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Review for FreddieFan.com
The splash page was unexpected. I didn’t expect to have the option of viewing the site in four other languages other than English, until I realize that the language links are not really part of the site (not created by you). They are simply babelfish translations. The thought is nice and all, but honestly, it is a stupid and useless guesture. I am assuming you are aiming for accessibility and professionalism, of which neither was achieved. And if I really want to access your site in Spanish, I can do so easily by myself with a simple click.
Information
Site: FreddieFan.com
Type: Fan-related
Owner: Brandi
Reviewed By: Misao
Date Received: 01/01/08
Date Completed: 04/01/08
Preview
Presentation
The site is not particularly appealing. The quality of the layout is mediocure and the yellow/black/grey colour scheme isn’t working too well. Red would have been a better choice. The quality of Freddie’s image was extracted poorly. I understand (or may misunderstood) that you were unable to extract the entire background from Freddie’s image and that is why those brushes were added above the navigation field, but it is arranged without much effort and too random. It doesn’t mesh with the layout. It isn’t symmetrical, there is no text added for extra effects, and the yellow grudge background to the right of Freddie’s head does not look natural as the edges are positioned vertically straight. The title of the site should have been pasted on the layout to add a little extra spiff to it rather than inserted in plain text in the page source above the main content. You obviously did not put much effort into the layout.
The organization of the layout is just as appealing. Alignment is inconsistent, margin/padding between sections (each section of the navigation links) are reversed, links are divided into two sections which is unnecessary, and link colours are not coordinated. A dark red like Freddie’s sweater would have been a better choice than the orange-ketchup red. The HTML source is very confusing. It’ll be more logical and less confusing had the coding been structured with the top-down left-to-right approach. There is unnecessary usage of the listing function. For example, since the credits links are not displayed in a listing fashion, there is no need to code this section in a list. Line breaks and paragraph tags will do the job just fine and reduce the amount of extra coding. The same applies to the links in the left navigation menu including the search option and information on what’s now playing.
The website is passed the XHTML 1.0 transitional validation testing, but it failed in the cascanding style sheet validation test. There is just as many inconsistencies in the style sheet in defining variables and in coding. Not everything was tabbed over and two different type of specifications was used for font size (both em and px). A couple of pointers. Specifications from the same family variable can be strung together as one. For example, font: bold 10px Verdana; padding: 3px 5px 5px 10px and background: #00000 URL(images/bkgd.jpg) no-repeat. The simplified background specification was used in one instance and not in the others. Font weight is normal at default so there is no need to specify such. There is no use in declaring the z-index variable for a couple of the divider layers since the layout does not require any overlapping. The z-index variable is used in instances where images used in a layout are transparents and require to retain its transparency over a text area.
Content
The main page is organized enough though five updates on the first page is far too many. Each update is not particularly short considering the avatar, large title size and wide signature, and updates are made quite frequently. For these reasons, I would suggest limiting the number of updates on each to three, just enough that the bottom of the scrollbar ends at the bottom of the navigational column.
Since all the links in the navigational column are centre aligned, the headings and everything else in this column should also be centred to keep with the consistency. It will look more organized. Consider using linkware graphics for the top affiliates links to make the page and column look more attractive. The links to the main highlights of the website (fanlisting, photo gallery, media) should be moved to the other links for several reasons. The first being it would be more logical and convenient for visitors to scroll up and search for links to other areas of the site in one distinguishable area. Secondly, it looks out of place at the top of the bottom, floating on its own between the title and updates.
Freddie
I do not who Freddie is before I visited FreddieFan so I am going to assume the information and all other content pertaining to Freddie is accurate on this site because I would not know otherwise.
Facts: This section requires immediate update. According to Freddie’s biography, he is now 16 years old. This page is two years behind. I am disappointed at the presentation of information. Rather than presenting half the quick facts in a list and the other half in a paragraph, stick with the listing format. It’ll be easier to read like favourite sport, favourite season, favourite movie, favourite colour, hobbies, musical talents, etc. As for random facts, code it in a list (<ul>) to help readers distinguish one line from another because the list will automatically set alignments between the bullet and text. The credit links are very thoughtful though it is more appropriate in a credits and links page rather than posted on individual pages.
Biography: For the most part, I learned quite a bit about Freddie in this section though the information seems incomplete and the information following each Freddie quote is not fluid. For example, after “I am not sure what I would like to do when I am older” the paragraph should have been something along the lines of “Although Freddie is making his own legend in the movie and acting industry, Freddie does not know if being an actor is what he wants to be when he is older. His dreams include ____ but for the time being, he will focus all his energy in acting.” There is a grammar mistake in the last sentence to this section. “However, he will be seen in theaters/cinemas twice two times this year.” It is either two times or twice. The same problem with fluidity is in the last section of the page. After the quote about being a normal boy, you should write something along the lines of “Despite Freddie’s growing on-screen time, he is still a normal boy underneath. He is a soccer fan, plays the guitar and clarinet, and lives with his family. He goes to school just the same as any average boy” etc.
Contact Freddie: The link to this section should be moved to the bottom of the page. It makes more sense to include the contact link last as a last resort if all else fails.
Filmography: I don’t see the use of making a separate page for each film since the information isn’t all that lengthy. However if you plan to have a page for each film, do not include the link to ‘latest news and updates’ on every page. Notice a ‘main index’ link on the left navigation column. The extra links to Yahoo! and IMDB with extra information about the film is not necessarily since links to official websites are provided. On some of the pages, there is a coding error displaying extra tab space between the bullet and “Freddie says”. Click here to see screenshot. The bullets are also not necessarily. The information can be displayed such as organized as regular text aligned to the left. Links to the photo gallery is not necessary (but optional) since there is link provided at the top of each page to the image gallery. Also make sure to use past tense for movies that have already been released (i.e.) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened in theatre July 2005.
News/Guest Appearances: This section is organized well though again, consider displaying three update entries per page to redue scrolling. Right now, it looks a little overwhelming. Also want to point out the two sections has a overlap of the same articles.
Transcripts, Press Releases, and Articles: Consider extra lines breaks between FH and Host to make the page more friendly to the eye when reading. The link to LA Times is not working.
Quotes: I was misled to think this page hosted some of the famous quotes spoken by Freddie in his films. Since this page is of praises and comments others have spoken about Freddie, I would rename the page to Praises or similar.
Awards: Line breaks are definitely required for this page. There is too much going on all over the place. Consider reoganizing the page to looks like:
29th Annual Young Artist Awards
Nominated: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor27th Annual Young Artist Awards
Nominate: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Comedy or DramaThe 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture26th Annual Young Artist Awards
Won: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
Won: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast
Multimedia
Downloads: Instead of dividing a section into sections into further sections, you might as well move all the direct avatar and wallpaper links to the main multimedia page so that there is less clicking on portal pages in trying to get to the actual location of the graphics. The graphics were nicely done and nicely displayed though I suggested dividing up the display case to about 30 avatars or so per page to prevent so much scrolling. Display similar bookmarks next to one another to prevent the confusion that they are duplicates. Bookmark #11 does not load. The textarea field with the coding is not necessary for MySpace Layouts as there is a direct link to download the layout coding (not text). Considering that the width of Signature graphics do not exceed the width of the content field, I suggest posting the original files on this page. It’ll be easier to view and download because the need to click for the actual size is eliminated. In addition, visitors would not be confused thinking the previews are avatars/icons. All of the Desktop Wallpaper links are working properly.
I do not see a need for the Image Gallery and Media link from this section as the links are already displayed at the top of every page. The duplicate links just makes the navigation system of the site more confusing.
Interactive
Alphabet: An interesting activity though you might want to screen spams, replies that are unrelated to the activity (i.e. reply #5) and really long signatures. Specific instructions are missing from this page. “Participate in the Alphabet game by brainstorming words/phrases to complete each letter in the alphabet to complete a Freddie Alphabet. The game proceeds in alphabetical order where the first letter of each word must correspond to the alphabet. However, your reply must be related to the current quote.” or something along those lines. Instructions on how to participate would be helpful. I was unable to find a reply link and there is no email address or contact instruction whatsoever on how to participate otherwise.
Caption It!: Unlike the previous page, this one at least had a reply form. Again instructions are lacking on what to do. Consider making requirements for this page like you had for Alphabet by requiring fans to think of captions that are funny, scary, etc.
Tic-Tac-Toe: This activity is quite common though the specific script you’ve chosen would not be my first choice. Try searching for a script that allows the boxes to be a little larger and the game to be easily embedded into the site’s original coding. There is no need for a complete separate layout just for a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe.
Site and Internet
Site Information: This page is a little misleading. Site information attains to information about how the site came to be, when it was created, why and how you came with the site title, etc. What this page currently host is information about the creators and moderators, a disclaimer and credit links. As mentioned, this page should include real site information followed by the disclaimers. The information about the people behind the scenes should be on a separate page titled “Staff” and the links on a separate page titled “Credits & Links”. In addition, the links to Dixy-Pixy, Kawaii Dreams and Mobster and Soundless Words are not working.
Codes/Buttons: As mentioned above, the codes should be separated from this page and have a page of its own in the fanlisting directory to avoid confusion and to make the site more organized. Include instructions on how to donate codes/buttons and what other information you require from donators. Linking ‘donations’ to an email is insufficient.
Links: The credit links from the Site Information would best be moved to this page. You may need to contact the web owner of Sienna Spain because the site isn’t active. The link to Zac Efron Tribute under affiliates and Neverland under Miscellany are not working. Miscellany is also not a word nor is it professional. Please spell out the full word. The last link under Listed is also not working.
Site Awards: This section is well organized but have not been recently updated. Make sure pages that have external are updated on a regular basis, preferably once a month, to make sure all links are still in working order. The links to Time After Time and Beautiful Letdown are broken.
Previous Layouts: I really like this page. The layout archive shows just how much FreddieFan has grown in the last 3 years. However, the screenshots give visitors an ambiguous guess at what the real layout looks like. I suggest doing a real/full-sized screenshot.
Fanlisting
I consider the fanlisting as a site by itself but I reviewed it anyways. I suggest moving the Join, Codes, Members and Affiliates links up to join the Fanlisting Index link and move the Main Index and About Freddie links to the bottom of the page with the copyright. Since this directory is a fanlisting, you want to focus on the links within the fanlisting. There are no paragraph or line breaks between content and heading which makes the page look run-on and not as appealing. The link to Martina is broken and the link to BellaBuffs does not open in a new window browser like the others.
The Codes (”fanlisting” codes) should have a page of its own in the fanlisting directory. This helps visitors to distinguish which codes are reserved for the fanlisting and which buttons are reserved for the main site. Both forms are in working order. The Rules page should also have a place in the site links with the others. The margin for the listing is obscured. The left margin is not specified properly; the text runs outside of the left layout margin. I would also consider line breaks between each number bullet (or a wider top and bottom margin) so it is easier to distinguish one rule from another.
The Members list look very organized. However swap the page links with the sort by links. It is more logical for visitors to have the choice on how to view the list located at the top of the page (before viewing the list) and page links are typically located at the bottom of the page as visitors tend to continue after they have viewed the entire page. None of the web links for the members open in a new window browser. The Affiliates page looks very plain. Consider using linkware graphics to make the page more attractive. The contact form is also in working order. The top and bottom margins of the copyright divider are too large leaving too much blank space.
Photo Gallery
I don’t see the use of the redirect page and highly recommend that the redirection be moved. I have three Firefox windows open, SmartFTP, Adobe and winamp. After I clicked on the gallery link, I tabbed back to this screen to write my thoughts. When I tabbed back to FreddieFan, the page was in the middle of redirecting me to the actual gallery directory. Many people multi-task nowadays. If they (or I) did tab back to the window within the 15 seconds, I would have missed the redirection completely and a lot of good the disclaimer would have done.
I like the layout of the gallery. It is very organized and nice. However, I dislike the method of linking albums. I have to click on an album title then on a sub-album then another sub-album (and sometimes one more time) to view the actual album? That is time-consuming and annoying. There must be another way to better present the gallery albums. All images were in working order. None of the external text links (Coppermine Gallery, Beccary, and Billy Bullock) open in new window browsers. The search page require some touch up on the coding. The checkbox and text are not aligned properly when viewed in Firefox.
Media
Same comments here about the redirection page. The page itself is too long. Since the links to the two page of this section (Movies/TV Shows and TV Appearances/Interviews), there is no need to include the links in full on the main page. Make separate pages for the two pages lik you did for the Photo Gallery. Try displaying a welcome message to the media section followed by about 4-6 new addition images followed by a link back to the main site and the disclaimers. The Main Index link at the top of the page should be replaced with “Media Index”.
There is no need to link .rar and .zip files to a new window. If the file is working properly, a POP-up window will appear asking visitors to either save or cancel. The extra window is just extra work for nothing. There is too much underline everywhere that it is hard to make out what is what. Try reformatting the page to (without any underlining):
Trailer
Format: .wmv/.mov
Size: 356 KB
Source: Yahoo!
View video
The coding for the above format is as follows:
<b>Trailer</b><br>
<img align=”left” src=”http://www.freddiefan.com/media/spi/spi.png” style=”margin:5px”>
Format: .wmv/.mov<br>
Size: 356 KB<br>
Source: Yahoo!<br>
<a href=”FILENAME”>View video</a>
To distinguish internal content and external content (the video files), place an asterick next to the “View Video” links and explain on the media index page links with an asterick open in a new window browser and are not hosted on FreddieFan. The link to trailer 2 to Two Brothers does not work. Also, the left margin of the copyright divider is the same as the right margin and the top and bottom margins are too large leaving too much blank space.
Final Statement
Overall, FreddieFan has lots of content for Freddie fans. The image gallery is large, the site comes with a fanlisting and a large media section (though 90% of the files are not hosted on the site). However, the information about Freddie is a little inconclusive. The site needs to work on the personal information of Freddie and where possible, do not duplicate unnecessary links and provide content that can be called exclusive to FreddieFan as opposed to content hosted at Yahoo! or elsewhere.