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Review for Angel Cute 22
*Although you changed layouts in the middle of my review, I didn’t get very far so, mind you, I’m not going to say anything. To be frank, I am not at all anticipating this review. Seeing an ill made splash page makes me feel that you’re disorganized. With the addition of the clumped links at the bottom of the enter banner, the overall impression of what your site is giving now is that of a content overload site. Granted, however, that at the very least you used your splash page to inform your visitors that your site is best viewed in Internet Explorer and at a screen resolution of 1024×768 pixels rather than just for show without purpose. I commend you for that.
Information
Site: Angel Cute 22
Type: Personal
Owner: Luanne Gasilla
Reviewed By: Yahiko & Sanosuke
Date Received: 11/30/06
Date Completed: 11/27/07
Preview
Presentation
Continuing, your splash page is not appealing. The banner image is a bit of a turn-off since the image itself is very pixelled and doesn’t seem to have much thought or work put into it to make it seem a bit more interesting. The words on the image are barely readable, white with a tad bit dark blue outline doesn’t really make a big a difference if you’re trying to make the words stand out. It’s also blurry and doesn’t have clean cut edges. The enter word at the top left corner is not even visible. I didn’t know it was there until I scrutinized the enter sign. The white outline, pixelled edges, and color choice is not what I call “good.” I know that you’re trying to use the colors in the images but the colors itself are monochromatic with just blue, light blue and white.
Now onto the actual text on the image. The “enter” word could be better. Just use a normal font such as Georgia or Times New Roman than a fancy but unreadable font. The color could be darker such as a navy blue color with a 2px border around it and the placement of the “enter” word could be where your information so to speak is. Now for the information part on the sign, I like it better beneath the sign where your, “If the image isn’t working, click here.” All in all, I suggest you make another banner or find a better quality image of the current image you are using and spruce it up with it.
As I have said, I am glad that you provided your visitors with the information of your site being in better viewing quality in IE and in a resolution of 1024×768 pixels. Though, what bothers me is that when I see most sites on the web, I expect at least the site is compatible with at least two of the major browsers used than a limited one. I’m using Firefox right now and I am not changing my browser just so I can view your site it “top quality.” Keep in mind, not everyone uses IE, cross-browser compatibility.
I also like how you included that if banner doesn’t work there is another alternative in entering your site. However, the numerous buttons below is too unorganized and it seems as if you are trying to clump every link you have on your splash page and it also looks too busy. Splash pages are only to be used to inform visitors if your site has certain requirements that needs to be met in order to view your site and not to litter it with unnecessary links. Most visitors normally do not take the time to visit your affiliates and link exchanges without knowing what they are in for. As for me, a first time visitor, I have not the inclination to visit any of the links you posted on your splash page because those links are cluttered and too numerous.
Layout
Oh the woes… Well, upon entering your site, I am hit with a very unappealing layout. Everything is like a blue world… The image quality isn’t so great either. The quote next to the girl, I’m confused, I’m not quite sure what to make of it since it is no relation to the image of the girl standing there smiling. As for the text itself, I could almost read it, though the words are worse than the ones on the splash page. It’s faded way too much with the image background and the paint splatter brushes beneath it blur some of the words in the middle. The image of the girl next to the text doesn’t help much either. It looks badly blended in and to the left of the girl is this odd sort of blue icicles that come out of nowhere. I’m sorry, but this header image could do with a complete makeover and thought.
One thing that I find is a must for a site is that the header must always have their site title visible and not abbreviated. Whereas in this case, your site title is a drop-shadowed blurred with abbreviated text at the bottom right hand corner of your header image and what do you know? the font is the same as the one on the enter sign.
Rather than making the quote the main asset in your header why not put your full site title in the little box and add the quote beneath it? or you could always do away with the quote and just leave your site title. Frankly though, I don’t see how the quote has anything to do with you image. It doesn’t relate to the girl standing there smiling. But that’s besides the point, the random paint splatters are not needed since from what I could see underneath it the texture is already good without the messy blotches.
Well, I’ve lingered too long on your header image let’s look at the how you set up your content and navigation. As I see it now, the black borders around your entire layout, content, and navigation area is too…bold. Not to mention different widths and multiple borders around each border. Consistency is the key here. It looks a bit cleaner without the multiple borders and keeping it consistent with the outer border of the layout. Going on, the headers seem fine but, lo’ and behold! why is there such a huge contrast as to the font size and colors for the content header and navigation header? To top it off, the navigation header is larger? than the content headers. Headers for either content or navigation must be balanced and compliment each other. Navigations are secondary to content and I believe, the content header should be more attention grabbing than the actual headers for the navigation. It would be most appealing if you switched the navigation header with the content header to balance out the font sizes or you could change the font size to a lower pt or px on the navigation header and to a hight pt or px on the content header. As for the background image in the content area, I believe you could do away with it or create another one for the menu, remember, compliment and balance.
Content
Home
Are you trying to advertise your site before your visitors even got to know the site? Save for the introduction, below it I find Vote for Me buttons that shouldn’t belong above your update section, a search form that takes up a lot of room and a couple of odd rotational ads, two of which did not load. It would definitely look more organized if you take the Vote for Me buttons and the search from and place it at your navigation in the order of: Search Form then Vote for Me buttons. However, the rotational ads I believe can go below your update content or into a links out page.
As I scroll down I expected to see the updates but wait, I find your stats counter! Do please put it below the content or in the navigational area so it doesn’t obscure the content. As the home page you want to give your visitors a satisfactory introduction to your site and the list of updates you have made for it and not use it as a dumping ground for miscellaneous links.
Credits
Wonderful job here. You put the links in a neat fashion and under the category from which you used the resource from. I commend you for it.
About the Webmistress
This section looks informative and I believe it gives a tiny insight to your likes, dislikes, and personality.
In the Favorites section under the Food category this: “I also lovep pizzas” should be changed to: “I also love pizza.” Pizza refers to a multiple of pizza slices where as saying pizzas would be the same as saying pizza pizzas. Does that make sense? In the same section under hobbies I’m not quite sure what you mean by “keyboard.” Is it the computer keyboard or piano? I’m guessing piano since the computer keyboard isn’t really what I call “fun to play with.” As for the online games I believe gunvound should be changed to Gunbound
The Family section has a lot of grammatical and sentence structuring errors. Try to stray from simple sentences and smilies, it makes it look and read as informal.
“I’m the youngest in the family. I have 3 older sisters. I don’t have any brother so I call my boy older cousin brother.
Me and my family lived together in a simple house. My parents both have jobs and they work hard to let us finished our studies and study in a good school.”
This should be changed to:
“I have three older sisters so I’m the youngest in my family. Since I don’t have an older brother I call my cousin as, “brother.” My family and I live in a simple house. Both my parents hold jobs and they work hard for us so we can learn and study at a good school.”
Under the Friends section the sentence “I belong to this groups…” should be changed to “I belong to these groups…” since you have several listed and not just one. In the category MaLuAg, all the “were” should be changed to “we’re” with an apostrophe because your are combining the words “we” and “are” to make “we’re.” The word “were” is past tense. An example would be: My mom were best friends with her dog, Ebony, but he passed away.
Affiliates/Link Exchanges
The link and title should be name Affiliates and not Affies. Stay formal. The link exchanges should be moved to a Links Out page so it won’t clutter your affiliates’ page and it makes it special instead of clumping every link together.
I have to wonder, why do you put your affiliates on your splash page if you already have them listed here? I have nothing against numerous affiliates but it gets a bit out of hand.
Link Me
The buttons you offer are…not the best. I would rather see one lovely and color contrasted button made well than numerous monochromatic buttons with stretched images and unreadable text. The same goes for the banner - using a generic font is wonderful, you don’t have to have a flourished font to make it interesting. For example, the last button on the page just above the banner has a generic font and it looks pleasing and wonderful. I do believe that is my favorite out of all the choices of buttons on the page. The direct linking links aren’t safe either. Try Photobucket or Imageshack for reliable image hosting.
Past Layouts
Version 8.1
I’m not going to go through all the versions and correct your grammar but here are two examples of what each of your version description should be changed to. Please remember to refrain from using smiley text and double punctuations such as “??” etc…
“This layout is made from paint and Adobe Photoshop CS. I used a flowery texture. I used a character from Sister Princess. I forgot her name. Sakura I think. ^-^ Well, I used some brushes, flowers and butterflies. The main color of this layout is brown and yellow. It’s really just a simple layout.”
This should be changed to:
“This layout is made from MS Paint and Adobe Photoshop CS. I used a flowery texture for the layout with a few brushes, flowers, and butterflies added. The featured character is I think, Sakura, from Sister Princess. The basic colors of this layout is yellow and brown.”
Version 6.1
“This layout is made from paint and Adobe Photoshop CS. The image is also a lovers. Cute isn’t it? I love this picture.
This should be changed to:
“This layout is made from MS Paint and Adobe Photoshop CS. The image featured is also lovers’ themed, isn’t it cute? I love this picture! This is just a simple layout that I made. I chose the color pink as the main color for this layout. I don’t actually like the color pink but I don’t hate it. Crazy or what?”
Hall of Fame
Grammatical errors yet again:
This:
“The owner said why her site deserved to win the SOTM contest:”
should be changed to this:
“This is what the owner said about why her site deserved to win the SOTM contest:”
Award[s] for You
Award Rules
The rules should be changed to:
RULES:
- NO pornography such as hentai, etc…is allowed.
- You should ONLY submit a site you own.
- NO hate sites.
- Only personal, anime, and/or graphics sites may apply. No blogs sites.
- Geocities, Freewebs, atspace, etc. are allowed to apply.(Kylosa sites may or may not work on my server)
- Make sure you link the award back to http://www.geocities.com/angel_cute_22
- You may apply for two (2) awards.
- Applying for two awards at the same time is not allowed. However, you may apply for an award again after your site has improved. (eg. You won the bronze award the last time you applied. You may apply again if your site improved.)
- No TyPiNg LiKe ThIs
- Behavior such as flamming and spamming is not allowed if you do not receive an award.
REMEMBER
+:. Both the layout and the content of your site counts! ::
Award Samples
You list quite a few awards here although even if it is an award the quality of the award image should be pleasing too. I suggest that you remake or create new awards for your visitors to apply to. You have Adobe Photoshop, utilize it. There are many sites that offer tutorials on how to utilize the full extent of Photoshop and even then the usefulness of Photoshop is boundless. Learn about creating textures, using brushes, color schemes, how to effectively enhance an image, creating blend collages, and so much more! Refer to these tutorial sites: Lunacore, Heathrowe, Good Tutorials, etc…
I won’t touch on your grammatical mistakes since it’s becoming quite repetitive.
Also, this page stretches the frame on your website, and its incredibly annoying to be trying to read the words and having to sidescroll to read the rest of a sentence, especially since the side scroll bar is all the way down there. If your images don’t fit into the frame you set, either make the frame bigger or thumbnail the images.
Award Winners
Why bother putting an X next to the sites that aren’t active anymore? It would be better to just stop linking them, seeing as most sites go down and never come back up. Leave a name up, if you’d like, but linking to empty pages isn’t productive.
Review Your Site
For the last sentence on your rules page:
Ready to apply? First, read the criteria [on] how I will rate your site.
It would be nice if you actually linked the criteria on the page so people don’t have to go back and find it themselves. And why is the font on that page different from your normal font?
Again, on the criteria page, for the “now you’re ready [to apply]” note at the bottom, link to the application page.
Fixing up your criteria page for spelling/grammar [I also added my own commentary in italics]:
Layout: [/25] Does your layout work for all browsers and are the color combinations nice or are they clashing? Damage? What do you mean by damage? Also, there are a lot more browsers than just IE and Firefox. Do you not check in those?
Loading Time: [/5] Some site really takes time to load. How long does your site load? In DSL and dial-up?
Text: [/10] Does you[’re] font color clash [with] the background? Some text really need to be highlighted so visitors can read them[, is your site one of them?] I don’t see why you wouldn’t just do this along with the layout section.
Links: [/10] Do you have any broken links?
Content: [/15] Content is important. I will look at all the stuff in your site. Does it have any sense or no[t]? If you have a graphic site, do your graphics look nice? Does it seem that you worked hard on them? Do you have any broken images?
Bonus: [/5] Does your site have a stuff that other site don’t have? I can give a prefect bonus points if I really like your site.
Overall: [/30] Your site overall rating.
Final Score: [/100]
Reviewer form link should be changed to “Reviewer Application”.
I skimmed through some of your reviews, and you really don’t go into detail about anything. It looks more like you took maybe ten minutes to just skim through the reviewee’s site and wrote like two lines about them. Nothing in the review is really all that helpful.
Advertise Your Site
No rules for advertisements? Anyone who applies will see their link put up? And where exactly is this link going?
Apply Affies/Link Exchange
Apply [for] Affies/Link Exchange would be a proper title for this page. Also, applications for affiliates is commonly called “Affiliation” so you could go further as to change this page to “Affiliation and Exchange” for a shorter title.
HTML Tutorial
Most of your tutorials are scripts that don’t work in a lot of computers/browsers [in fact, my computer doesn’t add a lot of those functions.] Also, these are not so much “tutorials” rather than scripts [and they’re not even HTML. They’re Javascript.] It would also be nice for you to specify where exactly these scripts are to be added in the HTML for them to work [as I’m assuming they won’t work if you stick them in any old place and hope for the best.]
Avatar/Animated Avatar
Your avatars are either blurry, squished, grainy, or all of the above. Have you ever looked at the avatars on some other sites? They’re clean-cut, clear, with brilliant colors. Compared to theirs, yours are just pictures that have been cut out and rearranged.
Closed Sign/Hiatus Sign
Better than the avatars; at least they’re clearer in quality. The edges are rather jagged and sometimes cut off though. And the text doesn’t suit the theme sometimes. It also doesn’t look like you took much time into making these.
Anime Gallery
Most of these images are CG art, which means that they were drawn by online artists. I’m pretty sure you haven’t checked with these artists as to whether or not they want you distributing these. For the most part, if you didn’t draw/scan/edit the image, don’t distribute them. Link to the gallery for other people to find, but these images are not yours to distribute.
Quizzes
The font color of your love quiz is the same as the background, and for a second there, I thought the entire page was just a bunch of little textareas and a drop-down menu. Same thing with your math game.
It would probably be easier for the results to be read if they appeared on one page, instead of with all those little POP up notifications. Half way through clicking through the answers for one of my quizzes, and I kind of wanted to give up.
Some of the quizzes have “POP up” labeled next to the link; it would be more accurate to label them “new window”, because they’re not actually popping up.
Final Statement
With the freeserver ads, incredibly long frames, and spelling/grammar mistakes, I found it incredibly hard to browse through your site. I suppose this is why it took Yahiko such a long time with this review. I’d suggest first going through your pages and really look at your spelling/grammar and try to fix as much as possible. Having a proof-reader would be nice as well. I personally don’t think you should be offering graphics and/or site reviews to others when you have so much to improve on for yourself.