PHP forum Upgrade needed!

Hello,

This is NOT a request to build a site from scratch, I am in need of an upgrade to my current forum!

I am the current owner of a gaming art forum ( sims3unbound.com ) where members who play PC games come to exapnd their editing skills by editing game art and competing against each other in hosted competitions.

I initially started with sims3 game art but over the last 3 years we have expanded to other pc game art. Needless to say...the site has now expanded to other art and editing related things and I plan on changing the domain name and want to give the overall site a face lift by a PHP expert.

The site was originally created with forumotion and I honestly do not know all the things you can do with PHP so I would really like an expert to take a look and let me know what he/she can do to make the site better and more professional.

As for as banners/logo go. I would love a neat animated banner with a gentle smoke effect and the font fading in/out. Also new web buttons, category buttons and maybe some really great organization for the forum categories.

I would be giving admin access for the designer to make all the changes. As of right now...You will see a lot of sims3 related stuff around the forum, but for the new banner etc. I want it to say Unbound - Creative Forum or Unbound Art - Creative forum.

As I initially said, with the domain name change and other changes I plan on making, it will no longer be specific to Sims3 but I will have categories for other game art. I do not run my site to make money, it is simply a site that I keep up for all the creative gamers out there who love to put there editing skills to the test. We are a VERY active forum and sometimes have over 1k users online at a time so I really want this to turn out awesome. I also plan on hiring for a video ad so I can place on YouTube promoting the site.

All revenue earned through my site is through adsense, and this pays for the the site fees and some. Unbound is a site for graphic artist/gamers to really have fun with editing and get bragging rights to their creations.

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For the overall color layout of the site - Think smokey with 1 or 2 accent colors. I actually really love the colors I have now. I DO NOT WANT RED OR GENDER SPECIFIC COLORS.

Banner - Something SETTLE animated, slow text fade in/out and MAYBE smoke mist over the font.

New buttons/Icons for the entire site

New snazzy looking portal page and possibly a place for a YouTube video since I will be getting an Ad Video for the site.

I am honestly open to ideas since I really dont know the limits of PHP and what all can be done with it. I may be totally doing everything wrong on my site and I really want to get it looking awesome!

We can talk more via Private message if you need clarification. I know this is not your average run of the mill website deals :P

Please leave proposals and since I don't know the price range for this sort of work, leave your price regardless to the budget posted :)


Tara.