Review Request: Webmaster-Forum.net

At first, I thought you were posting The Webmaster Forums for review. I don't think I would have chosen a domain name so close to one that is already well established but that isn't why you came here so on with the critique.

Everything looks nice and clean. Colors are good but you are right about the header graphic. It sorta kills the look. I think a more simple, flat look would suit this better instead of the shadows, business and blurry look of the one you have. More use of an organge color might be good.

the main logo doesnt really work for me either Im afraid but I like the clean look of the rest of the site. I would consider changing the stock image buttons used by the board software if you can cause they look a bit dull when you've seen them on so many different forums.

hope that helps,

I agree about the header graphic - that's a little on the ugly side. I also agree about the domain name .

Other than that, the main problem I see is the organization of the forums. I don't know about others, but I think it's nice to organize the forums under sub-headings (like we have "designing and building", "maintaining your web site" etc.) It helps to keep things organized and easier to scan.

As I mentioned in another thread on a similar topic, communities are pretty difficult to build up successfuly. It's hard to build a good solid memebership, especially when you've got a lot of competition. It's a good idea to do something to separate yourselves from the crowd - like focusing on a certain sub-topic or a particular target audience. From your forum listings here, it seems that you are planning on focusing on search engine optimization - perhaps it would be a good idea to change the forum name to something more search engine related. That will be more likely to attract the audience you want and make it clear to people what your site is all about.

Not much to add, but I'd go with a different logo, and consider making the red links a little darker.

thanks all for the feedback. I'm sure now that the header graphic has to go.
We also plan to re-organize the forums under sub-categories after careful consideration.
And as for webmaster-forum.net vs. webmaster-forums.net, it is all part of my evel scheme to steal traffic. Not really, I just didn't know it was taken. I tried webmasterforum.com (taken) webmaster-forum.com (taken) and webmaster-forums.com (taken) and webmasterforums.com (taken).
So I went with webmaster-forum.net..It is not planned for promotion. Its just for me and my phpBB addict friends.
Again, thanks all for the feedback.

I agree with the banner, I also think you need to use more screen width.
The forum is just a basic phpbb forum which could be given a bit of color through a skin maybe or new colour scheme, maybe color it to suit your new banner

It also has some display problems in NS4.7, phpbb normally displays well in NS (except somethings the font is to small on tiny text, like copyright section)

Yup. I hate the header. I don't like the width either. I want it changed to full width.

I like the colors it gives off a cool type effect,very easy on the eyes,the header need a little work