Review Wanted: Walt Disney Boards

[ArnyVee]

Guys and gals,

I wanted to see if I could have some feedback as to the obvious (or not so obvious) things that each of you feel my forums need to improve on.

Just as an FYI, I'm going to be redesigning the homepage a bit and also adding an embeded mp3 player (to play Disney songs, of course) for our members soon. We also have our 'blogs' that will begin probably in about a month or so. Finally, we have our Disney podcast in the works and should probably debut in a couple of weeks.

So, there are some things that I'm looking to add. But, from a functionality and common sense perspective, does the site seem to 'work'? Did I place things where I shouldn't have? Etc.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

Oh...and if anyone is up for it...we have a Disney Movie Trivia Night tonight at 9pm ET where the winner takes home a $10 Amazon gift card!

Thanks again,

Arnold

[Reeve of shinra]

Adding the url to your post helps.

I like the Daily Disney History but it would be cool to see the actual comments and not just the titles on your home page.

I think you have too many forums to start with.

I am wondering how many issues you will run into using their name in your url. I'd suggest a second url "just in case" this one gets a Cease and Desist.

[RLShare]

The music autoplaying when you reach the page is a tad annoying to me. Plus having the 2 pause buttons, one for animation and one for sound on that same section, confused me a little and made me tad more annoyed at first because I thought I could not stop the music after I hit the pause button for the animation.

[cheat-master30]

Okay, first of all, it looks like you are running a very, very nice forum/site there, and the domain for starters is certainly well suited for the topic. Easy to remember, good for search engines and likely quite valuable.

The style looks nice from what I can see, but it does look a bit overwhelming with all the blocks of content and links everywhere, and the top ten stats is pretty useless compared to everything else you have there. Also, you should update the welcome message.

The content variety is nice though. Quizzes are really good, and suit the topic. The videos area looks nice, and the Amazon shop is a nice thing as well. Well done on the range of things to do, although if anything, an arcade would be the only thing left (Disney related games of course).

To be honest, I like also what you've done with the top most nav bar, it looks like the kind of navigation a major content site would have, except it links to the named forums. Maybe something like GARS, except updated would make it look even better and each linked forum feel like a content site normal article? Good anyway though.

I do say to cut out the auto play though, make it off by default with the click to play stuff focused on the user. Good idea for Disney music, bad idea for auto playing it.

Some of the forums look a bit empty though, so I'd say to fill them with content to attract more visitors. All in all though, it's a very nice, well designed forum, so well done!

[Dante2004]

Not sure what the links (numbers) are for at the bottom of the page, but when you click on them you get an error like this

Fatal error: Call to undefined function tfseo_url_thread() in /home/avarona/domains/waltdisneyboards.com/public_html/archive/index.php on line 364

[Digital Jedi]

I don't mind the music. It reminds me of waiting to enter the Theme Parks. Disney fans will generally not find that annoying, since that is your base audience and will make the same connection.

I think your content is on point, it's merely the interface that could use some tweaking. My personal focus would be on softening the advertisements, making them blend in more, so there not as glaring or distracting. I'd also try to work on the skin as part of that process. Try to smooth it out to where it's not too reminiscent of other Disney Forums (the majority of which, I've found, look quite unprofessional) and distinguished yourself from all the others. Maybe a slightly bolder color scheme. Don't let your users abuse the signature size limits. Like I said, content-wise, you seem to be on the right track. It's mostly aesthetics that strike me as being your next step.

I know I have vested interested in this, since I maintain the AME XML threads, but with the massive amount of Disney related video on YouTube and other media hosting sites, I'd install AME, if you don't have it already. I've noticed that almost 90% of MiceChat's users don't know how to use the YouTube BBCode. With AME, your eliminate having to teach them anything. Being able to share trip videos and walk/ride-throughs is part and parcel of a Disney Forum.

[matt_turpin]

I like the autoplaying Disney music. The music combined with the blue header creates pure atmosphere. It's like being in Disney World. I like the blue and gold of the forum tables themselves. I dislike the large left column and the content block underneath the forums. If your site has one flaw imo, and it only has one, imo, it's what Digital Jedi referred to, about making the ads blend in. They make your forums look like the side addition, when your forums aught steal the spotlight. Still, you've got a good thing going.

EDIT: Actually, the left hand column is fine, on second thought, but the huge Amazon block underneath really stands out. It looks unfinished. The left hand menu looks quite professional, but I still stand by not liking the huge content block underneath the forums. Maybe fill in the dead space in its lower and right hand corner? I'm not sure where else that content could go. Your forums are like one of those number puzzles with several rows of numbers and one blank. It seems like just a flip and a twist will make everything fall in place.

EDIT2: Maybe if List Mania and Similar Items went to the right of the largest center block, it'd give it more symmetry and you wouldn't have so much empty white? I dunno. My forums have the same problem, in the blog region, so I know layout can be a struggle.