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Site Name: NovajoWhite
Owner: Steven
Reviewed by: Georgina
Reviewed on: 29th September 2009
Site Name
It’s unique but I don’t find it terribly easy to remember. I have to say that the history behind the name is quite interesting.
Coding and Validation
Your coding has 68 errors and 29 warnings. You’re using a lot of scripts – eight external scripts, to be specific. This is causing errors in your coding, and not only that, but it can affect the way your website is viewed as not all platforms allow for Javascript.
Your CSS is valid.
I can’t say much about your coding because you did not create this theme yourself.
Browser Compatibility & Usability
Your site looks the same in most browsers, and it is navigable and functions in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
In Safari and Opera, the arrows under the welcome message don’t work. In Internet Explorer, on the homepage, your sidebar text is extremely small and hard to read.
Your site is barely navigable when images are turned off. You should have an alternate navigation or opted for navigation that did not depend on images.
I’m not liking the large size of the layout; it’s generally quite large, meaning that in smaller resolutions or mobile devices, it won’t look the way you want it to.
The website is hard to navigate and I have to resort to the site map. It’s hard picking at such a large image to find the navigation when it’s not easy. There’s a lot going on with the sections containing your tweets and welcome message.
Layout
While it reflects your personality from what I have read on your website, I can’t review this because you didn’t make it.
Content
You’ll have to excuse me for any errors in the review; I’m a bit tired…
I don’t like the look of the colourful text in your sidebar. It’s a welcome message, or at least some sort of introduction; the visitor need not be hindered by text effects and different colours. Additionally, the sidebar is rather wide considering what you have in it, and can be adjusted.
About
This page is written fairly well, but I need to point out two things:
- Text effects. Much too much. It’s hard to read with the multiple colours, and it doesn’t work with the layout. It looks tacky.
- Paragraphs. There is a lot here that you can space out, and things like your favourite artists can be listed.
- Too much information. You have information about yourself and your site here – it could be split into pages.
The link to your desktop is a 404.
Everyday should be Every day
Ok should be Okay.
Advertising
The fields on the form could be spaced out because they look very clumped together.
Contact Me
Same goes for here.
Hosting
The terms of service could be made a bit shorter; it’s quite long and people may not read it if they don’t have the time.
Legal Stuff
On the terms page, anyway should be any way.
Links
I think you could link the site names to the website rather than the description.
Partnership/Affiliation
Too many colourful text effects. The fields on the form should also be spread out.
Resources
Generally, people want to launch straight into the content, so I don’t think these long descriptions are needed; only short ones. I also think that “Launch!” is barely noticeable, as opposed to the large title for each section. You should link the titles to the section instead.
Just a random note – I like that you have included the date you created your pages; sometimes that’s useful.
On the Margaret Thatcher article so powerful should be as powerful.
I don’t really have much opinion on this article because I don’t really have an opinion on Thatcher, but it’s a unique and very detailed article.
Not much to say about the Desperate Housewives section… I’m sure it will be useful for some people but you’ve just written out the commentary which isn’t exactly your own work.
Nothing much to say about colour palettes. Good colours that match here.
The wallpapers are okay. It would be better in other sizes as well, such as widescreen sizes.
You’ve used a number of Neopets graphics for the signs – and I notice you don’t have a credits page? You need a credits page to show where you got resources from and for general thanks.
The signs are really quite outdated and it is rare that enter and hiatus signs are used; people generally make their own.
The icons are boring. Most are just cropped images with no image effects, textures, or text. They could be spiced up a bit.
The “How-Tos” are unique. The one about how to get off a ski lift was interesting. The one about getting over an ex is also unique and humourous.
The “How-To” on interpreting dreams isn’t that interesting; if you added information about certain other symbols, or added statistics and other elements of interest, it might have been more interesting.
On the “How to revise” piece, ok should be okay.
Definitely a good article and well set out with headings and lists. Makes it a lot easier to read.
I didn’t read through all the poems. However, I am relieved to see someone who finally knows about enjambment. Normally I just see a poem with no commas; it dazes me… moving on. I like the way the poems are set out and that you’ve used an image to add interest. From your articles and poems I see you’re a great and keen writer.
Linking to the snazzy border tutorial in the action tutorial would be useful. Making actions is so basic but a lot of people don’t know how to do so; so great tutorial.
Ditto for loading actions…
The border in the snazzy border tutorial isn’t anything special, really.
The PHP IP address tutorial is a bit confusing as to how the code is used:
If you would like to add this to an email form then you need to add it to the section which builds the email content. Or, if you would like to display the visitor their own IP Address then just include the code in the <php ?> tag.
Some people might not understand that.
Originality & Creativity
You’ve definitely got original and creative content, but I did not see that in your layout. You could design your own simple layout; I know you have sufficient graphics skills.
Organisation & Errors
I really disliked the text effects you had going through your site. They made things look unprofessional and untidy, and hard to read. It makes you look a bit immature.
Judging from the site map, things were well organised.
I think your writing was quite well done compared to the grammar I’ve seen on other sites.
Overall Comment
Steven, you’ve got a unique site that reflects your personality in interesting ways. I was disappointed by your layout as it was not created by you, and the text effects really annoyed me, but that changed as I read the articles you had.
I think that overall, you can make graphics that are more interesting and make your own layout that is more accessible, and stop using too many text effects. It will make your website seem a bit more approachable and interesting to begin with. In particular, navigation that isn’t a pain to find would be nice.
Good luck with your website; I know you probably aren’t confident with graphics but you have to start somewhere.
