[applegossip]

Hey all, I tried to find the rules but all i found was that the Mods could delete anything they want. So if we arn't to post about other forums please delete.

Ok i know everyones first response is "why do we want to join another mac forum, we already signed up here"
Well every forum offers a different experience so this forum and AppleGossip are not the same. We both offer different services.

So just take a look. You are not being forced to sign -up. I just want some feedback on my site.

applegossip.freeforums.org

[Oisín]

First impression (after about two and a half seconds):

1. Lose the watered-down pink background
2. No apostrophes in plural

[Rumor]

The banner should must go.

[Jawbone54]

Banner definitely has to go.

It looks just a bit Web 1.0-ish, to be honest. Needs a lot of clean up. You should probably lose the visual icons representing the subject matter of each forum. It clutters everything up.

[applegossip]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

Can you guys recommend any colours. And which banner are you talking about? thanks.

[klb5090]

x800 on the banner being gone

[applegossip]

Oh do you mean the forum logo banner? with applegossip on it?

[Rumor]

Yes. Make another one.

[applegossip]

Ok thanks for the tip. Any suggestions on what i should do on the new one?

[brassplayersrock²]

not let it look like the current one

[applegossip]

that helps. sort of. well what should i add to make it better or what size or anything.

[shifuimam]

Well, for one thing, don't make it more than about 800px wide. Some people are still on 1024x768 (or 1024x600), so you should try to accommodate that.

It's just too busy and doesn't fit with the forum theme. You could either do a translucent overlay on top of the grass photo so it's not so bright, or pick something that's less busy.

You don't need the Apple logo, but if you're going to use one, don't stretch it out - it doesn't have to take the full height of the header image.

Look for a more visually interesting font for the text in the header image, and try applying a Stroke (if you're in Photoshop, that is) to it to make it stand out from the image more.

I'd also kill the lavender background. Make it a grayish blue - try picking up a color from the folder image you're using. I'd definitely get rid of the images above the title of each subforum - it makes the entire visual appearance too busy.

[scaught]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² 

not let it look like the current one

I LOL'd.

[applegossip]

I get the impression that you are not happy with my post? I am just asking for some feedback, not insults. yet insults i receive. Also isn't it a good thing if its my "furst" website. It means i have much to learn new skills to acquire.

[Cold Warrior]

Folks, this isn't spam. Please give our newest member some constructive feedback on his site if you have any comments.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

I get the impression that you are not happy with my post? I am just asking for some feedback, not insults. yet insults i receive. Also isn't it a good thing if its my "furst" website. It means i have much to learn new skills to acquire.

This is the MacNN Lounge. The two are not distinguished.

(So far you’ve gotten four actual, proper feedback posts and only three or four non-serious ragging posts; trust me, that’s a good ratio)

[applegossip]

Oisin thats true thanks.
But i took their advice anyway and changed the logo to a shiny new one. that hopefully looks better. I havent changed the size because it has another background behind it i can't get rid of. But i hope its better then the other one. Photoshop elements is very limited.

[starman]

Honestly, regardless of what people said about the theme, you don't have a catchy .com name. Without it, people won't remember it.

[Laminar]

Apostropheeeeeeeees

[applegossip]

Hmmm sadly i don't have credit card or PayPal to pay for a domain. otherwise i would have one by now.
Laminar, where! I am very bad at the whole where apostrophes go thing! help me out!

[Laminar]

Everywhere!

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

Hmmm sadly i don't have credit card or PayPal to pay for a domain. otherwise i would have one by now.
Laminar, where! I am very bad at the whole where apostrophes go thing! help me out!

About *50% of all of your apostrophe usage is wrong. Good, readable, text usually has very few apostrophes. Do not use contractions like "don't". About the only time you should be using apostrophes is when it indicates ownership of something. For example, The is Don's collection of iMacs. You have made plural objects the owners of this with the use of apostrophes on the objects themselves. For example: "Mac's".

Oh, and read the cartoon Laminar posted. Download it, memorize it.

*[EDIT: I went back and actually counted, 10 out of 19 apostrophes were placed incorrectly]

[applegossip]

can you direct me to the cartoon? Also I'm fiddling with the forum layouts and i can't seem to find one with a nice feel to it. Are their colours in a layout i should be looking for?

Edit: Actually do i really need the forum icons? Is it wise to be rid of them?

Edit 2: I have fixed Apostrophes Laminar! Thanks for tipping me on that one.

[goMac]

Where is the anti-aliasing in that banner text...

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

can you direct me to the cartoon? Also I'm fiddling with the forum layouts and i can't seem to find one with a nice feel to it. Are their colours in a layout i should be looking for?

Edit: Actually do i really need the forum icons? Is it wise to be rid of them?

Edit 2: I have fixed Apostrophes Laminar! Thanks for tipping me on that one.

Why do you need the icons?
If you really feel you need them, can you replace the folder icons with the other icons?

(I used to use Free Forums. Great staff there.)

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

can you direct me to the cartoon? Also I'm fiddling with the forum layouts and i can't seem to find one with a nice feel to it. Are their colours in a layout i should be looking for?

Seriously?!?! Ummmm... it is the post above mine.

[andi*pandi]

Banner: your new apple logo is still distorted. Don't try to do the mirror effect if you can't find the antialias tool, opacity layer, etc.

the folders and the icons are redundant. If you are going to use icons, they should be the same size, style (all images, or all "art") and feel. Actual icons.

Also it's pretty non-intuitive to have the introductions forum at the bottom if that's the first thing people should be doing.

[Maflynn]

I think the granularity of the forums is too fine, that is too many forums. I'd combine the iBook, MacBook (pro), MacBook air into a single forum. The same can be said with the other forums but the laptop line seems to be the worst offender imo.

the color doesn't bother me, but the banner could look better. The apple logo doesn't look like it has the proper dimensions and the lettering is a bit jagged.

[brassplayersrock²]

you don't need the "remember the rules" bit in each forum description.

[calverson]

Lens flare. Makes anything crappy look good.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by calverson 

Lens flare. Makes anything crappy look good.

OMG! You are right!

I'm so sorry, you know I love you!

[Railroader]

Who would have thought - - e r i k - - and I would ever agree on anything. But we do about lens flare.

[calverson]

...

[applegossip]

Ok. I think i will keep the skin because it suits the forum topic. Also i am going to redesign the logo again and get rid of the messy forum icons.
Thanks for all the suggestions and critical analysis of my site.

EDIT: Ok thanks to a member of another forum, the logo is complete!

[seanc]

In my opinion, you really *need* to remove the other background behind your banner, or make your text & logo with a transparent background so that they sit on the image behind.

[shifuimam]

I also wouldn't stretch the banner so much vertically. The Apple logo and your text is too narrow.

[besson3c]

Who is your target audience? What does your forum have that others don't? Why would I want to participate?

I don't mean imply that there aren't good answers to these questions, it just isn't clear to me...

[applegossip]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Who is your target audience? What does your forum have that others don't? Why would I want to participate?

I don't mean imply that there aren't good answers to these questions, it just isn't clear to me...

Well we don't have a age target, we are aiming at all ages. We have fast 99.9% uptime, 200 message storage, 1GB upload space (and counting. it goes up every second), most of the usual things a normal forum, unlimited bandwidth etc. and Birthday, community chest, a blog, quickreply, share this.

We did have a main page called iPortal except this was slow and not the main page and got people lost.

We do have a instant registration. Well not instant but its quick and easy.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

Well we don't have a age target, we are aiming at all ages. We have fast 99.9% uptime, 200 message storage, 1GB upload space (and counting. it goes up every second), most of the usual things a normal forum, unlimited bandwidth etc. and Birthday, community chest, a blog, quickreply, share this.

We did have a main page called iPortal except this was slow and not the main page and got people lost.

We do have a instant registration. Well not instant but its quick and easy.

And why would this matter to me? Why does a forum with supposed 99.9% uptime appeal? Why would I need a forum that is that reliable? What am I going to do with 200 messages? If your selling point is 1 gig of upload space, why not make that clear on the homepage, and if so, why a forum? What does your forum offer that other phpBB forums don't, and why should I care?

Again, these are the kinds of questions you need to take a hard look at if you wish to succeed.

[applegossip]

Ok i had a crack at writing something that visitors will maybe want to read. Laminar if i have any spelling or anything that needs to be changed in my english let me know!

So here goes nothing:
Welcome to AppleGossip!

I bet your thinking "Why should i be joining?". Well we have many answers to that. Other forums offer many of the same things we offer. Offcourse that is what most forums should do. But they should be offering more then each other. We offer a service like most forums do, but not just 1 service but 3 services. We offer service in Mac software, Mac products and a Forum Feedback Service. All three are important in their own special way. But why offer services when nobody is using them? Well thats where you come in. When you sign up you get access to these services. Including:
200 PM Inbox space (+200 for becoming VIP) Also get +50 when you request (once only)
Fast 99.9% forum uptime. Important for not losing you while we load up.
Keep track of friends you meet with the Friends Online list. You can even check where they are on the forum!
Enjoy chatting with friends with our chat box wherever you go on AG forums!
And lastly, are you in a hurry? Sign-up quick and easy! And if your in another hurry you can post as fast as you need to in any forum with our Quick-reply tool.

So have a look around. Check out some of the forums. And Sign-Up or Sign-In.

Thanks for visiting.
Seth Harlen
Administrator and Founder.

Thats what i got to sell AppleGossip to users. Neat huh. Well maybe not. i reckon it still needs a little something.
I just don't know what yet.
Thanks

[- - e r i k - -]

you're

[- - e r i k - -]

of course

[Ω]

ech'o

[brassplayersrock²]

so this ISN'T spam?

[besson3c]

applegossip: your forum was better without this text. Simply *telling* people why they should care about your forum is not what I was suggesting (and even then, what you wrote doesn't really do the job), this is something that has to be made clear to your visitors in an intuitive manner.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² 

so this ISN'T spam?

Easy boy! This person is here to discuss his/her site... If you are uninterested, there are other threads. How many forum cops do we need?

[Railroader]

besson3c, you are being a forum cop with your post. [/FORUMCOPMODE]

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by applegossip 

Ok i had a crack at writing something that visitors will maybe want to read. Laminar if i have any spelling or anything that needs to be changed in my english let me know!

So here goes nothing:
Welcome to AppleGossip!

I bet you are thinking: "Why should I be joining?". We have many answers to that question. Other forums offer many of the same things that we do. Of course, that is what most forums should do However, they should be offering more then just what each other offers. We offer a service like most forums do, however, we offer not just one service but three services. We offer services in Mac software, Mac products and a Forum Feedback . All three are important in their own special way. ***SNIP*** When you sign up you get access to these services.

Including:

1. 200 PM Inbox space (400 for VIP). You can also get 50 more upon a one time request.
2. Fast 99.9% forum uptime. We are there when you need us.
3. Keep track of friends you meet with the Friends Online list. You can even see where they are on the forum!
4. Enjoy chatting with friends with our chat box wherever you go on AG forums!
5. Sign-up is quick and easy! And if you are in an exceptional hurry, you can post as fast as you need to in any forum with our Quick-Reply tool.

So have a look around. Check out some of the forums. Sign-Up or Sign-In.

Thanks for visiting.
Seth Harlen
Administrator and Founder.

Thats what i got to sell AppleGossip to users. Neat huh. Well maybe not. i reckon it still needs a little something.
I just don't know what yet.
Thanks

Offcourse, all of this is moot because you offer a forum service similar to about 99.9% of all forums out there.

Just offer the the service and if it appeals to people they will register.

[Maflynn]

I'm still not sold on advertising 99% uptime as a marketing draw. I don't join a forum because of its uptime record. Its not a metric that is useful for attracting members imo.

the other point I want to make is this: I found with new forums is that they need to generate critical mass, i.e., sufficient membership to keep the forum active with fairly regular threads/posts. People start forums left and right, dedicate a lot of time (early on) and then as their interest wanes so does their involvement and the forum fades into oblivion. To that end, I'd focus a lot of attention in getting people to joining, advertising, spreading the word.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Maflynn 

I'm still not sold on advertising 99% uptime as a marketing draw. I don't join a forum because of its uptime record. Its not a metric that is useful for attracting members imo.

Had you ever tried to access forums.macnn.com when it was down for a day a few years back?