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Site Name: Pulse
Owner: Sky
Reviewed by: Georgina
Reviewed on: 29th July 2009
Site Name
It’s short and easy to remember; no problems here.
Coding and Validation
Your HTML has 47 errors.
The following is the wrong way around:
<div id="container"><body>
Obviously, the body tag should go before any displayed content:
<body><div id="container">
Your header image is missing the required alt attribute for images. Additionally, while it isn’t necessary, the header image would be better as a background image rather than being inserted with img – because, should the browser not view images, there isn’t a space from your header image showing where the image should be. You can do this simply by following my centering layout tutorial; it outlines the use of a header div as opposed to placing images with img.
Don’t forget that <br> must be changed to <br /> when coding in XHTML. You have neglected to alter this in parts of your coding.
You’re missing a </span> at the end of your navigation coding.
You’re using <center> for your sidebar, when <center> is deprecated. Instead, you should be using classes with CSS instead, like so:
.center { text-align: center; }And use the following HTML:
<p class="center">Centered paragraph</p>
A lot of </p> are in your sidebar, when you haven’t opened the paragraphs with <p>. Make sure you fix those. You also neglect to end other tags so go through your coding so you can fix those.
Your CSS has 3 errors.
You should not have <style> and </style> at the beginning and end of your stylesheet. When you use an external stylesheet, these tags are not needed.
Also, repeat: auto; is incorrect. I assume you are trying to repeat the background. This is usually done automatically, but background-repeat: repeat; will take care of that.
That's all the errors taken care of.
Browser Compatibility & Usability
According to Browsershots.org your site looks the same in most browsers.
The font size is fine; it's clear and on the larger side so it's easy to read.
The navigation is clear and easy to see, but the links are very close together. If you made the text smaller it would allow more whitespace between the words.
Layout
The header image stands out, as it's quite large. It's quite simple. The style is great, and the choice of font for the title and tagline is good. I personally don't like the tagline and don't really see how it relates to the image, though.
The bulk of the CSS is purple and a bright cyan/aqua colour, supported by shades of grey. The CSS looks fine but a wider range of fonts could be used. The header image is very purple though, and I think it could do with a bit of editing to add more colours - the cyan/aqua colour doesn't really fit with the header image because it's so purple.
I don't like the background choice - it doesn't really match. Something grey would be a better alternative. The background should be set to background-attachment: fixed; so that it doesn't scroll. When it scrolls it doesn't look too appealing.
The footer could be organised a bit. The affiliates and family links should be linked with names instead of letters.
Content
In the sidebar, a ateenage should be a teenage.
Site
Just a few things to fix on this page:
Kate, the should be Kate; the
php should be PHP.
On the gifts page, pop a <br /> after the word "yet" so that the image displays below the text.
Sky
This section would be generally better titled Owner.
Content
This section would be better named as Visitor; "content" generally refers to everything on your website.
The light stocks look great. Naturally, some are a bit fuzzy, but you also have some very high quality ones here.
The FTP article leads to a 404; you didn't place .php at the end of the link, but I did manage to find the page.
The images on this page are too wide for the content section; perhaps make them into a thumbnail instead. Also, you place this in the articles section when it is also in the tutorials section (and also as a broken link).
On the GIMP tutorial on scaling images, you should express this clearer:
If you want a specific size click the chain so that the computer doesn't change it back.
You should mention how the linked chain allows the image to be resized in proportion.
The tutorial on adding a border is fairly simple. Again, the images are wider than the content section.
The colorizing tutorial links to the border tutorial - be sure to fix that.
Portfolio
The "Summer 2009" link leads to a private Photobucket album.
On the photography portfolio, photos, click should be photos; click.
Kate
Links out to your host.
TDM
Also links out.
Originality & Creativity
You had a rather small site - I know your website is mainly for blogging - but you had some original photography. The tutorials were rather simple though.
Organisation & Errors
Very well organised. There are some sub pages in the visitor section that you can do without, as you don't have much content in certain sections.
I spotted quite a few broken links so make sure you fix those.
Overall Comment
There's nothing much on your website to browse, but for a more personal website, it's a great job. I think you could place a lot of your photographs on the website rather than at Photobucket; it would make them more meaningful.
The layout, especially its colours, needs a bit of work. The coding was alright. You've done a good job overall; just a few things need to be fixed. Perhaps to complement your personal website, you should add a few more pages about yourself.
More visitor content would be a good idea, but it isn't necessary. You're off to a good start, though. Keep up the good work.
2 Comments so far — leave one?
Jeff says:
Good job, Sky !
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Sky says:
Thanks so much for the review! I’m really going to get back to work on my site soon, so I’m going to use your advice
Thanks again georgie!
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