I got this forum dedicated to obscure metal bands (of old and new) called Forces of Steel. So far we have 850+ posts and 40+ members (7-9 of them active daily). We are a drama-free community and we like to discuss the actual music itself. There is also a section for downloading obscure metal music. We want to keep the underground alive!
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Mhmm ok, removed the topics list so there should be no excess.
I'm not the biggest fan of the design but I can't go as far as saying that it's bad. You have a nice amount of sections which is a welcomed change around here. I dislike the guest message, annoying guest messages really don't inspire users to sign up and contribute, it just annoys them... I know nothing about the niche but it looks like you have put effort in to contribute content, so that's good. The big downside is the domain, please purchase a proper domain.
(2012-10-26, 01:15 AM)Anxiety Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not the biggest fan of the design but I can't go as far as saying that it's bad. You have a nice amount of sections which is a welcomed change around here. I dislike the guest message, annoying guest messages really don't inspire users to sign up and contribute, it just annoys them... I know nothing about the niche but it looks like you have put effort in to contribute content, so that's good. The big downside is the domain, please purchase a proper domain.
Very good points. Thanks for the constructive criticism. A domain is on the table of goals for the site and it is understandable that a subdomain isn't suitable for a site if you want success. The design's intentions is to bring back the retro feel of the 90s. So far I feel it does just that. Any details on what you think we could improve on would be greatly appreciated.
Bump.
Also we are continuing to grow as a community. We are around the 1,100th post mark by 52 members. We also added more content/downloads and removed that annoying guest message as suggested by Anxiety.
Please get a proper domain, it just makes the whole thang more serious.
As the previous members have stated and so will others, a proper domain is key, overall it looks like it can go somewhere once the domain is set, and perhaps a clean design as opposed to the current quite generic theme style.
I think the only off-topic forum that you need is The Tavern. Forum games are lame, and forum games forums are even lamer. Disclaimer: On-topic forum games are less lame, and are perfect for the off-topic forum. Things like "Guess the song" or "How do you read this insanely illegible band logo?" would work.
If your members are all metalheads, 90% of the creative things they post will be on-topic and can go in the advertising section. Anything left over can go in The Tavern, so you don't need that creativity forum either.
Also, because you're a metal forum, you can do way better with forum titles. "Tours, Gigs and Festivals," for example, is pretty straightforward, but if you found a nifty lyric, song title or album name that fit the similar description, it might be a little more interesting for your users. "Live After Death" comes to mind.