21 replies to this topic

[-Sky-]

Hey Trap. I've been working very hard on my site (central-gaming) for almost since I got the hosting with Trap. I'd appreciate it if you could inspect it again for me, tell me what's missing, what you'd like to see on there as a good gaming website.

The forum is getting improved every single day. I come on, and do some updates to the skin, install modifications, scripts etc to make it nice and better for gamers to join and review. Mostly the only game we are concentrating on is GTA IV as it is a big game of Grand Theft Auto series.

If you'd like to see a game in our Games Lounge then you may request it to be added. Very easy to do, we also have a Guests forum.

Please get back to me.

-Sky

[kobra500]

It's good however one HUGE problem. the font does not stand out from the background which for me means I do not want to read the content, this problem will need to be fixed asap for your design to be complete

[joeblogg]

overall it is very good. the forum is also great. on another post you mentioned you wanted to change your site to gta forums or something. don't do that. also on the homepage, it seems a bit messy and the page is very very long. why don't you make more links in a navigation bar so you don't need a page 468 miles long! but yeah good job on the site. the effort you have put in is very noticible.

[rvalkass]

The main problem is that the body text doesn't stand out from the background. In fact, it looks like you've specifically picked a colour that will make it hard to read! I would recommend removing the patterned background, and replacing it with a solid colour or gradient. Then, choose a text colour that contrasts well and is easy to read. Remember that dark text on a light background is generally easier on the eyes than bright text on a dark background.

Scrolling down the page, I see that the text colour seems to change randomly. This gives the page a very discordant look. Use the same text colour for all the body text on the page, and follow the advice above about making it easier to read. Neither the grey or the light blue colour are particularly easy to read; only the dark blue colour really shows up against that patterned background.

Also, your news from Feb 25, 2005 is unlikely to be relevant now. Limit your main page to maybe a maximum of 10 news items, depending on how often you update the news. Move the others to an archive, so that people can read them if necessary, but aren't confronted with them all at once on your index page.

The colours picked for the forum work much better. The light grey background with dark text is much easier to read, and makes the text in different colours stand out much more. My only suggestion would be giving this text a background or border or something to make it stand out:

Quote

Welcome to Central-Gaming!
Most of the forum features are disabled for Guests. Registering will enable you to join in with the contribution, and the community of gaming.
( Log In | Register )

[-Sky-]

Thank you all who reviewed my site, and gave comments and how to improve the design on the homepage. I shall start now as I am already in my cPanel. I just need to think of a background to put on. I don't know if a white background color will be OK. I'll post back tonight with any changes to it.

Thanks,

-Sky

[rvalkass]

-Sky-, on Nov 14 2008, 11:01 AM, said:

I just need to think of a background to put on. I don't know if a white background color will be OK.

If picking suitable colours is a problem then try using a colour scheme generator (linked below). Give them a base colour and they will come up with other colours which work well with it. This is often the best way to find a suitable set of colours to use. However, once you've got your palette of colours, stick to them! Only use other colours where really necessary (i.e. red for an error). This will help to give your site a complete and coherent look.

WellStyled Colour Scheme Generator 2
ColorSchemer
Adobe Kuler

[Ruben]

Wow, very elegant. The forum is amazing. Perfectly blended with great organization. The only improvement would be to make a nicer menu bar on the homepage, a nice rollover image would be cool too. Over all: great site! Keep of the amazing work.

[jlhaslip]

that Header is quite "heavy" for dial-up users. It was even quite slow loading on my DSL connection.
At 157Kb, I would see about getting the file size reduced to speed up the loading and take a load off the Server.

Use the analyser found here to see the problem spots.

[-Sky-]

Thanks for the wonderful comments people. I have improved it yet again a little to suit the site. I will continue to do improvements along the way, although my best big aim is to get some more active great members who like gaming discussions etc!

Sorry for my little inactivity for the past half of this and last month as I have been very busy working hard improving my site. I think as you may have noticed I am good at development and/of publishing websites, improvements to them. I always use HTML/XHTML for templates such as homepages for my websites.

Donations are appreciated by members of Central-Gaming and are rewarded into a new usergroup with more options then regular members. I don't like to push members to donate though, they can IF they want to. Although donations are kept for modifications, and IPB Licensing needs etc.

Thank you all so much for reviewing my website, I greatly appreciate your kind comments and tips on how to improve my work also.

-Sky

[xls]

I think the forums are great and that there are plenty of boards etc. that are perfect for a gaming discussion forum.

The only things I will pick up on is the main page. The menu under the header is too plain. A bit bland. It needs to stand out a bit more and grab some attention.

Also, on the main page, your announcements block is at the bottom of the page. That would be something that I would put at the top, just because I want to make sure my members and visitors see it.

Other than that, very good job. Keep up the work.