Political Forum - America Outloud

Well I finally started a political forum. I am a total NEWBIE to this so please offer very kind words.

There are a few things I would like to add/change to include an automatic welcome message from Admin upon joining. I have also done zero SEO (which I am going to pay someone to do for me)

I also want to look into the topics I have and maybe slightly adjust them to include a few more topics.


www.americaoutloud.org


PS I like the red as do all of the people so far :) so no, "Wow, that red is something else!"

vB 3.6x has automatic welcome Email and PM features. You just have to turn them on, and you can even edit the email and PM. These both used to be a hacks, but have now been integrated. It's a great feature.


I went to your site and checked it out. The style is very catchy, perfect, in fact.
The only thing I didn't like about it is that you're still using the vB default buttons. There is a set of buttons here on FAQ that would go real good with your forum.

http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1621

Good luck with it!

Hmm wow those may look nice :) Maybe I can find someone to load them and activate my automatic messages (like I said I am very new to this)

But willing to learn!


I wouldnt mind finding an expert that is local (DC)


Anyone else want to comment on the site?

If you don't like those. I have some red, white and blue buttons I made a few weeks ago.
http://www.vbimpressions.com/buttons.html

I have to work tomorrow, but I could help you with this on Wednesday, if you still need help by then.

Sounds great! Also I'm a Buckeye Alum and I know if you are from Ohio you are automatically a Buckeye Fan.




Go Bucks!!!

http://www.americaoutloud.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49

National Champions :)

Wow thats all the replies I am going to get?

Weak guys ...hehe

Visually, it's nice enough. But personally, I rarely comment on visuals unless it's totally amazing - for me, it's forum content that matters, not how pretty it looks. And I won't comment on this one because personally I have no interest whatsoever in political forums. That's not intended to be a criticism of your forum at all, valdetzke - I'm aware that a lot of people really enjoy political and topical forums, so I'm probably in the minority.

Well I made a few changes to the banner and added and deleted some of the topics :)


I even toned down the red as it was killing retinas from my understanding

You toned DOWN the red??

Ok - let me be honest and frank. (Please dont take this personally or as an insult but as constructive criticism intended to help you improve your site.)

It looks cartoonish - which makes me think its not very credible.

For a politics site - I would consider something more rich in color and graphics. More professional. Talk with Mac27 or Caddyman about getting some cleaner, more professional graphics done. They dont charge alot to do the graphics and both are quite talented.

Think of what a law office site would look like. Or even better, visit some of the websites of senators and other politicians. They have done tons of research as to what colors the public responds well to. For example:

Well I kind of wanted the site to still look fun.

Caddyman DID the graphics :p


Credible:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: is any site these days. I hear what you are saying though. I'm just not out to grab the attention of the 40+ crowd (although I have plenty that age).

this is geared more towards the 20-30 crowd. I will look at doing a less cartoonish banner and toning down the colors.

I wanted to steet clear of the idea that people were at the site for business and more for fun.

This day in age politics are rather comical and at times cartoonish.

Great job with the forum! 9,000 posts already...looks like it is picking up rather well.

Keep up the good work!

From a non US perspective... it looks errrm... very US'ified to me :)

I'd have to agree with Joey though, somewhat comic in appearance, but then again if the age range you are pitching at is the 20-30 demographic, then good on ya!

Interesting start to a debate on cyber-bullying, I am with you on that one. Keep up the good work.

Truthfully I don't think it's all that cartoonish. I like it alot.

Still planning to register Valde... I love a good debate :D

Peggy - Want to help me out? I can't figure out how to embed video on my forum. I even have HTML enabled (only on the news section which is locked for posting).

Thanks

Darlin' I have NO idea how to do that..... but I know who probably does....


Ohhhhh DANNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.... :D

Darlin' I have NO idea how to do that..... but I know who probably does....


Ohhhhh DANNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.... :D

Danny slips into the phone booth, dons his cape.. Up Up & Away. :D

Peggy - Want to help me out? I can't figure out how to embed video on my forum. I even have HTML enabled (only on the news section which is locked for posting).

Thanks

Depending on what kind of video you're looking to embed, a bbcode replacement is fairly easy to setup for YouTube and Google videos.

A while back I had mentioned a hack called Any Media, I ran it on my forum for a while only to find out that it didn't work for half of my members, I wouldn't recommend installing it.

bbCode replacement is the way to go. :) I can walk you through it sometime, alternatively, I posted the Google video replacement code, here: http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/showpost.php?p=42335&postcount=5

Edit:

I've created a tutorial: Embed Video Safely with bbcode (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7219)

http://www.eaglegraphix.com/forum/images/smilies/77.gif what a guy!

Danny do you have an IM screename?

Danny do you have an IM screename?

Yes, Sir. It's in my profile here.

Currently I am running a regular "base model" server option from GoDaddy. I have a few questions:

What are the benefits of having a deticated virtual server?

How hard is it to move from one server to another?

Anything else you can add would help.


danny I shot you an email on this as well.