Paper-rain.org has 10 Reviews
Below are the reviews left by other members on Paper-rain.org. Jump to review form?
Heather gave it




on 8th Aug 2009 and said:LAYOUT:
I don't think this is your best layout. The background is king of washing it away, and there is definitely a green over load in the content area. The colors for your title are bright, but they do not match the rest of the colors in your layout. In addition, I would put the links to your content above links to anything else. This makes it easier to find things, and less confusing.CONTENT:
Wordpress is great, but how about creating pages rather than posts? Create a list to links of pages perhaps in each section. Pages should be different than posts, especially is they are made for the purpose of being pages. ;)OVERALL:
You have some nice content, but I would definitely fix the way things are being viewed.Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
kaykay's Response:
Thanks for taking the time to review the site :]
while I may not agree with you on some points of criticism made to the design of my site, I respect your thoughts.As for organization, it's also about points of view. If visitors can still find content in a way that works for them, then I'm happy. Preference for pages over posts is your thing.
Thank you for the compliment to my content, I've spent a lot of time on it and it's one of the highlights of my site :)
roz gave it




on 16th Jan 2009 and said:I am viewing on Windows Vista, Mozilla Firefox.
First Impression
My first impression of your website was how unique your layout is. Your domain name is quite unique and makes me wonder how you came up with it!Layout
As I said, your layout is unique and interesting to look at. I love that you used colored pencils; I don't think I have ever seen that before in a layout! I like the lined-paper/memo style you have.One suggestion I have for your header/layout image is to vary the font size of your navigation and your "paper-rain.org" text -- i.e. make the font size of your domain name larger than the navigation text.
The lined-paper background you have is really cool. But, when the background repeats, it is slightly off at the double-red-line margins.
Your sidebar style is awesome--nothing to say there really. I like the pale-yellow background on mouseover for the "highlighter" effect, which works well for your layout!
Oh, one thing with the sidebar. I suggest you put your navigation links on your sidebar too. That's where I looked first for your navigation. When I didn't find it, that's when I saw it in your header image.
Structure and Organization
I like that there is a variety of graphics the website offers. The organization of the categories and the amount of clicks one has to go through to get to, e.g. "Wallpapers" is a bit inconvenient though.Seeing as you have four different types of graphics you offer under "Other," you might as well just make them links on your /graphics page? Just a suggestion.
Content
You have so many tutorials! I (obviously) didn't have a chance to browse through all of them, but your Typography tutorial is unique. I don't think I have seen that anywhere, and it's creative.After looking at a couple of the tutorials, I notice that they are pretty lengthy. I see that you have headings for different sections within a tutorial, but I also suggest putting the different steps in a bulleted or numbered list. This will make the steps easier to recognize with the eye and look better organizationally.
Your "Misc" page contains quite a few different links and sections! I think it would be helpful to put these links as part of your navigation in the sidebar.
Overall
I like your design and layout for the website. You offer a wide variety of graphics and resources such as tutorials, which is nice.Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
Natalie gave it




on 3rd Jan 2009 and said:(I use firefox)
Okay, I have a slow internet connection at the moment due to me being on my mother's computer so, the banner and background may be cute with the pencils, it took forever to load. I am sure I am not the only one with this problem as dial-up internet and (the forever slow, add-on filled) Internet explorer still hold it's place in the market today (even though there are better options), so try and make some images in different parts so it loads quicker, it also gives a great effect when your banner comes up boom, then your middle, then the footer image.
Moving on... Your blog is quite interesting which is a lacking in most sites today because people seem to just be interested in the next big disney channel star who at this point seems to Miley Cyrus, I actually came across a blog the other day "Omg miley toooooooootaly has th bst lipstick evrrrrr" and I was like "ahhhh how did I get on this site!?" so anyway it's good that if you blog about a celebrity (Alex Pettyfer) then you don't hear the same stuff all over again. (Boy, that was rambly)
Alright on to "misc". Here's a tip, if a page isn't ready yet (premades) don't say "coming soon" I learned that the hard way, just leave it blank and when it is done put it up, blog about it and surprise everyone :D
Your CSS code that you offer seems to be pretty good all though blue, blue and only blue can get a tad boring, but I'm sure your visitors will spice it up, because no one takes a premade CSS code without editing it.
Your contest. Wow what an original idea, especially the caption paragraph bit (it dosen't take a genuis to click the shutter on a camera, so it's good you make the contestants do something more) Your prizes aren't all that original *cough, cough* advertising *cough, cough* but hey, the idea is so good no one will care. I might enter :D
Hiring. Good idea, but I don't think anyone in particular that I know would want to be a slave with little credit, because if someone used a CSS code made by staff, this is what would go down:
Site using CSS: I got this CSS from Kay.
Visitor: Kay's good at CSS, I'll go and get a code from her.
Staff: But I made it D:That's just my view on staff, you are entitled to your opinion and it varies from site to site.
Hosting. Argh, that page took so long to load, I don't know why. All good, I don't see anything wrong with this page. Maybe you should list your hostees?
Tutorials. It took me a while to figure out they're set out like a blog, but that's probably just me and my slowness (Is that a word? - No I don't think so...) The tables tutorial is well written and easy to understand so being the lazy peson I am I'm not going to read any others and assume they're all at the same standard or higher.
Graphics. I like that you put work into a "terms of use" page, but face it no one is going to read it without some kind of trick. Maybe in your menu when you click graphics it turns up on the terms of use page and possibly, you could mske the word "dandy" or another hidden word (at the bottom of the page) a link to the graphics page itself.
The brushes are good but I feel I've seen them before, I don't know why. I would suggest putting them all on the one page because I don't think may people are going to notice the little "1 2" down the bottom.
Textures. They are really good, once again I suggest one page, not three.
PSD effects. Same thing as the premades, they have not been made yet.
Icons (other). Okay wow, make more please 48 isn't enough when they're soooooo good.
Wallpapers. Finally a site that offers wallpapers in different sizes. They're pretty awesome and once again the whole two pages thing just bugs me.
Banners. I downloaded one and it was great :D I can't be bothered with more. Dang, you love your two pages for one thing don't you?
Although you've only got 2 stock photos they are both very good, and you know what they say quality not quantity.
The About. Amazing, another I started on pizco with glitters story. When will word get out that pizco isn't all that good? Anyway, changing 50 pages manually! Ahhhh, that must have been terrible. I hate spam bots too. Dang two pages for this aswell? Well I guess this is probably a case where I recomend two pages because it is needed when a page is so long.
Overall your site is quite nice, with good content, correct spelling and grammar, validness (not a word but I don't care), a blog that people would want to read and a very nice layout. Oh and a few more things; add a counter please, your search thing is cute but dosen't pickup defined results, and just saying again great site.
Hopefull the current 869 words of my ramblyness didn't put you off reading my review.
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![[img: avatar]](/avatars/LilyAnne.gif)
LilyAnne gave it




on 27th Dec 2008 and said:Layout; Ooh...I must say the layout is very beautiful indeed! The pencil crayons and paper all go very good with your site name "Paper Rain". (: The calendar is all screwy, but you said to ignore it so I am. :D I'm not a big fan of the links though... I mean, they are all organized wonderfully - I just don't like the background tons on it. I think it should be the full width of your sidebar thingy, it would look much better that way.
Tutorials; :O 0_0 Tons of tutorials happening there! Wowie! xD lol. I don't have time to read through them all, so I'll just tell you my general impression of them. They are organized pretty good and seem to be well written... I really like the idea of having a "reply" section at the bottom of each one.
Articles; These all look good too... I've never seen this before in a site, but it's a nice idea. (:
Coding; These seems like they could sort of fit in either the "Tutorial" or "Article" section... I'd consider putting them there.
Other & Photoshop; Just as the coding, these are good... But I still think they'd be more in the Articles or Coding section. Maybe I'm just confused though because I don't have time to read all of them through.
Overall; A good site with lots of content. Good luck and awesome work! ;D
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kaykay's Response:
Bah, the calendar just would not seem to be fixed. So i chucked it :P
Yah the whole organization is that if you just wanted to browse through all of my tutorials, you can. But then my tutorials are split into categories such as Coding, Other, Photoshop :)
UPDATED 03 Jan 09:
Thanks for your time :)rockcandy gave it




on 25th Dec 2008 and said:First Impressions/Layout:
I like your layout a lot! It's very organized, and the CSS is very nice. Could make the text contrast the background a bit more, but overall it's very nice, I like it!Blog:
Nice, neat blog.
One suggestion is to not make all the words entered in the wordpress all caps. It's hard to see if you're making any cap typos.Content:
Nice & organized, thumbs up to that.
For your tutorials, I think you should first of all, add more, and second of all organize it into categories. Like, split it into say Photoshop tutorials, HTML tutorials, Misc tutorials, etc.About Me:
It's actually good compared to most people's. No extremely long paragraphs rambling on or anything. I also like your site history. It's well written.
You shoudl also write a short description of yourself [as well as your co owner] so the visitors will get to know you a bit better.Overall, your site's very nice. It's very neat & organized. Just make sure the layout isn't too matchy. :) Also, I like your site name :D Very eye-catching.
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kaykay's Response:
I actually do have my tutorials split, they're on the side :D
thank you ^-^![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Dayna.png)
Dayna gave it




on 25th Dec 2008 and said:Reviewed using Firefox 3.0.5, Windows Vista, Resolution 1440 x 900
Layout & Navigation
The header image is nice, simple and I like how the pink blends in with the green. There is a lack of contrast between the content background colour and the overall background image. I would say to give the background in the content area a darker colour. Try darkening the pink colour of the flowers to make it stands out more too, I think it lacks the attention it should have.
The colour navigation text is way too light and cannot be read clearly, same for the title of the post etc. I cannot read the words in italics at all, the colour is too light. The entire layout needs a lot more contrast than this. It strains my eye trying to read the text. But the layout itself portrays a neat, sleek and classy feel which is good. The copyright text (PAPER-RAIN.ORG COPYRIGHT KAY MAO 2008) in the footer is too small, maybe increase by a font size?
In the footer, under "hits" there isn't a numerical figure? When I try to click on it, it does not link to anything, might wish to check it out.
The contact, credits and links are at the footer and not linked anyway in the main navigation. I would suggest linking them in the about or site page because not everyone would notice the links in the footer.
Content
The contents are very organised and neat. I like it.
About: Under the awards, the X and O are used to link to the awards. I find that unsuitable because I did not understand what that was until I click on them. I would suggest using small thumbnails as a preview and linking them to the actual awards.
Graphic: For this section, there are 4 thumbnails on each page, I would suggest increasing it to 6 or 8 so there isn't too many pages to scroll through. The size of the thumbnails isn't large either so it would not make a significant difference to the loading time. The rest of the graphic content looks good, continue working on those. :)
Tutorials: I do not really understand why Wordpress plugins would be under tutorials. Maybe more on how to enhance wordpress functions with plugins? There is also links to the previous and next post which I find unnecessary as one of the next post links to a blog post. It would be better to remove that.
Misc: There are 3 sections which are empty. Personally, I feel it would be better to remove it as it is kind of confusing reading all those descriptions and then realised there is nothing in that category.
Under hosting, the last perks, there is a open ( but no closing ). It is just a personal preference but I would not suggest installing cutenews (for hostees) because it has some security issues if I am not wrong.
One of the rules "Upload images on photo bucket or something, don't waste my space", I do not see how uploading images is a waste of space when you are offering to host a site for someone. A website would definitely include images. In addition, it is previously mentioned in perks that they will be given a nice amount of space, I feel that the "nice amount of space" would be sufficient for layout images as such. But then again, all these are just my opinion.
Terms of use: "Flash is a site that is owned by Kay Mao." I think the site name is wrong in this one.
Coding
Validate CSS 2.1, not much to say about the HTML as you can currently trying to validate your site.
Something I realised is that all the permalinks have wp/ on them. I was thinking it looks better to do away with the wp/
This page in the codex have explanation how to do that, it should be quite simple. :)
http://codex.wordpress.org/Giving_WordPress_Its_Own_DirectoryGood luck with your site and Merry Christmas :)
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kaykay's Response:
Thanks for a lot of helpful criticism!
especially the one on giving wordpress it's own directory!
I've always wondered how to do that and you giving me the link has finally allowed me to achieve it :DThanks again :)
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Jay.jpg)
Kay gave it




on 23rd Dec 2008 and said:Alrighty then!
My first impression of you website isn't very good. For one, the contrast of this design is terrible. The color of the text is incredibly light compared to the background. Because this is a one column layout, you're pretty much showcasing the content. And here, the content is your blog, first and foremost. That means, that you're obligated to present your blog in a positive manner. This contrast screams negativity.
I also hate this font. I don't think a serif font should ever be used as a body. I can't think of a single time where a serif has looked presentable unless its used to type up a term paper. I'm heavily suggesting that you change this font to something else. Since I'm sick of Verdana, I'm going to suggest Lucida Sans Unicode.
I see your CSS is valid, but is it compressed? Pretty well from what I can see, but lets run it through Clean CSS anyway. It can be compressed by about 25%. Might want to check that out?
63 errors in your actual coding. You have some javascript placed in between the head tag and the body tag. Wtf, why? Script should go in the head tag. I take is the validator isn't pick up you beginning head tag. I'm not sure why, and I'm not going to pretend that I do. Sorry that I can't be of much assistance. But, since you've validated your CSS, I'm sure you're aware of the coding errors. 63 is a large number, so you might want to check you website over at browsershots.org to make sure that it accessible. On to the content.
I didn't know your website was run by two people. I must mention to Kay, that is come off as arrogant when you list your awards like that. Knowing that Zoe doesn't have any. Besides, a link to a happy birthday graphic doesn't qualify as an award. Sorry, hun.
Since two of you are running this website, you might want to specify who's doing the talking the history page. Or better yet, whoever wrote this page, shouldn't use "I" but "we". "I was so amused..."; "You see, in my time". Again, it comes off as arrogant.
Regarding the layout: I didn't even notice the splash of pink until I read it in the description.
On the graphics page, again, you've used Kay a lot. Not US. USE "US". Did Zoe even do, anything?! This page is organized quite nicely. Maybe even a bit too organized? I'm sure you're aware of the possibility for copyright infringement, because you've used images that aren't yours and you're redistributing them, right? Glad we're on the same page.
At first I was confused as to how the Tutorials page was organized, but then I came to the realization that these are individual posts with read more links. If I'm confused, then I'm sure others will be, too. I think you should provide links to these entries on this page. Make a page for them, instead of using WP category tags.
The content provided on the tutorial page is a bit generic. I've seen it done before. Its okay to have generic content, as long as you throw some originality into it. You know, put a twist on it. I like the Wordpress plugins page, because it saves me time. I don't have to go to the wordpress plugins website. But, the cutting PNGs/PSDs page: its on Swimchick. And, if its on Swimchick, you know its not original.
The misc pages features a lot of "coming soon" material. If its not there yet, don't put it on the page. I don't care if its coming soon, because its a 10/10 chance that I'm not going to come back and check constantly to see if its there. How boring, would be my first reaction. I feel like you could have provided us with a link to the hosting and hiring pages over at the about page. It seems this stuff is mostly for content, and applications aren't considered visitor content.
I'm going to quickly address your footer. Its never smart to link your admin login page unless you have registered visitors. And in this case, you don't. Its basically saying "HEY LOOK OVER HERE AT THIS LINK! THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN HACK ME AT!". Not the smartest idea. Also, you need a bit more padding for the search box. Maybe center it a bit, I think it looks better that way.
Misc Comments: I took a look at your TOU. It says "Flash is a site that is owned by Kay Mao". Again, this is ridiculous, seeing that you're not the only one running this space. Let me guess, you owned a site called Flash and you basically copied and pasted that TOU over to this one. That wouldn't be a problem, if you hadn't so hastily done it and edit it a bit.
Your hits counter isn't displaying right in Google Chrome.
In conclusion, your website isn't all that memorable. Where is the originality? =(
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kaykay's Response:
A lot of your input has helped, and some input I don't necessarily agree with.
I really liked the font suggestion that you gave out and I'm currently using the font for my entire site, and most likely will in the future.
As for the thing with Zoe and me, it's complicated so I won't get into that. I will however try and sort it out with her so we come to an understanding. I respect that you think I'm being sort of snotty over not changing everything to "us" and "we", but I think you're a tad bit hung on that?
Copyright infringement? I'm guessing you're talking about the celebrity images? Or the fact that I'm distributing images that are Zoe's? A little confused here. Anyways, I have the creator's name beside every graphic, so there shouldn't be any problem there. Celebrity images...well that's a whole new can of worms...
I realize that a lot of people would prefer my tutorials in pages instead of posts, but I find that I can do much more with posts then with pages. The respond/comment at the end of the post really helps readers and I don't think the "Read more" is confusing...hmm I'll take a poll :)
I'm pretty sure that I actually do have some different tutorials: float layouts, rainbow colors, etc. How do I put it... If someone didn't find the PNG'S tutorial on my site, they would go to another site. It's sort of the same either way. At least if I write it, I'm saving them a trip.
I do agree with you on the misc., it's a disaster zone. Will get started on it (and finish it) before the end of christmas break. :)
The admin login page...hmm, I will move that I think. Wordpress wouldn't be that easy to hack eh?
Thanks for taking the time to review my site, (I realize that big hunk of text must have taken a while and I'm grateful) you've been helpful :)
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/charliegirl.jpg)
charliegirl gave it




on 23rd Dec 2008 and said:Definitely agree with the font colors bleeding into the layout colors. Need to make them pop out more. Pink from the graphic as the color for the links would be nice.
Maybe a little bit more padding in the content box.About page gives just the right amount of information about you (don't need too much info about you on a graphics site) and the your experience in web design.
You should make the "more" links on the graphics page really stick out (maybe bold them and do the pink color like I suggested earlier) because just at a quick glaze over it can be easy to miss.
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kaykay's Response:
Thank you :)
I've changed the graphic links ^-^![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Shadow.jpg)
Shadow gave it




on 23rd Dec 2008 and said:First Impression
I have some good news and bad news. The good news is that this is a pretty layout. The bad news is that there's way too much blue. You have some pinks in the flowers--use it. Make the text a darker color so that it's easy to read. The flowers in the entry backgrounds should have their opacity lowered a bit so that the text is more readable. But like I said, a pretty layout; just too much of one color (this coming from someone who loves blue).
Blog and Footer
I'm not 100% sure why that teal is doing at the bottom of your entries before the footer starts, but if it's possible to get rid of (and it should be), then please do that. There are very few layouts that work with full-on serif font, such as Georgia. It works here, but it needs to be a bit bigger for it to be a little more tolerable in viewing. Line height and padding is fine.
The Other Pages
About: Wait, I was under the impression that there was only one owner of this site. Then I get here and I see there are two. Anyway, there really isn't much about you (or Zoe for that matter). Maybe a link to a longer bio that shows more you. It's not a personal site, so you don't have to go all out, but there's...nothing.
You have a good site history there though. That's good. You have a few grammatical and spelling errors here. For the spelling errors, I would run it through a spell checker. Misspelling certain words can be a deal breaker to some.
Graphics: Since you don't have an .PSD effects, I don't think you need it there just yet. I understand you wanted to keep the symmetry, so if that's the case, then keep it there, but get something there soon!
I love your brushes, especially the flower ones. Great job!
Your textures are nice too. I wouldn't use them (or maybe some of the light textures, I'd think about it), but for someone who loves to use textures, these are some good ones.
Your icons are pretty, but if they have celebrity images on it (whether American or otherwise), I would let go of them.
The graphic style difference between Kay and Zoe is very evident. Zoe's wallpapers aren't the best, but they're not gaudy either. And Kay, the only wallpaper you have up is nice, but you need to show more of your work here. You are ridiculously strong in graphic prowess.
In the banner page, due to them being wide, they smush the words on the side. I would use a thumbnail in this case. Once again, copyrighted celebrity images, whether they're American or otherwise...let it go. You are capable of more than that.
Nice stock photos! I hope you expand on this one!
Tutorials: My big gripe with tutorials is that I would go to 10 sites, they would have the same exact tutorials with the same code and everything. If you're going to have tutorials, make sure that they teach something not everyone has done. With that being said, I wouldn't constitute your plugin article as a tutorial. I would more or less call that a resource type thing. You should have used pages here rather than posts though. But that's just me being anal.
Misc.: You don't have much here, so hopefully you get more stuff up here.
Links: The thing I would suggest is if you are going to use buttons for your affiliates/loved sites, don't direct link them. I would also make sure that they're either 88x31 or 100x35, but not both. It's better to use text links anyway. This page as a whole is pretty cluttered. When I read "links", I thought of a list of loved sites or affiliates. You have your list of loved sites, but you also have a whole area for your own links out. This can be put on another page and leave this page solely for links leading out of your site.
Coding
Eep! Your coding fails validation. That makes me sad. For starters:
<a name="top"><title>Paper Rain </title></a>That a tag shouldn't be there at all. That will knock off some errors right there.
Underlining regular text=bad. Well, not bad, but it can confuse people into thinking it's a link. Which is bad.
Tables...*twitch* I had a feeling because of all of those boxes. You can use divs and floats for the same effect. Tables are not to be used for layouts at all. You already have a grasp of using divs.
The <center> tag is deprecated. In order to align text, use this:
.center {
text-align: center;
}You can also use it for images. Because of that, it's making your coding even more so invalid. You forgot to close the body tag.
I would really work on validating your XHTML. You already have your CSS validated; why not go all the way? 63 errors seem like a lot, but I've seen sites with 200 errors. Run your site through the validator again. It may take a while for you to understand some of the errors, but when you fix the ones that you understand, they can fix themselves. Just don't leave it be! If you're confused some, you can also go on w3schools and read up on it.
All in all...
On account of your coding, I knocked your site down half a star. You have a pretty layout, but it's too blue. You have some pinks and some greens--use them.
You have a blatant strength of graphics here. I would like to see a little more, but don't rush them. I was a bit confused because I was under the impression that there was only one owner. It looks as if there is only one, because Zoe only has a few things. Perhaps she can be more proactive on the site so that it's clearer that there's two owners.
Your coding made me die a bit inside with all of the errors and tables. Clean away the tables and validate your coding. Otherwise, you have a site here that can easily make 4 stars. Great job so far, and good luck!
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kaykay's Response:
ouch, *wince* a good review is always extremely hard to take. And this is a very good review.
I really want to thank you for all the time you took to write this review. I've also changed my layout to something that is more fitting of what you think would have been good.
The one thing that I'm really proud of is the fact that I've managed to validate everything on site, so thanks very much for the push in the right direction :D
P.S. Also removed the tables and replaced them with classes :D
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/shroom.jpg)
shroom gave it




on 22nd Dec 2008 and said:Oh, wow, pretty. Nice colors that blend together. No, this is not good. You're going to kill my eyes! Okay, sorry for that harsh beginning, here goes:
You have a very cute layout with cute colors. However, the colors are all so similar that they just run together, making it extremely hard to read everything. Fixing that would be ever so simple. For example, in your blog post titles, use the hover color for the original color. It's far darker and easier to read that the original color.
Why are your navigation links larger than your site title? Prioritize! The navigation is extremely important, but the site title still needs to be larger.
I don't really have the time to review your content, but I hope my basic criticism helps a little. Good luck!
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kaykay's Response:
Thanks for the extremely helpful criticism.
I was actually thinking that the site was a bit too blue when I was coding the layout, but then I was already too far gone to really do anything XD
Yes, Lazy me.I've changed the colors of the headers and the sizes of the links and site title.
It's too bad you couldn't review my content since that's my main point, but thanks for pointing out what I needed to change :)
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