Ok there are some thing at the current layout that I think should be fixed...
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You have a nice logo, why not show it off and save some of the most important page-real-estate there is. Trust me, every community wants their logo there - so make it easy so that people simply have to replace the logo.png - just like other forum sofware does. I know it's not a big point but the plain text does make the header slightly ugly.
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Usually this is the place where people would want to put their link to their blog, homepage, donation etc. I think you need to find another place for the forum activity stuff (I already have a idea).
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The notification icon thingy, does not light up if there's a unread notification.
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Again, waste of the most important real-estate, why does it need to display the entire name, why does it have to write out "Log out" and why is the search on the right side.
It would make much more sense if the user avatar was right, then if it would trigger a drop down menu with a bunch of options and the expandable search element on the left side of the icon bar. -
How it breaks the first text line gives me a headache.
That's it for now - let the discussion roll.