Hey his is the link to my forum http://www.andysserver.frih.net/forum/index.php if any one could help me with catogory layouts and what borads im missing e.t.c that would be great help
What do i need to do to improve my forum?
It may help if there was something there. Currently, I get a blank page. 
Thats because server 2 was down when you clicked it. It is back up.
The page looks good, though the first thing I noticed was the banner, its horrid. Even if it was the exact same thing, but filled all the blank space it would be 10x better, but perhaps you should invest some of your Frih$ in the marketplace trying to get a new one? The current one hardly even matches the theme. =\
Also, the login form is kinda inconvenient. Perhaps just a simple User Name/ Password form in the top right overlaying the banner? Then maybe a remember me box and let users set their session time in the profile along with their theme and remove that whole layer that you currently have the form on.
Those are the two things I noticed, changing them would greatly improve the site.
The page looks good, though the first thing I noticed was the banner, its horrid. Even if it was the exact same thing, but filled all the blank space it would be 10x better, but perhaps you should invest some of your Frih$ in the marketplace trying to get a new one? The current one hardly even matches the theme. =\
Also, the login form is kinda inconvenient. Perhaps just a simple User Name/ Password form in the top right overlaying the banner? Then maybe a remember me box and let users set their session time in the profile along with their theme and remove that whole layer that you currently have the form on.
Those are the two things I noticed, changing them would greatly improve the site.
kinda basic forum skin. simple but good. change your banner for sure. (lose your background on your image)
As for your layout, I agree that it is rather basic. I don't mind basic, simple is best and the primary aim of design I believe. However, there is nothing here that is distinctive. What niche audience do you serve? What is the purpose of your forum? I believe the answers to these questions should and can inform your design. For example, if you decide to be a creative forum, then I would create a theme reflecting that idea. Maybe you want to be a gaming forum. Perhaps some imagery from some of your favorites would be in order.
In any case, I think that even those categories may be a bit broad. Perhaps instead of having simply a "creative" forum, you could narrow that down to a forum on a specific movement in art history, or a forum dedicated to performance art. Instead of gaming, narrow it down to retro games or maybe just first person shooter games from the past 2 years.
When you focus in a bit more, ideas for different designs start popping into my head. For example, if you wanted to do a creative forum on the Bauhaus period, I see lots of black and white, simple shapes, perhaps incorporating different designs from the period. I don't know, but at least I have a place to start researching different design ideas.
As far as what boards you are missing, I think you just need to focus on one area and get granular with the topics. For example, if you did retro games, you could feature sub-heads on each gaming system and then individual topics would be individual games.
Example:
Subhead: Atari
Individual topics: Pong
Asteroids
Battlezone
etc...
Note that this wouldn't mean you would need to get rid of everything you have there now, just that it would be relegated to the bottom under a "miscellaneous" category. One other thing you may want to do is run a quick spell check.
Hope this helps and good luck with your forum!
In any case, I think that even those categories may be a bit broad. Perhaps instead of having simply a "creative" forum, you could narrow that down to a forum on a specific movement in art history, or a forum dedicated to performance art. Instead of gaming, narrow it down to retro games or maybe just first person shooter games from the past 2 years.
When you focus in a bit more, ideas for different designs start popping into my head. For example, if you wanted to do a creative forum on the Bauhaus period, I see lots of black and white, simple shapes, perhaps incorporating different designs from the period. I don't know, but at least I have a place to start researching different design ideas.
As far as what boards you are missing, I think you just need to focus on one area and get granular with the topics. For example, if you did retro games, you could feature sub-heads on each gaming system and then individual topics would be individual games.
Example:
Subhead: Atari
Individual topics: Pong
Asteroids
Battlezone
etc...
Note that this wouldn't mean you would need to get rid of everything you have there now, just that it would be relegated to the bottom under a "miscellaneous" category. One other thing you may want to do is run a quick spell check.
Hope this helps and good luck with your forum!
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