Coders Hangout Main Page - Screenshot

Description: Web Design Forums | Web Development Forums – We give free, expert advice on any web design and development related issues. We also offer free web site critiques.

Review: First thing that you notice when you come to the site is probably the colourfulness. Coders Hangout is made up of an array or blues and greens, with some white for backgrounds. Coders Hangout is probably one of the first places that I would head to if I needed any form of advice with how to do something. It offers advice in a huge range of topics, from Starting Out to SEO.  Unfortunately CH has a problem or two – much like all websites do. However, I’ll come to those later.

CH is running vBulletin – which is rather usable in itself – unless the site owner decides to slaughter it and make the most un-friendly site possible. vBulletin is a rather good forum software, one of the leading brands out there. With vBulletin, lots of addons are available so running a forum is rather simple – but that’s not what we’re here to review. CH is active, with over 150 members and over 8000 posts. Perhaps not that many considering when it opened, but bear in mind that very little advertising of CH has taken place. CH is a very ‘niche’ site – and for that reason, the people on it know their stuff.

One thing that is noticed is the presence of advertisements, not that it’s a problem because websites need to stay alive some how – and advertising is the only sure way of doing it. There aren’t hundreds of adverts on the site unlike other competitor sites, or just other sites in general. However, you’ll find one at the top of the forum, and one on the left.

What I don’t like about the site is the fact that it looks bulky – how does it look bulky? I don’t know – but it does. The rounded head images are rather over-sized, and the green bars within the category, are they necessary, afterall, they’re just blank!  Animated advertisements annoy the hell of out of me, and the one in the partners box on the left is annoying too – that would definitely put me off the site.

Actually, why can’t the whole side bar be removed – at least give us, the user, the option to remove it if we want – it’s restrictive, and  useless to a general user. Granted it contains adverts and what not – but the only useful part would be the top section which has either the guest login or the current member’s info – throw that into a nice horizontal bar instead!

What would I do?

This is the part where I say what  I would do to the site to make it more to my own taste, and how I would want it – furthermore, it acts as a suggestion box for the site owners/developers.

Firstly – that side bar needs to go – it’s useless – let’s get rid of it – or give the user’s the option to remove it if they want!  I’d also relocate some of the ads to the bottom of the page – granted it’s not one of the most clicked places, but it’s out of the way and won’t put the members off.

Make it more ‘3D’ and ‘hip/hop’ … currently it’s very bland – throw a new skin on it, one that’s more usable and lightweight, I personally prefer things to be really lightweight, with few, or no side bars or small! It’s not a problem that the site is fluid, it’s a problem however when the first half of my screen is taken up by something that isn’t the required content viewing as a guest.

All in all, I’d probably give the site a 7.5 out of 10 – it can be improved on rather simply – perhaps just by getting a more ’sleek’ skin. Move to web 2.0 Coders Hangout, and move on up – you’ll attract a hell of a lot more people that way.

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