back to Completed Reviews

Site Name: Total Rapture
Owner: Liesl
Reviewed by: Georgina
Reviewed on: 22nd June 2009

Site Name

It’s easy to remember and I like the name; no problems here.

Coding and Validation

Your HTML has 4 errors.

Not bad at all. It’s a shame these errors are caused by scripts, such as the bookmarking script. It’s good to see you have validated your coding as best you can, though. Just be aware that because of the script error, it might not work in other browsers. Some people may have JavaScript turned off as well.

You have used <div id="quicklinks"> twice. You should only use an id once (refer to this tutorial). To use it more than once it must be a class instead of an id, and you have to change your CSS so that the has (#) becomes a dot.

Make sure you remember that slash at the end of image tags.

Your CSS is valid and also very organised. Good stuff.

Browser Compatibility & Usability

According to Browsershots.org your site looks the same in most browsers.

The layout is rather wide so it wouldn’t look as good in small browser resolutions. Just keep that in mind. Not many people use small resolutions now, but it’s still something to be aware of.

The text is easy to read and your website is easy to navigate. It’s very organised.

Layout

Your tagline on this current layout, ‘simple. fun. fresh.’ really sums up this layout! The bright colours on grey are easy on the eyes. You’ve chosen some great simple colours that are bold and striking, making your website quite memorable.

The header image is nice and simple. I like the font you have used for this layout; it has some texture to it, which makes it more interesting than another plain bold fonts.

I’m not a fan of having two sidebars on a layout. Looking at yours, I think you can organise things so that general links outside of the site are on one side, and website-related sections are on the other. For instance, placing the affiliates, network, advertising and links on one side, and updates, quick links, tagboard and random quote, and so on, on the other side. It would create a better sense of organisation overall.

I like how you have made your links blue, which matches with the navigation. This commonality is good.

Overall, the layout is very neat and organised. The content in the sidebars could be moved around a bit, but otherwise is well made, easy on the eyes, while being simple.

Content

Archives

Fairly self explanatory.

Advice Column

I’ve always liked this idea on a website. Especially that you offer advice on offline issues. I haven’t seen this very often, and I know that you update this section regularly and answer all questions here.

This section is well organised. I think you can take the link off “Dating & Relationships” as there are two page links and the “Dating & Relationships” text doesn’t lead anywhere.

Visitor Content

The movie reviews are definitely very organised. I like that you have included comments so visitors can share their opinions too.

I love the idea of these German lessons – reminds me of when I learned German at school ages ago. I like how you have included the alphabet first up, as that part is important.

Placing the numbers in a list or table would look more organised. On the second chapter, “have 3 meanings” is spread out over a few lines; you might want to fix that.

Helpful links – a good resource list, nothing much to say here.

I love the round corners tutorial. Usually people use invalid codes that only work in Mozilla Firefox – it’s very nice how you’ve included a zip file with images and such. Very unique tutorial.

You received a question on your “validating Twitter code” tutorial about how to obtain the code; you should now update the tutorial to include that. I didn’t think of validating this way; I did it a different way. Yours is definitely easy; great job.

On the “comments on WP pages” tutorial, template, that should be template; that.

I needed that paginating comments tutorial!

All the WordPress tutorials are great. They’re easy to follow; I definitely feel a bit more comfortable with using WordPress. They’re also very handy little tips and tricks and not just the regular WordPress tutorials that are common.

The “figure it out” game is great. If you do remember where you obtained the riddles, be sure to credit. You should place the question in bold or something similar so it’s easy to differentiate between that and the answer.

Good colour schemes – very bright colours.

I love the favicons. They’re very cute, and it’s nice that you offer them in .ico form too.

The layouts are very nice. The wooden one isn’t centered though; it looks messy.

You didn’t make the icons, so I don’t know why you’re displaying them on your site. If they were used with permission, be sure to state so.

It’s great that you offer your own fonts! Definitely original.

I rarely see bookmarks or printable content on websites – this is also very original.

I normally don’t see a use for quotes, but yours are simply stunning. I love the use of different colours and fonts; they’re bright, neat and of high quality.

The smilies are great as well – high quality, good size.

Owner

No problems here.

Website

The accessibility page is excellent. I wasn’t aware of the access keys on your website so I had to try them out. This is quite impressive.

Gonk. And I thought I had a lot of affiliates… Well organised page!

On the contact form you might want to spread out the fields as they are squished with the text; perhaps putting them on a new line would look better.

Originality & Creativity

Your site was very original and creative. I liked that a lot of your content was unique, and encouraged visitor interaction. There were a lot of unique things in your content and in the layout of your website.

Organisation & Errors

Everything was extremely well organised and neatly set out. I didn’t spot any major errors or broken links.

Overall Comment

Liesl, your site was a joy to review. I enjoyed reviewing it – everything was well organised, the layout kept me interested, and you had a lot of unique content. I think it’s a great idea that you keep visitors busy and have a lot of interactive sections for them to get involved.

I don’t have many suggestions for your site – just to fix a few things here and there, such as with your layout. Your site is excellent and almost flawless. Excellent work!

Rating

(out of 5)