Can someone please critique my web sites? Options

[SLS]

Hi, everybody! Why I'm posting this is because I'm wondering if someone could critique my web sites. So, can someone please critique my web sites? Thank you!
Here's the links:
http://www.sls.multiservers.com
http://www.debt.multiservers.com
http://www.elsa.250x.com
http://www.maxine.250x.com

[Darin McGrew]

I recommend that you fix the HTML errors and CSS errors reported by the online tools. (These links are just for one page; the other pages have similar problems.)

It's bad usability to have link text change size when the mouse pointer hovers over it. It makes the link text jump around, and in some cases, it makes the rest of the paragraph/page jump around.

White-on-beige is hard to read. For the "debt" site, if you're going to specify background images, then also specify a background color that provides similar contrast with your text color. (And the background image behind your heading is pretty busy.)

Scrolling marquee text is evil.

On the "maxine" site, I expected the "Samantha Scorza" link to take me to a page about Samantha Scorza. Instead (surprise!) it's a mailto link. I think mailto links should be more obvious.

Don't use "dumbnails". That is, don't take a large image and use HTML's HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes to shrink it in size. Instead, create a smaller copy of the image and use that. See the FAQ entry How can I create a thumbnail image that is linked to the full-sized image?

Conversely, don't use HTML's HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes to enlarge an image. If you want an enlarged image, then create one. Use HEIGHT and WIDTH for the actual dimensions of the image.

And don't distort images by using HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes that display them as a different shape (more rectangular, more square) from what they really are.

The list of links on the "elsa" links page includes a self link (a link to the page itself), and doesn't include a link to the "elsa" about page. It would be a good idea to automate this stuff, so the right links appear automatically at the bottom of every page.

Forms that use action="mailto:..." are unreliable on the WWW. See the FAQ entry How do I get form data emailed to me?

It would be better always to link to "/" rather than to "/index.html". Using both causes the server to have to send the same content twice. It also makes it harder for your visitors to tell when they've already been to a page when it has two different URLs.

"font-family: Symbol" doesn't do what you think it does in browsers that conform to the specs. Don't use it.

[stjepan]

I'd like to see a bigger images when clicked. Darin said the rest

[SLS]

Hi, everybody! Why I wrote this post is because I have a few things to say.
First of all, thank you Darin and stjepin for critiquing my web sites and for your suggestions.
Furthermore, I made changes to most of my sites; so, can anybody please critique them again and then, tell me if I need to make more changes?
Thank you!
Here's the links:
http://www.debt.multiservers.com
http://www.elsa.250x.com
http://www.maxine.250x.com

[Darin McGrew]

Now your "debt" site has a huge image that fills the space you've given it, so the content on the right ends up looking like

Save 40% -
80% on problem
debt!

Hello and thank
you for visiting
our site.
Hopefully, the
following will help
answer most of
your questions
about debt
negotiating.

[Darin McGrew]

Never mind. It looks like you edited the image just as I posted that. Please let us know when you have stable sites ready for review.

[SLS]

Hi, Darin. Those sites that I mentioned ARE ready for review; so, what are you implying? That you rather have ALL of them ready for review, or are the sites that I mentioned are STILL bad?

[Darin McGrew]

The "debt" site had a problem with one image taking over the page. I posted, and then refreshed, and the problem was gone. I checked the HTTP headers for the image (using Lynx), and it appeared to have been just modified.

So I assumed that you're still tweeking the site(s). I apologize if that was an incorrect assumption.

[SLS]

The "debt" site had a problem with one image taking over the page. I posted, and then refreshed, and the problem was gone. I checked the HTTP headers for the image (using Lynx), and it appeared to have been just modified.

So I assumed that you're still tweeking the site(s). I apologize if that was an incorrect assumption.

Hi, Darin! I finished tweaking the "debt", "maxine", and "elsa" sites, but I'm still in the process of tweaking my portfolio web site (http://www.sls.multiservers.com).

[Frederiek]

The "debt" site:
The navigation links on the left could use some more space to their right.
The main area could use some space both left and right, as the text touches the area borders.
The links within the text are not very obvious; make them more prominent as links.

The "elsa" site:
The home page could use some content.
The gpcp.jpg on the links page could not be found.

The "maxine" site:
Give the texts some space next to images. Also between the images on the pictures page.

For all:
Don't leave out the link texts for the pages you're on. Just don't give it a link, just the text.

Just to let you know: your "sls" site (which you're still "tweaking") has the problem that the title is obscured by the two area's beneath (navigation and main area).

[SLS]

Hi, everybody! I made changes to all of my sites, again; so, can all of you critique them again and let me know if I need to make further changes to them?
Thank you!
Here's the links:
http://www.sls.multiservers.com
http://www.elsa.250x.com
http://www.maxine.250x.com
http://www.debt.multiservers.com

[Darin McGrew]

You still have places (e.g., the home page of your "debt" site, the home page of your "sls" site) where you specify a background image, but don't specify a background color. Without the background image, you get white text on a pale background color, which is hard to read.

It would be better if your "resume" link took you to an actual resume, rather than to a cover page that allows you to download a resume in MS Word format.

[Frederiek]

In the "sls" site, I now can se the title, but the "star" covers partially the background of the title. The area for the images in the digital illustration page is quite narrow. Some images in the third column don't line up very well. The sitemap isn't a sitemap, it's just the same links as the navigation on the left. I even wonder if you need a sitemap at all, as the structure of the site is very simple.

The pictures page in the "elsa" site looks better, now you spaced them out. But the gpcp.jpg on the links page is still missing.

The navigation area in the "debt" site slightly covers the main area on some pages. On one page, there is, on the contrary, a gap between them. The links in the navigation have a white background. Is that what you intended? The text of the main area could do with just a little bit more space on the left (eg. equal to the one on the right).

[SLS]

In the "sls" site, I now can se the title, but the "star" covers partially the background of the title. The area for the images in the digital illustration page is quite narrow. Some images in the third column don't line up very well. The sitemap isn't a sitemap, it's just the same links as the navigation on the left. I even wonder if you need a sitemap at all, as the structure of the site is very simple.

The pictures page in the "elsa" site looks better, now you spaced them out. But the gpcp.jpg on the links page is still missing.

The navigation area in the "debt" site slightly covers the main area on some pages. On one page, there is, on the contrary, a gap between them. The links in the navigation have a white background. Is that what you intended? The text of the main area could do with just a little bit more space on the left (eg. equal to the one on the right).

Hi, Frederiek! Are you sure that on the "sls" site that my logo covers partially the background? Because it doesn't look that way on my browser; so, why don't you try refreshing the page.
Also, are you sure that on the "elsa" site that gpcp.jpg is still missing? Because I can view the image on my browser.
Furthermore, are you sure that the navigation on the "debt" site slightly covers the main area on some pages? Because again, my pages don't look that way on my browser. So, why don't you try refreshing the pages.

[Frederiek]

Refreshing has nothing to do with it. I emptied the cache and my observations remain. See the images below. FYI, I'm using Safari on Mac.





And the gpcp.jpg image is still missing too.

This post has been edited by Frederiek: Jul 23 2007, 09:50 AM

[SLS]

You still have places (e.g., the home page of your "debt" site, the home page of your "sls" site) where you specify a background image, but don't specify a background color. Without the background image, you get white text on a pale background color, which is hard to read.

It would be better if your "resume" link took you to an actual resume, rather than to a cover page that allows you to download a resume in MS Word format.

Hi, Darin! Since you think that people wouldn't want to download my resume, then how do I incorporate my resume into my web page? Because I tried doing it myself, and its not working; also, I tried looking up that information on the Internet and there's no site explaining about how to do it in HTML and CSS.

[Darin McGrew]

Hi, Darin! Since you think that people wouldn't want to download my resume, then how do I incorporate my resume into my web page?

I just wrote my resume as an HTML document and included it as part of my personal web site.

I tried looking up that information on the Internet and there's no site explaining about how to do it in HTML and CSS.

What information? Information on specifying background colors and background images together? See the example in the FAQ entry How can I specify background images?

[SLS]

Hi, Darin! Since you think that people wouldn't want to download my resume, then how do I incorporate my resume into my web page?

I just wrote my resume as an HTML document and included it as part of my personal web site.

I tried looking up that information on the Internet and there's no site explaining about how to do it in HTML and CSS.

What information? Information on specifying background colors and background images together? See the example in the FAQ entry How can I specify background images?

Hi, Darin! So, do you mean that after you type up your resume in MS Word, you save your resume as an HTML file and inside the file, you add links to pages on your web site? Because if that's how you did it, then are you sure that I can do that? Because I've done that before and other people didn't like my online resume looking like that.

[Darin McGrew]

Hi, Darin! So, do you mean that after you type up your resume in MS Word,

I don't use MS Word. Sometimes I use OpenOffice, but not for my resume.

you save your resume as an HTML file and inside the file, you add links to pages on your web site?

No. I mean that my resume is just another HTML document on my web site, maintained the way I maintain all the other HTML documents on my web site.

[SLS]

Hi, everybody! I made more changes to three of my sites; so, can you please critique my sites again?
Thank you!
Here's the links:
http://www.sls.multiservers.com
http://www.debt.multiservers.com
http://www.elsa.250x.com