Board Name: i2eye Fan Fiction
Board URL: http://www.i2eyeFanFiction.net
Board Description: i2eye Fan Fiction is a small but friendly site dedicated primarily to Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye fan fiction, along with DOC and Robin Hood (with the possibility of others being added in the future). We offer Holiday/Seasonal writing challenges that are fun for both our readers and writers.
Specific things you would like a comment on (optional): I have just recently redesigned the website - new banner, background, maintitles, button set, etc. So, comments on that, as well as anything else you feel would be useful, would be appreciated. Thanks!

Strengths

• The ease of navigation is pleasing.
• The awards feature is a nice addition.
• The rules are well outlined.
• Custom domain is always a plus!

Weaknesses

• The marquee malfunction in Firefox that makes the whole board scroll will drive many users away. Enclosing the <center> tag should fix this problem, I believe.
• Inactivity, in general.
• The lack of customization in the design.

Recommendations

• The affiliates and link-backs would probably be better off on a custom page.
• The General Disclaimer forum seems somewhat redundant, being said at the bottom of the board too. It would probably be better off in the Site Rules and Regulations forum as a topic.
• Personally, I find marquee to be somewhat annoying and hard to read. I think an announcement box is much more subtle.
• Advertise at similar boards of your kind and post new topics, when possible.
• I think the design can be customized to a greater extent; ridding of the defaults and better-blending the colors.

Thanks for the evaluation.

Ok - I actually use IE and most of our members do too.
But I have checked the site, especially lately, in Firefox to check what it looks like and fix any problems that might exist in Firefox that don't exist in IE. I've never seen this problem. Does it only happen with a particular version?

I have been thinking of changing to an announcement box instead of the marquee. However, some members really like the marquee.

We actually already do this.

I'm curious, when you say 'ridding of the defaults' what exactly do you mean?
Our members seem to really love the design - so I'm not sure I will be changing it.

Thanks,
Tracy

I believe the marquee malfunction only exists in Firefox v3.

If your members rather use marquee than an announcement box, then I guess marquee overrules the announcement box. :)

That's good to hear! Just keep advertising and posting new topics, where and when possible. It's usually a limitless deed, after all.

By defaults, I'm referring to the base of the default InvisionFree skin. The custom changes actually go well with the defaults, but if you're ever looking to customize the design to a greater extent, ridding of the defaults is the best place to start.

Ok - I downloaded Firefox v3 (had v2 still - which didn't have the problem) and saw what you meant about the whole board scrolling.
Yikes - yeah - I can definitely see how that would drive users away!
Thanks for letting me know. I had no idea it was doing that. It's now been fixed.