pertinacious

pertinacious

**--- (Rated by 6 people, viewed by 118 people)

I'm looking for a few tips..I don't think that it could be up to it's full potential =P

Added by daryll in Other

pertinacious has 6 Reviews

Below are the reviews left by other members on pertinacious. Jump to review form?

  1. Bexi gave it ****- on 31st Jan 2009 and said:

    First impressions -
    Good. I like the background.. Its wicked!! Your main image is very different.. I havnt seen anything like it before!! Its interesting.

    The site looks kind of emtpy.. Like not much of a blog. Its really short.. It would look better with maybe a previous blog under it?

    I hate your navigation. What whats? You have to hover over the link to see the page name.. And they do some weird jumping when you hover over them - Sorry but i dont like that at all!

    Site Section
    Its good. Not alot though is there? I like the site history part... I like reading peoples site history for some reason!
    Past layouts is good. I like how you have written about each layout, and you have the credit for each one too. Thats really good! And i really like the look of your first layout!
    Your credit section is good. Its easy to see the sites... And each section have a little sub heading, thats good.
    So, your site section is good!

    Content
    Its layed out well. Why is there no capital letters though? And on '!! EVERTHING made by me,please credit' There should really be a gap after the comma. All of your 'Graphics' content is good... Though whats the point in the 'Download buttons'? I guess they are ok for people who cant make them?... But personally i dont see the point.
    Textures and brushes are good - Could do with more brushes though. And also your 'pngs' page links back to the content page... What happened to the pngs??
    Cutenews and icon tutorials are good. Could do with some more tutorials though??

    Conclusion
    Well, overall, i like your site, but i think it could do with ALOT more content! And some capital letters at the begining of sentences.

    Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?

  2. sweetsugar gave it ***-- on 21st Jan 2009 and said:

    Hey, I'm Sugar! I'll review your site!

    Layout
    Er, intresting. Unusual. It's fine and high quality, but the background behind your site name is annoying to me. The repeating or whatever. Cool background! Maybe on your news you could use proper grammar? And I understand you want your links to go with your site.

    in
    Take a way those yellow folders, please! They don't match. If you want something there, but bullets or something. Use capital letters!
    >>Site History: Perhaps make this longer? Not bad, but you don't need to put that info about you-like your name. Put that on an 'About Me' or 'Story' page.
    >>Past Layouts: This page is well-organized.

    Japan
    Again, use capital letters and bullets! And put these in alphabetical order!
    -Graphics:
    >>Polaroids: Very good! But the last one is going off the page...?
    >>Icons: Nice!
    >>Blends: I really like them! Nicely done.
    >>Download Buttons: Not bad. You might want to type a description our of what it is on that page. Someone might try to click on the buttons. Provide more of a variety? Not much effort put into these.
    >>Banners: Very similar to blends. Good job on these.
    >>Bullets: Good. Add more kinds, though!
    -Resources:
    >>Textures: These just look like blurry photos, and the coding is messed up on that page.
    >>Brushes: Not bad, but provide more than that!
    the png link won't open
    -Tutorials:
    >>Cutenews: Fine. I don't have the time to read throught it
    >>Icons: Huh? I didn't read this either, but it looks confuzing.

    Overall
    Your site isn't that bad, but you could put more effort into it. But I would keep going, keep learning. You have a nice site; there is just a lot of room for improvement. I hope you find this helpful!

    Using MSIE on Windows | Report This?

  3. [img: avatar]
    stepherz gave it **--- on 21st Jan 2009 and said:

    Hi Daryll. I'm stepherz and will be reviewing your site today! :)

    Layout
    I'm not sure if this image actually belongs to you (Copyright violation isn't cool!), but I think that this might be a cute concept just the same. The header image seems a bit... dirty. Like you just smudged the background over and over again. Maybe try softening the background so it's not so evident and it blends better. Where's the name of your site? All I see is Street Fashion. Oh, it's in the very corner of the header. You should make your site title bigger than the other text. I like the background, but it doesn't match the rest of your site as well. Maybe make it black, or add some highlights of the same purple color into your layout. :) Maybe consider adding a footer to your site as well. :)

    I think your navigation should stand out a little more. I think CSS block navigation might look good. Tutorialtastic (http://www.tutorialtastic.co.uk/tutorial/horizontal_css_block_navigation) has a good tutorial on this and Listmatic (http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/index.htm) shows some neat things you can do with it as well. I also think using the standard 'Me, You, Site' would be better than using "i'm big in japan.' Sure it's not as original, but it's much more straight forward and less confusing.

    Content
    It's confusing knowing what links to where like I said above. I'm big links back to your blog. In is site. And Japan is goodies. Consider reorganizing the links as well. Maybe goodies first, than site, than blog.

    Site (In) - Each of these links link to a page that aren't very long. I think maybe these could be combined into just one page.
    History - Brief, not much information here. Try rereading through this page, and capitalize things correctly.
    Past - Nothing much to say. Consider using thumbnails to decrease loading time and linking the image to the bigger display so it's easier for the average visitor.
    Credits - Not much really to say. I think maybe you should reorganize it so people know where you got what. Such as brushes, photos, tutorials instead of listing but the .net or .org. That way people will be able to locate exactly which site you got that awesome brush from.

    I wish somewhere on this page you put info about your current site name. Pertinacious? Would love to know why you picked it and what it means to you. :)

    Goodies (Japan) -
    Polaroids - These are cute. :)
    Icons - Also cute, nicely made. I'm still not sure if these (or the Polaroids) actually belong to you though.
    Blends - Nice as well, but most of these pictures don't belong to you.
    Download Buttons - These seem superfluous. I think most people just use a text link.
    Banners - Nice, but I still don't think these images are yours to use.
    Bullets - Maybe add a space between the header and the images. You should add more bullets. :)
    Textures - These are nice, but there's a problem with this page. The last texture overlaps your site bar.
    Brushes - Cute. :) Maybe note what program this is for?
    PNGs - This page just takes me back to the navigation page. Get rid of links that don't exist. They needlessly take up space and confuse people (like me!)
    Cutenews Tutorials - Ooh. Cutenews is a very insecure script! No one should be using this. (http://www.jemjabella.co.uk/articles/unsafe-php-scripts).
    Icon Tutorial - I had a hard time following this. In step 8, the last text is white and hard to read. i don't know if you intended it to be hidden like it is.

    Coding
    I'm not an expert coder so I won't delve into this very deeply, but consider validating your website. It'll make your website more cross compatible in different browsers. A lot of things are simple to fix. Some things self close like:
    <br />
    <img src="home.jpg" alt="Homecoming" />

    Headers should only be used for just that, headers! Use <p> </p> instead to type paragraphs.

    Overall
    Your site has a lot of potential. Some things... just seem to be missing. I really wish you had some kind of about me or something so I could have gotten to know more about you. The navigation is confusing and doesn't stand out, so it also be difficult to locate. I think with a little more time spent you could improve your site. :)

    Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?

  4. [img: avatar]
    INSUBHAZE gave it **--- on 16th Jan 2009 and said:

    First Impression
    ummm first off what is the name of your site??? the name of your site should be bigger on your header image.... i thought the little pertinacious on the lower right hand corner was a credit mark for a minute until i realized that that is your site name....wait a minute it says your sitw name in your side bar...but for future layouts i'd suggest that you put your site name on your header image just because that's the first thing people look at...well i look at...then the background is unneccesary....i personally think you should've chosen a different background image....

    Content
    whoah whaoh whaoh where is it??? ahhh found it JAPAN....umm i like the creatiVity but i dont think people are going to want to click a whole bunch of links to get to the stuff theyre looking for...but okay here goes

    i like the polariods...but are you aware that your content goes out of the white table
    the icons are cute
    i like the blends...the hannah beth one is my favorite one >_< theyre kind of small though
    the banners are nice as well but yet again small
    umm like the textures but you should already know what im going to say about it....SMALL
    the brush pack is cute....lots of brushes in that pack good....

    Tutorials
    ummm i read the icon tutorial but i wanted to see the finished product :(
    ill give you 5 stars for the cutenews tutorials though because they are helpful especially since most people dont know how to work cutenews that well

    Overalli like the little envelopes used for your bullets >_

    Using MSIE on Windows | Report This?

  5. [img: avatar]
    Shadow gave it **--- on 10th Jan 2009 and said:

    First Impression

    We have a header here with two frumpily-dressed girls in front of a...strange background. I'm not too fond of this header, and I also don't like how "Japanese Streetfashion" is considerably larger than your site name, which is stuck at the right hand bottom side, and very hard to read. The background is okay, but not for that header. I would use that background with a different header and do away with the current one.

    The layout itself is pretty small on my resolution. Ideally, a layout can span 800px with minimum scrolling for those who use ancient resolutions (read: 800x600), and is viewable with comfort for larger resolutions. Keep in mind that there are people who use 2000000x100000 (exagerrating by the way) resolutions. A 600px layout would look like a site for ants to them.

    Blog and sidebar

    Your sidebar is small; way too small. A sidebar should be at least 200px. Your text is a bit small as well; it can be upped to 12px. However, I would suggest using em measurements. There's a great em calculator, because yes, it is very confusing to a newbie. But once you convert, you'll never go back to pixels again. Your navigation gets lost. It's boring, and the links are cryptic. If your visitors don't know what they're clicking on, they'll leave. With that being said, you should stick to "Home", "Visitor", and "Site". I would also move it up to the top outside of the sidebar, where it's more viewable.

    Like I said, your font is small, and it's very evident. You need more line height and more padding to the right at least. I hovered over your links, and I was greeted with blue. Whoa! Where did that come from. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but that needs to go away.

    The other pages

    Site: I. Hate. Pages. With. Only. Links. If the links were put with a description or something, it'd be different. But it's only links. My nose twitches and my hair itches when I see that. But in your case, that whole section can be combined into one page. The less your visitors have to click, the more they'll love you. In other words, there's not enough content in all of these pages for them to have one page each. Expand them, or combine them.

    Goodie Bag: Nice name for a page, but once again; the only links thing. But with a something like this, it's expected.

    !! EVERTHING made by me,please credit

    Everything is made by you, sure, but let's see if any of it is worth crediting.

    Ah, I like the polaroids. Those are cute. Bleh, blends. Not that they are bad, but I like to call these "walking lawsuits". What would happen if the photographers of these photos came along to your site? At the very least, a cease and desist letter would come into play. But there are people who take it to extremes. The easiest way to steer clear of any problems is to just steer clear of copyrighted images.

    Download buttons, meh. People can create their own. Same thing with the bullets.

    And if you know what's good for you--do not teach the installation of Cutenews.

    The secret to visitor content is to create something that a) everyone and their momma doesn't have on their site, and b) create stuff of your own. What do I mean by that? Photographs taken by you, illustrations made by you. Anything that you created without the help of celebrity images/copyrighted images would be great here. A good example here is Mimi. She offers a lot of goodies that she created all by hand. People go back to her site constantly because she always has something original to offer. That's the secret.

    I just noticed something. You don't have a section for yourself. Even if it was a small paragraph or whatever, I know nothing about you. You should add a little bit about yourself. What makes Daryll tick? What do you like to do in your spare time? Stuff like that.

    Coding

    10 errors, 15 warnings while running through the validator. Considering that I've seen sites with 300+ errors, this isn't bad. They are very easy to fix as well. Take the time to look through your coding and fix what they say.

    <h2> really shouldn't be used for that blurb. <h1> through <h6> tags are designated for headers, not big blocks of text. The <div align="center"> doesn't belong there. Divs can't go into <h2> tags. I would use <p> tags for the blocks of text.

    The <center> tag is deprecated. So is <u>, and <b> and <i> should be replaced with <strong> and <em>, respectively.

    I took a peek at your CSS. I would look into CSS Shorthand. It will not only shorten up your CSS, but it will make the file smaller. You have this here:

    leter-spacing: 8px;

    Several times. You don't need letter spacing 98% of the time, but even so, you spelled "letter" wrong, so even if you wanted it to work, it wouldn't. This needs some serious cleaning, so use Clean CSS to do that. Also, read up on w3schools to learn about what tags are no longer needed and the like. A bonus link: Semantic CSS Block Navigation. This is what you should look at for your navigation.

    All in all...

    Your site is promising. However, it needs a lot of work. I would start with a new layout; one that actually has your site name visible. One where the navigation is easy to see and have proper link names. Then I would move on to the other pages. Combine what needs to be combined, add some completely original things to the goodie bag, add something about yourself.

    Your coding needs a lot of help as well. Run your site through both the markup validator and CSS validator. It looks daunting, but it's not as hard as you think. Good luck!

    Using Opera on Windows | Report This?

    daryll's Response:

    thanks so much!
    I will go do everything :D
    Oh my I didn't realize i spelled letter wrong. HAHA ;p

  6. [img: avatar]
    Greykitty gave it **--- on 10th Jan 2009 and said:

    Layout
    Wow that is a trippy background, but I think it fits actually. I usually hate busy backgrounds but this one is nicely toned down so that it doesn't overwhelm the visitor. The header image is ok, but I don't really care for the font you put on it that much. I think it would look much better if you found a different font and added an effect behind it so it stands out. Right now it's not really a focus of the photo. The word "Japanese" is hard to read since you don't have a back glow to the text. The other text just doesn't really stand out at all and looks more like you didn't put a whole lot of effort or planning into making the header.

    I would also suggest making an imap for your navigation and putting it in the header, or at least overlapping your navigation text into the header. Right now where your navigation is it's way too far down the screen and had I not seen the actual text saying it was the navigation I would have never known. It's a mystery meat navigation basically, something I really dislike. If it weren't for the lower bar on firefox that tells me what the link page is called I wouldn't have the slightest clue what I am clicking on.
    It might be artistic to make navs like this but it's really inconvenient for the viewer.

    Also try to not make a rollover affect which changes the whole formatting of the page. Right now when I scroll over any of your links the page shrinks and grows. This not only doesn't look very nice it's also a bit annoying when content on a page jumps around. It makes it really hard for me to click your links.

    I would highly suggest raising the size of your font by a few points, it's really really small and I have a hard time reading it. Unless it's a link and I scroll over it, then it's a decent size. Try keeping your font, rollover or not, all one consistent size. Unless it's just header font breaking up content, but that's normal to make that stand out and a different size from the rest.

    I'm noticing you consistently do not use capitalization on your About page. This is really important, it breaks up your sentences better and makes it easier for the viewer to read, so try not to drop them.

    Now I am looking at your coding. You should check it out in the W3C validator and try to clean up some of the errors. Your CSS also comes up with a lot of errors, you can check that out here.

    I see a lot of duplicated things in your css, like for font you have each thing specified, which you could shorten it up. So instead of:
    margin: 0;
    margin-bottom: 0px;

    Drop the second like so it's just:
    margin: 0;
    Or like I see this:
    border-width: 1px;
    border-style: solid;
    border-color: #431130 ;

    and it could all be shortened to simply this:

    border-left: 1px solid #431130;

    This will help condensed your CSS a lot. If you want a good tutorial site check out Tutorialtastic. Jem has some amazing tutorials there that helped me a lot when I was first learning CSS.

    I would also suggest taking a look at her CSS navigation tutorial, it will help you get rid of that font jumping around in your nav.

    Content
    I don't see anything about you really, I see site info and that's about it. I would highly suggest adding a page just about you, your personality, likes dislike etc. Your site info is not very complete. It's 'ok' but would be nice to see it more complete and like I mentioned before...capitolize!

    Moving on to your visitor content, I'm looking at your polaroids and did you make them all? The photos and everything or did you just edit them? Because I have seen one of them on dA already. Icons...celeb images? I am not familiar with any of the people there but they look like professional photos so I am just guessing that's what they are. You should try to stay away from using copyrighted materical in your graphics. It's not only illegal but it's overdone.

    Blends are 'ok' but at first I didn't think you had anything on that page because there is a format issue with your layout and they are all placed at the very bottom of the page. You should look into that. And again try avoiding celebs.
    The rest of your free graphics are ok, but I have seen better in all honesty. I think you could try harder on your textures, at first I thought they were something else cause there's nothing really texture-ish about them.

    Please do not include links to pages that don't exists. This is pointless and therefore serves no purpose, even as a place holder. If it takes the visitor nowhere it should not be included until there is an actual page for it.
    Your tutorials are ok, but I have seen others with similar content on dozens of other sites.

    What? No links page? I thought that was pretty much standard on any site. I would suggest adding one, and then pulling all the outside links on your nav bar out and putting them on that page.
    I think I would also suggest adding a link to your blog archives somewhere just so the visitor has easy access to them.

    Overall
    Your site is OK, but there's really nothing that I would want to return for as nothing really stands out about it to me. I think you should work on your coding and definitely your content. It has potential but I think you need to put in a bit more effort for the graphic content and whatnot. Good luck with your site though! I hope this review was somewhat helpful.

    Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?

    daryll's Response:

    oh my! This is the most helpful review ever!! I'm going to do everything you mentioned, especially the navigation ;)
    And I really do see your point of view about the content, I'm going to put that under re-vamp.
    Also about the pngs, oh my :/ I need to fix up that broken link :p
    thanks so much for all of your help! I really needed it ;)

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