UK of Equestria.co.uk - For Fans of My Little Pony

Alteran Ancient

Well-known member
UK of Equestria.co.uk
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I've actually been running this since December 2011, but we've come a long way since then... and yet, I've never showcased it on here once. So I thought I'd finally give it a go and see what people think of it compared to other forums.

We're a community based in the UK, but we seem to have received small audiences in the US, Australia, as well as other members of the Commonwealth. We've got a fairly niche audience, for those who are fans of the My Little Pony franchise as well as the Friendship is Magic series, the latter of which was the motivation to start the community originally. Yes, you might know some of them as Bronies, but we have members who do and do not associate with that identity.

Design
This is one of the first things that people comment about when joining. They appreciate how clean and simple the site design is - and that it doesn't look like other websites. Back when we started, we had a re-coloured version of the default xF design for a while, and have evolved a few times since then, using Flexile for a significant part of our time.

This is where we are now:
Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.34.55.webp

We also rock a handful of different designs that users can switch between:
Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.45.31.webp Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.46.03.webp Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.46.36.webp Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.50.11.webp

Oh, and credit if any of you out there can work out what this hidden style is a reference to:
Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.52.38.webp

Postbit Design
This is another one of those specific features. Ever since the latest iteration of our style, we gave circular avatars a try and they've just sort-of stuck.

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.57.36.webp

The named section changes colour for privileged accounts - and also shows an icon with an included tooltip.
Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.56.59.webp

These circle avatars have encouraged a few members to get rather creative, using the circular effect to their advantage (as demonstrated by Lysander in the first postbit). We have also tweaked the member card to go along with the circular thing:
Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 15.57.58.webp

...and I think those are the key bits for now. We've done a few more of our own things, such as a bespoke Event Registration system, but I'll leave those for those who are interested enough to click on through and explore for themselves.

Major kudos to one of our community's own members, Becca, for the majority of what you see here - Becca is our principal Front-End Designer. I'm responsible for Software Development and Back-End Design.

Constructive Criticism and Feedback is more than welcome - we're very passionate about what we do and we'd love any suggestions you might have to make it better.


...and yes. We use Font Awesome.
 
I haven't a clue what it all means, but that's one of the best looking forums I've seen for a while (considering its niche). Brilliantly done colour scheme, well laid out and so easy on the eye. Some of the design touches are wonderful, like the circular avatars. This is what forums should be like, clear and light so the focus is on content. It has a relaxing vibe, well done.

And nearly 800,000 posts in less than three years is pretty epic!!
 
Thank you! Your comments on the design are enormously appreciated... :)

(Also, just tried to sign up here to post this, and apparently I already have an account. Hey ho.)
You should seriously consider starting selling your own themes for Xenforo if you do that good of work like you did on that site.:)
 
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