www.speakup.cc What do you think of it? How do I improve it? What can I do to make it more popular etc
From my monitor resolution the forum and posts only appear about half way down the page. Perhaps tweak it so that it shows up more towards the top of the page. Users like to see the main content closer to the top of the page. There are probably some sections where you can reduce the vertial spacing: Top login form at the top. Reduce some of the text to 1 line. That should save some space. Reduce or reformat the folder/tree view on the main and internal pages. Up to you though.
Not a bad looking forum. Simple. Reading posts though, i think there is not enough padding. Text seems to be crammed up against the left border. Also there is big empty space on the left sides of posts, especially on a widescreen.
I like the style, and I agree about the vertical spacing. If nothing else, the area to the right of the thread tree thing should not be just a huge white space. You do have a lot of links, etc. above the forum area, so you could try a number of different ways to combine things to see what you like. Also, looking at the front page, the "Speak up - From The Admins" area is quite large. Could you combine the different sections? What about making it all 1 section with Rules, New Staff Members, and Banned people as sticky posts at the top of that section. Just a thought. I do think as a whole the forum looks quite good. Much cleaner than a lot of stuff out there.
For the start put your site in your signature and make quality posts in DP forum another quality forum.