back door & getting food from the dumpster), some you can help and it works, others you can help but it does no good at all. PSS: another slang term is "Flying a sign", which means you stand in front of a shopping center with a sign and make $250.00 a day or you send your wife out with a sign to work a hustle while you sit in your car smoking and drink beer, I met one guy doing this that told me that was his wife in front of the store with the sign and he said that is how they supported their family.
My sentiment exactly. It looks like a glaring patch of web acne. Otherwise it's pretty and readable. I like it. I am also astounded by your selflessness. This is an excellent idea.
Homeless cannot live on web space. They need real shelters and there are helping organisations world over to look into the shelter issues. And are professional in their jobs. we can just support them.
I think you need to add lots and lots of homeless photos. Somehow I need visual stimulus in a theme like this. Words seem out of place.
I know this is an old thread, but just an update if anyone is interested: the homeless forums have gone on to great success. We now have over 3,000 members and some really quality discussions and connections have happened. If you are interested to learn about homelessness, there is a great thread to start you off - the journal of a homeless girl over the course of four years as she struggles to move off the streets.