Re: Word Play Critique

G'day

Site reviewed http://www.photobooks.com/~poof/

Front page and pages linked to from that page only.

800x600 - 16bit (and also 640x480 / 1024x768)
IE 4.72 on Win95
56K Modem at 46k
--------------------------------------------------------------
I downloaded the site in the background so I don't know how long it took to
load.  Looking at the initial page though, it should load relatively
quickly, unless the server has problems.  I also noticed you have a "eXTReMe
Tracking" button.  This brings an extra server into the equasion and may
slow it down.

ENTRY PAGE.

1. First impresions: clean look - no need to put my sunglasses on :-)
There's not quite enough contrast in the text vs white background.   Perhaps
look at changing the colours to slightly darker shades, preferably websafe
colours.  The nearest websafe colour to your green (#215E21 ) would be
#336633.  I'd be inclined to go to #006600 or #003300.  Adjust link colours
too (visited links are too light IMHO)

2. I'd put some more space between the quote from Oscar Wilde and the links
(one line would do).

3. If you want to keep the eXTReMe Tracking image, move it down the page a
bit.   It currently demands more attention than the title or text.

4. Perhaps break your "introduction" up into two or three paragraphs - makes
for easier reading.

5. Are all the META tags necessary?   I can only really spot three that are
useful.  The rest just adds to the filesize (although text will compress
quite well so it's not a major problem, given also that the HTML file is
only 3488 bytes)

6. Fixed width table of 600 pixels causes a lot of white space at 1024x768.
It also causes (minimal) horizontal scrolbars to appear at 640x480 (I'd hate
to think what happens to a visitor using WebTV)

7. I noticed lots of <CENTER> elements.  Did you know you can specify the
alignment in the TABLE, TR and TD tags?  Less chance of leaving a closing
tag out that way and easier to maintain (IMHO).

POETRY

1. The bright blue links are drowning out the green text.

2. Again I'd introduce a bit of extra vertical space between different parts
of this page.  This might also help to solve the problem above.

3. The title for this page is in a somewhat odd position, probably due to
the links next to it.  I'd either center the title and move the links
elsewhere or left-align it.

SEARCH TUTORIAL

1. That's better!   There's more contrast here because you no longer use
mid-green text.

2. As before, I recommend you split the paragraphs up a bit.  They're a tad
on the long side.

3. Perhaps a soft background image (or a soft background colour) would make
this page (and the rest for that matter) look a bit more appealing.   As it
is, it looks too much like a laser-printed, lifeless document.

ADOPTION

1. Comments against other pages apply here too but paragraph length is
better.  Back to green text though (see closing comments)

CALLIGRAPHY

1. Needs a little bit of text to go with the links.   What are the links
for, where do they lead.  What is Calligraphy. That sort of thing.  The page
is too empty as is

ABOUT ME

1. Oh, a little bit of colour.

2. The layout is different from the other pages I have looked at.   I
actually like the way you have the links off to one side.  Perhaps introduce
this on the whole site (will help with consistency)

3. I don't tend to look at spelling, grammar, choice of words etc when doing
a critique.  There was one phrase on this page though that attracted my
attention.  You say "I came across many useful people".  Does that mean the
people you have not come across are not useful?  Careful!

FINAL COMMENT.

Try to liven the site up with a bit more colour but:
a) make sure there's enough contrast between the background and text
b) don't use colours that clash
c) try to use the same colour scheme throughout the site

Also try to keep the navigation consistent (same words for the same page,
same position, colour etc)

Hope this helps
--
Bert Doorn, Member of the HTML Writers Guild
Author of Beginners' Website Design Tips
at http://www.iinet.net.au/~bdoorn/

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