SMF=awesome...this site=clunky

[ymmotrojam]

No offense to the developers at all, because I think you guys are amazing for creating such a beautiful work of art such as SMF , but the simple machines site is terrible as far as user-friendliness.

1) It's just plain dull with dark and uninviting colors
2) There's too many links everywhere and too many choices.. (when I search, I just want to search, I don't want to see a choice for the entire site or just the forum... in that case that would be an advanced search)
3) The home page has too many words on it, and not enough pictures to get me excited about it. It makes me have to read in order to understand how awesome it is.
4) The main menu seems to be a little of everything... which is confusing. there should be a separate menu for add-ons to the forum software such as avatars, mods, and graphics... and then a menu for the main stuff such as the home page link, link to the forum, and downloading smf, etc
5) There should be a Wiki for general support related things, rather than just forum posts. It would make it easier for more people to participate in the project, rather than just registered members.

final thoughts...
The only reason I chose SMF was because I read about all the alternatives, and I thought it was honestly the best free choice! my choice was definitely not affected by the design of the site... in fact if that's all I had t go on, I probably would have moved somewhere else. Anyways... I still love you guys

[Kirby]

Glad you are enjoying SMF
A new site layout and default theme are in progress and hopefully should be out with 1.1 Final.

[1MileCrash]

i agree..i like the site layout. but the gray is just...dull..

[Trekkie101]

5) There should be a Wiki for general support related things, rather than just forum posts. It would make it easier for more people to participate in the project, rather than just registered members.

Why would a wiki be better, may I ask, I dont see how it is 

[ymmotrojam]

5) There should be a Wiki for general support related things, rather than just forum posts. It would make it easier for more people to participate in the project, rather than just registered members.

Why would a wiki be better, may I ask, I dont see how it is 

well, I guess I shouldn't say it would be better as though the current system is faulty, but I've always enjoyed the power and freedom that a wiki brings... also, it's easier for the SMF devs to just throw out a wiki and let the community handle it rather than having to update all the support sections themselves... although they probably would still do some of it.

[Amacythe]

There is an Online Manual in the works for release with 1.1.  We tried a wiki to start with, but the whole idea you suggest to "let the community handle it" was against our better judgement.

[Dannii]

A permissioned wiki would be nice. Wiki's are great because of their simple linking options.

[Tim]

You'll be suprised 

[Amacythe]

You'll be suprised :p

Yep, what he said

[JayBachatero]

You'll be suprised :p

Yep, what he said

Cant wait for 1.1 to go final.