Hi, freesources.net has always been a very helpful site. I'm not exactly a "professional" webmaster, but here are a few things I've noticed:
1. I'd put the four links on the bottom right hand side of the page somewhere higher up on the page as well, possibly even create an "other" section on your navigation bar.
2. In the navigation bar on the left, if you decreased the font size a little, it should be possible for the whole bar to be displayed above the fold (on 800x600). For the amount of information in the navigation bar, it's not entirely necessary to go below what's immediatly visible.
- Do something about the buttons in the left menu, right now it's some text with a colored fuzz behind it, which makes them hard to read
-Reduce the text for us poor 800x600 users
-After you've used better buttons, you'll need some color so a few nice images wouldn't hurt, I guess
-I had to look a few times before I understood that the text behind the images in 'Hot Spots' and 'Specials' was an explanation of the images
Well, maybe I'll like this site after all... Unless you won't change the buttons of course
Loading time: 5.28 seconds
Reviewed with Netscape 4.7 on SuSe Linux 6.3 at 800x600
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Elledan Dunedain http://emudreams.tsx.org TriAxis (Still Alpha!) Everyone has a destiny in life. Some just never reach it
Thanks elledan for reviewing my site on a Linux... And of course thanks to the others too.. Keep them coming!
I will now give some explenation about the buttons because I know there will be more remarks on it.
The use of kindof hard to read components will make you look closer and maybe get you interested in what it is. If it doesn't you can also read the description so you know what you're going to get. Every image has ALT tags.
Now the psychological background of the images. They have a meaning.. yes... The colored 'fuzz' you see in the background of each button is 'the web of colors' which the internet and www is. Freesources.net CENTRALIZES (text is centered in buttons) information so it can easily be accessed.
I hope you understand this. I'm beginning to think I'm an artist :-) most ppl don't get them either...
Well.. KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING and the best one will get free button impressions like I said before. I will maybe give more ppl free impressions. But to make chance: you gotto review! Have fun!
The first thing which came in my mind was where are the links. You should really have them under each section. I dont like the buttons used for each section they put me of of what actually was there. Other than that the rest is great.
hope this helps.
The site looks good. I like the white. It is crisp and the navigation is easy. The design is tight and organized. The graphics for the titles are a little odd and distracting. For the most part it appears to be an excellent site.
I'm not sure why but it seems like something's missing from the design.. some element to tie up the page, it looks "open" somehow...
I agree that you should at least edit the buttons on the navigation, and possibly add a link under them or something, they don't look clickable immediately. It would probably add some color to the page if you made their background something deeper like blue, instead of the bland grey.
Once I moved into the content of the site I was surprised.. the section graphics look great! I wish I could do work like that.. what graphics program?
The authors of your articles once you get deeper into the site are a little hard to read.. perhaps a darker shade of grey like #808080..
If I think of more I'll let ya know
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Dan Grossman (webmaster@webdevportal.com)
http://www.webdevportal.com -
The customizable portal for webmasters!
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote/font><HR>Originally posted by WebDevPortal: Once I moved into the content of the site I was surprised.. the section graphics look great! I wish I could do work like that.. what graphics program? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
---------Begin Details---------------------
Browser and Version: Internet Explorer 5.01
Screen Resolution: 1024 X 768
Colors: 16.7 Million (24 Bit)
Operating System: Windows 98 SE
Connection Speed: regulated to 26.4K
Approx. Load Time: 10 seconds
Javascript Enabled: Always
Cookies Enabled: Always
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I find your linking graphics very hard to read. There is almost no contrast in them and the words get swallowed by the busy backgrounds. I like the simple square link buttons a lot more.
No link to Sitepoint in your directory? A little disappointing considering you are a very active member here.
Might consider adding some active content to the site like newsfeeds from Moreover, ArticleCentral or similar sites, or the Tip Feed from here on Sitepoint. This would bring people back more often.
I was planning to add a link to SitePoint, but nobody could give me a 2 line description so I considered doing it later (it was 3am the night before the opening) and I forgot. I'll do it asap. Promised!
Thx wluke for the review. I'll take a look at the buttons in a few days.
while surfing around I decided to review freesources.net with the following system :
Browser and Version: Explorer 5.5
Screen Resolution: 1024x768
Colors: 32bit
Operating System: Windows 98SE
Javascript Enabled: Yes
Connection type: 56k
I was expecting a lot more from a name like freesources.net but I have to say I was a little dissapointed in the basic layout. I found the main nav headings extremely difficult to read and the whole frontpage has a ultra blocky feely about it. Perhaps I should add to my sig a campaign to introduce curves into sites lol I seem to be mentioning this a lot.
But curves would really help your design. They are difficult to introduce, its much easier to slap a table in and be done with it but if you want a more attractive front its definetly something to strongly consider.
Next up the text on the front page. theres a lot of it. too much in fact and it spans too far across my screen to be comfortable to read. I would severly limit the amount of text you feed people on your front page.
Your content seems aimed only at webmasters which seemed a shame. I was initialy expecting some diverse content. For me any site which claims to offer things to make your sites better has to have an incredibly good style itself. so im probably being overly harsh becuase of that very fact.
It seems like deeper into your site you gave up on trying to keep a design running and just made basic lists. I found these very dull and unattractive. Perhaps if you gave those lists more of a style like you would see on something like cnet for instance that would be a great improvement.
I guess I want a lot from a site nowadays, its almost a curse getting into web design, you can no longer just browse, your forever considering the design and such lol
anyway good luck with the site, hope it goes from strength to strength.
Despites the fact I have never seen a positive review by Garry anyway thanks for your comments.
Rather weird I feel almost the same about your site...
Christophe
Anyway, if there are any other ppl who'd like to tear me apart by giving me all the bad critism there is in the world go ahead and review. Same goes for those who want to conratulate with my site (and my 16th birthday)
Browser and Version: Explorer 5.5
Screen Resolution: 1024x768
Colors: 32bit
Operating System: Windows 98
Javascript Enabled: Yes
Connection type: 56k
Hi,
I like the straight lined look - very clean. I guess it's just a question of taste.
I agree with Garry Lacey about the navigation titles though. If you took out the graphic-y background to them and just had the plain grey, white 'shadow' text and then the main black and white text onto top I think it would look clearer.
Too much text on the page? (Sorry seem to just be replying to Garry's critique). I don't think so, it's difficult to find a compromise between getting right down to the content and having a purely decorative front page that is just making the viewer dig deeper for content. There's also the keyword problem, if there's no text on the page some search engines will knock you lower.
"Your content seems aimed only at webmasters which seemed a shame. " - I'd imagine this would be because it is a webmaster site? Make's sense to me. Too many sites, in my opinion, turn up in this forum with the webmaster wanting to encompass every subject. I think it's better to pick a narrow subject but cover it well.
I like the templates, just one point it says 'free, professional and easy to adjust templates' - can it be both free AND professional, perhaps 'professional looking', but I'm just nit-picking.
I like the site. It's just that you are up against a lot of competition.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote/font><HR>Originally posted by freesources: Despites the fact I have never seen a positive review by Garry anyway thanks for your comments.
Rather weird I feel almost the same about your site...
Christophe
Anyway, if there are any other ppl who'd like to tear me apart by giving me all the bad critism there is in the world go ahead and review. Same goes for those who want to conratulate with my site (and my 16th birthday)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You asked for a review, I gave you my honest opinion in a respectful way married with feedback on why I thought what I thought and how I would improve what I thought was wrong with your site.
This is my opinion, Im not here to kiss up to anyone or praise sites I dont think are worth praising. I didnt hate your site I just commented on a few things I would do to make the site better.
This is all I can offer. One persons impression on what makes a site a good site. My opinion is not right, its just my opinion and you can take or leave that opinion. If you believe your site is the best thing since sliced bread and have had good feedback then revel in that, its only when a lot of people pick up or a good few people pick up on one thing which they think is wrong about your site that its a good time to think about changing.
Maybe I do critical reviews, but that`s what I believe I`m here to do. To be critical, to be a critique, to critique peoples work. Ive done about 30 reviews in this forum since finding the board and probably 20 of them are very critical. If you view critisism as having your work torn apart then please state this in your initial post so people know to be as gentle as possible.
Some people cannot take critisism while others really appreciate it. If you think im wrong, defend the points you think I have brought up in error. Thats a great way to work through it. I read through all the replies to reviews ive done in case someone asks a question about my review. Im happy to do that.
Ok, good you are a critiquer. I appreciate all kind of comments. But I cannot understand that you comment that it doesn't look 'cool'. Remember: it is an informative site and it is aimed to be compatible with ALL OSes, RESOLUTIONS, BROWSERS, VERSIONS,... and it had to be quick loading. I succeeded in both.
You must understand that those two things did quite a lot to the design. You must understand also that I want to get my visitors to the information they want really fast. But rather than thinking of that you only want design, design, design. It's not all. Design won't get you in the search engines. Design is a matter of taste. Some will like it, some won't.
Also did you notice any big advertisement which destract you from the site itself on freesources.net? Oh well... I guess for some ppl you can't do anything good...
BTW: critiquers do not only give bad comments. There is positive and negative critique. You seem only to know the second kind.
You cannot understand why i dont comment that your site does not look cool? I think here we differ fron what we expect from a review. What you consider as positive feedback only equates to "that looks cool"
If someone told you that a table could be improved by doing x, y and z then this should also be seen as positive. While initially its a critical comment, it leads to you possibly improving something on your site that you may not have thought about. Thats what feedback and critique is all about. To suggest new things and comment on what is already there.
Thats all I try and do when looking at sites im about to review. Wonder what it is about the site which I feel could be bettered as its these very comments I have gotten on my own sites which helped me the most. I love someone saying something ive done is great, we all do, but those critical comments ultimately help just as much. A nice comment tells you something is working, a critical comment helps you work out what isnt working.
I only know design, I cant generally comment about the complexities of CGI or why how a javascript routine works better than another one. I didnt spend long enough on your site to sample all your content
Every comment you read from me is backed up with a reason for the comment and a suggestion as to how you could improve what im commenting on. Thats not negative thats positive.
Finally I would like to add that I was unaware you were a 16 year old and that this site was just something your doing for fun so to speak. Perhaps there in lies the ultimate compliment. When I looked at your site I saw someone aiming for a professional site for webmasters. For a fun project to reach into that realm is commendable and your age is important here as clearly you have a long way to go in web design and will probably be doing incredible things in a few years if this is the standard your working to now.
I like the new design of your site. It's sleek and really quick loading (cable modem probably helps, though). I know someone else mentioned this, but I too have trouble reading the titles on the left navbar. The pictures just look a little too 'busy.' One last thing, maybe you could add some color to the top and left, to decrease a little of the white. Anyway.
I visit your site often to look at the templates, since I was in need of a new design a few days ago. I think the text is a little hard to read. It does have a nice, clean and consistent layout. It seems to load fast. I remember the old design, and this new one seems to be more consistent, than the old one.
I can't really see anything else that is wrong, except that the text may be a little hard to read on the links. I do like it that the (was it flash?) flash logo thing is now gone.
Not very much scrolling, which is a strong point (but then, my resolution is 1024x768 and I have a 19 inch monitor)
I am using Netscape 4.6 Navigator, by the way, with a 56K connection.
Its okay that its aimed at webmasters, isn't it? I don't have a computer science degree, but I am the owner and "webmaster" of my site and I rely on sites like freesources.net to help me with a design or tools.
/font><HR>Originally posted by WebDevPortal:
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