Please critique my site. Be harsh if needs be

Dont like the black background in the fields of your sign up form... Makes it hard to figure out that you are supposed to type something there...

I agree don't dig the background on the submit forms.

Here's an idea. Take that gray bar underneath the main menu and turn that black... then take the submit forms and turn the background gray. it will call attention to that section.

Nice site otherwise. Looks much more professional than anything I could put together without a template in wordpress.

I like the opt-in form on the left hand side of the page. Creative placement for left to right viewing. Well done.

I would also change the colors to something lighter.

All the best!

RB

Here goes - warts and all

The first impression I had was purple. I like the header colour and silver text here but the white writing on black background further into the site I dislike.

The interests and groups are very UK centric whicn puts me off as an Australian member - I ask myself what there is/will be for me.

I don't like having to post a picture during the sign up. I prefer to do that after I have assessed a site and its members. However I overcame this by posting a flower picture. It wasn't clear whether I could change my profile picture later.

I was a little concerned at the information asked at sign up - particularly sexuality and relationship status, although there was a "prefer not to say" option. Again I would normally close the site at this point. That level of detail is something I would provide after I had assessed the site for a while. To me asking those questions at sign up makes the site sound like a dating service, not a social network.

There was no activation link sent with the email, so I was unable to activate my account and explore more. There was no opt out/unsubscribe option at the bottom of the email which gave me concerns that I could be bombarded with sales emails that I had no way of preventing other than closing my email account.

There is no FAQ - I like to read FAQ before I sign up for things. Particularly I want my concerns about personal details being available to other members spelled out in simple (non legal) terms before I join.

The privacy policy/terms and conditions/acceptable use policy were well worded from a legal perspective, but too lengthy for an average user to wade through - thus the need for a FAQ page as well with just the important bits. The about us page is well written and not too lengthy.

The log in sensibly takes me back to a sign up form if I am not registered or have not confirmed my email (which I was unable to do because the link wasn't sent).

I was able to look at the groups, view discussions and view members without logging in. I am concerned that sexuality and relationship status shows up on profiles that I click. Again this feels more like a dating site than a social network site. Even if that is not the intention, that is what it will evolve in to with the current set up IMO.

Hope this helps - you did say to be brutal

I generally like it and think it's a great idea. You may consider some of the previous jabs.
The main things that I'd like to add are that you should have them create a "username" in the form. Many will be turned off by putting their first AND last names.
And you should expand as much as possible the different "interests" available.

You have potential and I can see you down the road getting bought out for 10 MIL ;-)