http://creativefreedom.forumakers.com/forum.htm
Categories
Internet Play
Editor - Unavailable
Internet Play : Play by Post : Genre - Furry
Editor - Remmy
(I do feel that we belong in multiple genres but for the moment this is where we are)
Note: Creative Freedom stands for just that Creative Freedom, we are not new in the sense we were created about 2 years ago but it is recently that true life has been breathed into the site. We pride ourselves on being open minded and catering to all walks of life and tastes with little rules in the constricting fashion. The rules we do have are enforced without hesitation so that we may maintain our friendly and welcoming atmosphere for current and future members.
We believe in the 'Kiss' philosophy when it comes to our layout and design. Keep is simple sweet, believing that less is usually more as we are about Quality over Quantity with both our site content and graphics.
Beside the freeform posting that is available throughout the site there is a persistent Furry world that allows those with a taste of fur to play freely and interact with others who have the same tastes and ideas.
All in all we are a small site on the way to greatness with friendly and helpful staff as well as members, with an open minded attitude and atmosphere.
Hey There, Sorry for the
Hey There,
Sorry for the lateness in this response. I will preface this statement by saying that I am not an official moderator nor am I able to review your site in any official capacity. This is simply from one web developer to another. On that note, let me give you my opinion:
I absolutely love your color scheme. Easy on the eyes, draws attention to the places it should. Everything is well tailored to work together without being overly flashy.
The site is rather simple, which is very nice. It makes it easier for new users to navigate around and find information.
You might want to try and scale down the huge image at the top of the page. I tried it on lower window settings and a few older browsers and it really takes up a huge amount of the screen. I realize art done specially for your website you might be hesitant about changing it much. Its not a big problem, but you do lose quite a bit of space you could be adding for content.
You should consider putting a 'back to top' button at the bottom of your pages to scroll them back up to the top of the page. Especially with having some pages that are overly long.
I like how it jumps right into your forums as well as shows all new topics posted recently. That's a very handy feature to have on your website.
One thing I will point out ... your website takes up a lot of CPU power. I have a PC build for gaming and can run some of the top games online at max graphics settings. Your website eats up 11% of my CPU power when its idle, and 18% when I am actively browsing due to the animations you have like the scrolling news bar. That news bar is a resource hog. You might be better off going with a popup news window which only shows up once, or a bright color link to draw attention. So is your register animation. You can get a little of the same effect from a button with highlighted colors that set it apart from the other buttons.
It took a good friend with a dial up connection 3 minutes to load your first page alone including all your images. She has an older PC, but updated browsers and 56K connection. Something to consider.
I realize money is a factor in most cases, but removing the ads will make the site look cleaner and you can use those content spaces for other information or custom ads of your own choosing instead of Google ads.
Overall, I love the design of your site, but these are just some areas that might help you streamline some.
Last thing, I don't see any information outside the forums about the content on your site? You might want to consider a content primer to help new players get started understanding your game. The first thing I do when I go to a website is look for what the game is about, without checking the forums. A new user tour on your front page might help get people started fast.
I hope this helps! Take care now!
- Dalliance
Thank you
I really do appreciate you reviewing my site though you are not anyone official, which probably means more since its not your job to do this and yet you do this anyway.
In answer to a few of your comments my site has no real centralized theme, it is an open freeform roleplaying site with the sections divided by skill level, table top, and then a Furry World.
The Ads disappear once you register and are only on when you are a guest.
Same goes for the register button which goes away once you register so that removes that there.
I have my affiliates scrolling because I did not like them just sitting on the side looking clunky and what not and my scrolling news is not active all of the time, just at the moment for our recently completed writing competition. Once the winner receives his award in the mail I will be turning that feature off once more.
And I took your advice and made my banner smaller though not too much because when it was rather small it just did not look right.
I have been trying to get a welcome page to upload as our home page that would explain what it is that viewers are looking at but so far that is frustrating me since it does not seem to want to work.
Once again thank you for your time I really do appreciate you taking the time to look at my site and give me your honest opinion of it.
Sincerely,
Eferhilda
Reviews
Hi Eferhilda -
One of the great things about RPG Gateway is that our readership has an immense wealth of knowledge and is willing to share it. One need not be "official" to review a site. In fact many Gateway editors got started exactly that way - offering their opinions and insights to fellow GMs.
I have no knowledge of furries or how one would even begin to play such a game, so in spite of my official status, your reviews from your fellow gamers are probably more valid than my comments would be in this instance.
Best of luck. Hopefully Remmy will be along shortly to review your site.
Soraya