F Stop — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 06:56:33 +0000

andyy15 wrote: Your site is nothing but the ambiance skin located here: http://www.extremepixels.com/forum/index.php?styleid=32 There is really nothing much to review for you really did not change much (all you did was add your logo). Get rid of that intro page, it's useless (like everyone stated above)

90% of forums out there are nothing more than a skin (in terms of design), be it a stock skin, something found on the internet, or something created.

I've actually made many modifications to the Ambience skin you reference, and the logo is completely original.

As far as the intro page, you guys have to understand that as we add new features, such as a Mix Downloads page, Event Calendar, Dance Music News, etc, all of that will be organized on that front page. So in essence, it's a relatively blank canvas that will be filled in over the next couple of months.

Thank you for the suggestions though, I appreciate it.

andyy15 — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 05:05:16 +0000

Your site is nothing but the ambiance skin located here: http://www.extremepixels.com/forum/index.php?styleid=32 There is really nothing much to review for you really did not change much (all you did was add your logo). Get rid of that intro page, it's useless (like everyone stated above)

F Stop — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 15:26:58 +0000

Good ideas gents, appreciate the thoughts. Perhaps we'll do just that.

grinchy — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:07:54 +0000

andy206uk wrote: If you really have to have a splash page, why not include a login box and register prompt so people can get in quicker. Otherwise they have to:

wait for splash to load
"click to enter"
wait for forum to load
find the register/login button
etc etc

This way it would be

wait for splash to load
register/sign in

At least then your splash screen has a functional use to it!

not a bad idea.
Still don't like splash pages but not bad

andy206uk — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:55:22 +0000

If you really have to have a splash page, why not include a login box and register prompt so people can get in quicker. Otherwise they have to:

wait for splash to load
"click to enter"
wait for forum to load
find the register/login button
etc etc

This way it would be

wait for splash to load
register/sign in

At least then your splash screen has a functional use to it!

grinchy — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 10:47:27 +0000

splash pages/intro pages are evil.

They just annoy most visitors as you are waiting for a page to load that has absolutly no content and usually very little of interest.
Also as far as i know search engines like google hate them also.
Google will generally index the main page of your site first and then return and index the whole site some time after that.
If google has indexed your gateway page (which has very little content, which in turn means that google is less likely to index it) then the cahnces of someone searcing for something related to your site and finding your pager in the top 100 is slim due to the fact that there is little content there.

just my opinion/rant

i do like the look of the site.
The colours are very good.

Edit:the site stats thing looks wrong on the top.
I know that it's handyer there but it dooesn't look great and if a visitor wants to see your site stats then they will prob look at the bottom first as thats where they normally are.
Also the visitor then has to look at your whole forum which could help to get them to stay

F Stop — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:18:47 +0000

I hear what you're saying. I hate splash pages also. I'm just doing this because everyone I know said that this will help me with search engine indexing and placement.

Thanks for the feedback though. Ideally we'll have some actual content and different areas of the site, so at that point, we really will have a homepage.

Troy1960 — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:51:12 +0000

I'm sorta against splash pages. I don't totally hate them like heebiejeebieclu does but oh well... my thing is take me to the content. Why must I knock on the door of your site so to speak before I come in? I love the bg for the splash page and the logo is really smooth. Tight work.

F Stop — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 19:54:21 +0000

heebiejeebieclu wrote: First of all, I hate splash pages. In 99% of sites there is absoutely no need for them - you site is no exception. I don't think what you say about search engines is true.

Design in main forums is reasonable, but I don't think there is a need to have the stats first (in fact I hate it.)

Ok, those are the picky bits. Apart from those, your site is quite good. I like your skin , and you obviously have a busy forum there.

Good luck and keep up the good work

Thank you! I've spoken with about 10 people who told me that the splash page would help out in terms of indexing well (or at all) in the search engines.

Our only activity thus far has been word of mouth. I'm frankly amazed at how much traffic we've gotten from that, but like any website owner/webmaster, I'm never satisfied.

heebiejeebieclu — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 18:31:56 +0000

First of all, I hate splash pages. In 99% of sites there is absoutely no need for them - you site is no exception. I don't think what you say about search engines is true.

Design in main forums is reasonable, but I don't think there is a need to have the stats first (in fact I hate it.)

Ok, those are the picky bits. Apart from those, your site is quite good. I like your skin , and you obviously have a busy forum there.

Good luck and keep up the good work