Staff

Past Staff

Review for Anne.Immortalised.net

I am certainly not awestrucked by your site’s appearance, though at the same time, I am certainly not struck with repulsion either. The site looks a little dull, and this is mainly due to the choice of colours. Don’t get me wrong. The colours coordinate well together, but the extreme degree of paleness of the background yellow does not provide a strong contrast with the medium shade of grey, thus making the page look a little dull.

Information

Site: Anne . Immortalized . net
Type: Personal
Owner: Anne
Reviewed By: Misao
Date Received: 11/05/06
Date Completed: 04/28/07
Preview

Presentation

The design itself is great. I am very fond of the way different types of the same style of stencils are used as the main focus of the layout. I also really like the uneven grungy look applied to the header and navigation borders. It makes the design look less geometrical. However, since the dropshadow effect is applied to the site title provided in the header, the stencils positioned to the right and left of the title would coordinate better with the effect styling had dropshadow was also applied to them. The larger stencil embedded into the header background may give the overall layout a different feel/impression if colour gradient and feathering was applied, allowing the stencil to fade (darker) and blend into the background toward the bottom of the stencil adjourned to the bottom edge of the header. These are simply suggestions that you might consider for a future layout design if it follows the same concept as this layout.

The main page is easily scannable in a few scrolls and there is no difficulty understanding or using the navigation. The page links to other, older blog entries should be displayed directly below the dashed horizontal bar to the left of the ‘Return to top’ link. That way, the links are not mistaken as part of the last blog entry displayed on the main page.

I have noticed that many web designers are not fond of utilizing the target="_blank" attribute for external links located on their site, and rely on the visitor to hold down the Shift key when clicking on these links. There is, of course, no right or wrong way in coding links, though I do strongly recommend the extra target="_blank" attribute in minimizing the possibility of a visitor clicking on the link, whether it be intentional or unintentional, and decide to browse the new site rather than returning to your site.

Though navigation is highly organized and quite easy to understand, I find the links to the five most ‘recent comments’ are a little useless. The first five to seven words of a single comment reply is certainly not going to give the visitor a synopsis of the comment’s entirety, and the comments to a blog entries should not be a significant ’section’ of the site visitors will visit. Yes, visitors may want to post a reply to a blog entry and may take a quick peek at the comments the entry has received thus far, and return in a day or two to look for replies to their comments. But I am sure visitors do not visit your site solely or primarily to read the types of comments your blog entries have received and the replies their comments have received in return. As well, the ‘recent comments’ heading alludes the visitors into thinking that these comments are made to your most recent entry. The commenting from for your blog entries are not closed. Therefore, if I choose to post a comment to a blog entry made seven entries ago, my comment will appear in the right navigation column underneath ‘recent comments’? I understand that some people like to use the commenting system to their blogs as a chatroom/tagboard, however, if the scenario is true, then your frequent visitors will be alluded into thinking that the most recent comment is a reply to your most recent entry. I would suggest in its place a list of site-related links such as credits & links and site map combined with the quick links.

I understand why the search field is placed after the internal site links and before the link outs, however, it looks slightly out of place. This is mainly due to the fact that the search field is sandwiched with links above and links below. Re-arranging the search field to be positioned last in the navigation column or immediately below the introduction may be more suitable.

The HTML source looks wonderful and has passed validation as declared at the top of the source. The only problem I found is the inconsistent style of coding. Examples:

Some HTML tag contains the / forward slash located at the end of the tag while majority of tags don’t. (i.e.) <link rel="shortcut icon" xhref="favicon.ico" mce_href="favicon.ico" />
Some sentences provide a space before the <p> tag, some sentences provide a tab width, some sentences don’t. (i.e.) ...antihistamine around here somewhere. </p>
There are the occasion extra space width between two object even though the extra spacing is not recognized without proper HTML declaration. (i.e.) Pages: <strong>1</strong> | <a xhref=...
Some sections are separated by a space of one line break while other sections are separated by a section of five line breaks.

It is nothing big of course, but it certainly benefits the designer if his/her style for one set of HTML coding is consistently organized and written. There is nothing wrong with having a good habit of keeping consistency. The style sheet looks just as wonderful, though falling a little short with the same inconsistency problem. Sometimes the margin element is coded as margin: 0 7px whereas further down the style sheet, it appears as margin-top: 2px. I have tried locating the style sheet specific for Internet Explorer users but the file was not found. This may be a typo error? Site is also functional in both IE and Firefox.

Content

I like the layout of the blog entries. It is crisp and clean, and can be viewed in its entirety with one scan. The text size is reasonable, neither too big nor too small, and the extra line-height allows reading to be a little easier on the eye. I like the colour reversal for the regular links, and the border colour change applied to the entry title link. I also like the format for the comments, and the change of content within the navigation column on commenting pages. However, instead of including the title link of the previous entry at the top of the navigation column with no directions whatsoever, I suggest either modifying it to the arbitual ‘previous’ and ‘next’ links or insert alt="previous entry" title="previous entry" to the link tag.

Storyteller

I enjoy the story-telling format of your profile. It makes the whole reading ordeal much more entertaining and interesting than the oridinary basic stats. I also like the fact that you have included an avatar of your real photo snapshot, which I highly encourage people to do, though many are a little paranoid with circulating their photo on the Internet. Your English is very strong, but there are still a few grammar mistakes.

The names of places, important things and titles need to be capitalized. “…have somewhat reached my second decade here on Earth.” - from Storyteller
When connecting two separate but similar ideas in a single sentence, a comma is required before the transitional word. “I was baptized with the first name Anne, and I was born and raised in the Philippines…” - from Storyteller
A few paragraphs do not equal a few sentences, nor does a few sentences equal a few paragraphs. Few meaning anywhere between three to six, inclusive. “Nevertheless, I’ll try my best to describe myself in a few paragraphs.” - from Personality
When using the transitional word ‘which’, it must be preceded by a comma unless ‘which’ is preceded by the words ‘that’ or ‘of’. “I am generally socially inept, which [OR] that which [OR] of which people who assume too much often misinterpret as misanthropic and snobbish.” - from Personality
Singular nouns must be preceded by ‘a’ whereas plural nouns do not. “I also tend to be a loner by nature, and am neither a leader nor a follower.” - from Personality
There is a lack in the use of commas, which are essential in projecting the right interpretation by visitors. “I have a certain dislike for authority, not because I’m rebellious, but rather because I prefer to do things my own way.” - from Personality
There is a typo with the first word in the sentence “I’s not that I don’t want to grow up but I am attached to many things in my childhood.” - from Personality
Missing comma. “I am not proud of this, but hey, everyone’s got their own flaws.” - from Personality

Your varying artistic skills are mentioned briefly on the personality page, however there isn’t any elaboration of your skills. What do you like to draw? What type of writings do you do? What are your painting perferences - acrylic, oil or watercolour? There is also a small comment about your acquaintances calling you ‘weird’ though you don’t explain why they call you that, or why you agree with them. If your room is a living testament of you living in a world of ordered chaos, how so? Is there Egyptian antiques displayed on one side of the bookshelf, and Precious Moments porcelain figurines displayed on the opposite side of the bookshelf?

The haunt page is interesting, and in a way, encouraging people with stalking tendencies to stalk you. That is quite a few forums and social networks you socialize with each day. It would be quite hard to keep up with every single one of them regularly.

Though the breadcrumb trails are quite helpful, it is not needed. Recall the sectional links located above the header. Visitors can easily backtrack by clicking on one of the links up top or clicking on the ‘back’ button provided by the Internet browser.

Sanctuary

A very nice introduction to the section, especially the brief mention of world domination. However, the description of the latest design look to be in the wrong place. It certainly is in the right section, but instead of being located on the section’s index page, I suggest a separate page like Past Designs located on the right with the other links. The index should be reserved for an introduction to the section and a brief introduction to the sity history. The wordpress plugins link is mis-aligned with the rest of which I am not sure if it is intentional.

I certainly have learned the progress of your web designing history, and it certainly has come a long way. I would be more excited to learn a little bit about why you enjoy webpage designing, why and how you came up with the site name ‘Carpe Noctem’, and why the site is currently untitled.

Again, there are a few grammar mistakes, most of which are missing comma’s.

“I often dreamed that my site’s main purpose is world domination, but since I severely lack resources and proper connections…” - from index
“Around the same time, I discovered the use of MS Frontpage, which at that time I thought was heaven-sent” - from Website History
The tense used in the middle of the sentence was of present while the tense used at the beginning and at the end of the sentence were of past. The second change is for lack of a better word than ‘do’. “It was frustrating not to be able to access my site when I wanted to make changes to it and I finally left Chibi-chan.net.” - from Website History
Again, missing comma. “A big thank you and pluggage for these wonderful sites, for without them, this site wouldn’t exist for what it is.” - from Credits

The link to Browser Shots on the credits page is mislinked. When you imply that you are a little obssessed with plugins, you weren’t kidding! Though I believe some of the link have expired since the last time you visited them. Dunstan’s Time Since and the_excerpt Reloaded plugins have either moved or have been deleted since both files cannot be found on the home server.

The extra link to accessibility statement is pointless, since this link is located in the right navigation sidebar at all times, on every single page. However, this page is very informative and easy to comprehend. Since there is a reference to all “external links are marked with an arrow image”, I like to point out that the arrow image is absent from all the wordpress plugin links.

The contact form is also just as easy to comprehend and use. The only thing that stands out is the checkbox input for the option of sending a copy of the contact email to the sender. Rather than displaying it a line under, perhaps keep it on the same line like this:

Archive & Linkage

Both pages are very organized, and there are no broken links.

Final Statement

All in all, a great personal site. The only comment I have left to make is that the site does not have much content. Because the three pages about yourself and a page about the site, there isn’t much of anything else. Of course, there is no need to since this is a personal site, however, you might consider including a portfolio section with some pieces of your artwork, or a few examples (i.e. reviews, articles, etc.) of your writing, and perhaps a photography page with photos of you and your friends (if you feel up to it). Just some extra personal things to expand the personal site, and make it more attracting.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Comment to “Anne.Immortalised.net”

Anne Says:
May 10th, 2007 at 3:30 am
Thanks for the review! I’m working on implementing your suggestions on the new layout that I have and hopefully, be able to add some content. Thanks again. ^_^