Quote:
| Originally Posted by dismaldonkey I don't like it at all. I don't mean the content, I mean the actual fact of having a page that has nothing to do with the forum itself. I generally use the header to jump back to the main forum page once I have navigated around.
Sorry, but big thumbs down for this. |
Uh ... did you miss something or has Fabio updated since you looked at it?
The page is full of the forum ... the "in your face" center is a featured post from the forum. The left column is forum categories, some relevant links (though not forum), and then articles all linking to forum topics. The right column is a welcome message and then TWT staff info ...
From an SEO perspective, it's a very good and even more so, necessary move IMO.
I'm not crazy about the look/feel, but it is complimentary of the forum look and feel which I think is also necessary. A visitor shouldn't click to enter the forum and think they're in a different world ... I guess my biggest issue is the black and blue look, but this is cosmetic and easily changed; the important thing is to have a good page of great content that will get noticed by searc engines and hence web surfers!
From a design/code POV - a few quick fixes are needed:
1. Either declare <empty> or fill in the alt-tags for the images.
2. Some lines of code need to be deleted beginning at about 278, you have some excess <html><body><title> and meta doctype listings; also, you have two premature closings </body></html> after the closing of the table</table>
3. If you could substititute "&" with "&" in the code it will not affect the links and clear up some unnecessary errors.
The "outline" is well defined but could be tweaked for SEO. Check out
W3C for a view of the errors and check the "show outline" to view the headings emphasis/outline.
The site needs an index page; smart move! With a little tweaking and some more input from users, it'll be a true asset - well done, Fabio!
DismalDonkey - once you're in the forum, you'll still have your header navigation that you're used to. Also, being a savvy forum member and Internet user, you'll have no problem bypassing the index page by simply bookmarking the forum or simply adding /forum after the .com
Remember, I think Fabio's intent is the site as a whole, not so much for we current useres - just my guess.