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Silent Storms has 5 Reviews

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

1. 

   Hannah gave it on 10th Dec 2009 and said:

   Hey Anouska! I see your site hasn't received any reviews since you posted your lovely new layout, so I'll do one for you. :)

   Purple is my second favorite color (the first being turquoise, heh). I like the photograph you used in your layout. I also really like the static effect applied to it. I gives it the feel of some place from a memory years ago, if that makes any sense. I also like the wavy block text navigation.

   I like the font choice and color of the headings. However, I don't think that the font choice for the dates of blog entries really fit. I am of the personal belief that small caps shouldn't be used in web design at all. I have never seen it used where it looked good. I would either italicize it or color it a tad bit lighter than the body text.

   I also think there should be some sort of hover effect for the links in the sidebar (fan of me, etc.).

   Moving on to your about page! I liked reading about you, as I admit I have never really taken the time to read all of your about pages. I'm glad I did. :) I have nothing to really "review" here, either.

   I like the graphics you have, especially icons. Definitely keep making more, especially more kitten icons. ;)

   I have read the code-making tutorial before, and I love it. I know lots of people will find this useful, and many from TFL already have. :)

   I have nothing to critique in the script section. I like to see new scripts from you and am hoping to see some soon!

   I have nothing much else to say. Sorry that this was really short, but I hope my few suggestions help. Keep it up! :)

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   silentstorms's Response:

   Hi Hannah!
   Thanks for your review. I've fixed the few things you've pointed out, as upon looking at them, I have to agree :) Thanks for the compliments, also!
   I really should get back into icon making, I've recently only made the grand total of 3 icons XD It's good to know I only have to keep adding stuff and there's nothing that should be removed, hopefully I'll find the inspiration to make stuff soon :D

2. 

   Greykitty gave it on 26th Jan 2009 and said:

   Layout

   Not sure if I really like these color combos. I think it's mainly because they are darker and there is nothing seperating them. The green just stops and then it's blue. I think it would look better if you added a thin border around your layout. Pull it away from the blue a little, or darken your background to around the color and darkness of that really dark cloud on the right. I can appreciate your header image a lot though. It looks really neat. I love the perspective and how the clouds all look like they are going in one direction, like they are being sucked in towards the trees.

   Your nav looks a bit out of place, I would suggest making your font a bit bigger, bolding it, and putting it into a different face. I think the highlight, scroll over color, whatever you would like to call it, is a bit too bright. Maybe use a couple shades lighter or darker rather than something uber bright. I think it would work better. Your font, for the most part, is large enough to read easily. I would suggest putting some padding ont he top of your header / title text. Give it a space of at least 20px so that they don't bump into other entries. I think you should bold or underline the links that are in your content so they stand out. At current I find it a bit hard to pick them out, and on some pages I didn't realise they were links till I started to scroll around and really read the page.

   I think you should add some more padding to the sides of your divs, the font is really really close to the edge, you do have some padding but a bit more I think would make it look nicer. I just glanced at your coding and didn't see anything to really bring to your attention so I'm not going to review that. Looks like you know your stuff. :)

   Content

   Your about page looks pretty nice. You have it organised well and there's tons of info about yourself, which I like to see. I think I would suggest removing the 'comments are closed' line from your page templates. It'd be pretty awesome to see something more about you, like what your personality is like, your beliefs maybe, if you have any that is, opinions on things wether it be something like books vrs movies or politics. Maybe add a few thoughs about the books, games, and music you have. Just a little bit more insight into who you are for those who are new to your blog.

   I'm going through your graphics now and so far I gotta say they look very nice. Good quality stuff here. I love your kitty icons. <3 ^^
   Your stock photos and textures are all pretty nice too. Only thing I suggest here is keep adding to them! :)

   Links, well those are basic and pretty much like all the other links pages out there so I have nothing to really add about it.

   Overall
   I liked your site, particularly your graphics. It would be awesome to see more, maybe some wallpapers and forum sig images. I really like that you do not use celebrity, anime, or any copyrighted images. Your blogs are ok, but I would suggest adding more in there about more than just every day going ons. Maybe a book review, movie review, or an opinion about something that is currently in the news. Just to add a bit more spice to what you already have. Keep up the nice work and good luck with the future of your site!

   UPDATED 26 Jan 09:
   Hey nice changes to the site! Only one small thing I would poke and that is your navigation, it tends to shrink a bit when you hover over anything. I think it's a padding issue. If you still have a problem after tinkering with padding try the tutorial on this site. :)

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   silentstorms's Response:

   Thank you for your review, it's helped a lot! I've darkened my background color a bit, as well as edited some other colors a little, and I moved the navigation to a sidebar.

   I've also added padding, almost everywhere. I've removed the Comments are closed thing, I hadn't noticed it myself before, but it's gone now. ^_^

   I was actually planning on writing something about my beliefs and such for my About page, and adding reviews on the books I'm reading for my 50 Books Challenge.

   Thank you for your compliments on my graphics, I can only say I do plan to keep adding to them. :D It's nice to know I'm going in the right direction.

   Also thanks for the suggestions on what to blog about, I had no idea what to do and always felt like there was nothing to tell, but reviews, opinions and such are a good idea.

   Thanks again for your review!

   UPDATED 26 Jan 09:
   Yeah, I noticed the shrinking thing... It's annoying and I played around with padding and stuff but that didn't work :( I'll see if Tutorialtastic will help :)

   UPDATED 26 Jan 09:
   It wasn't the padding, but I have added border-bottom to general links, and forgot to set the border on the nav to 0px. It's all fixed now. :)

3. shockwave gave it on 25th Jan 2009 and said:

   Hey, I'm Allie, and I will be reviewing your site today. :)

   Site Name // URL
   Easy to remember; not too long, and not too short either. :)

   First Impressions
   The first thing I notice are the colors. They are a bit gloomy; maybe that's a good thing considering your site name is Silent Storms. XD

   Layout[/i]
   Nice color scheme, but maybe it could use a bit brightening up. It gives off a gloomy vibe, if you get what I mean. I like the navigation, the green contrasts against the blue, and you can clearly see it above the picture. It's big and bold, staring you right in the face. XD I like the picture you chose for your header; it fits your site name perfectly.

   Content
   --Homepage: The page is very long; the scroll bar goes down for quite a bit. I suggest you don't show as many blog entries as you do now.
   --About: Nothing much to discuss here.
   --Buttons: You have nice templates and backgrounds. However, they're all the same and very plain. You should add more variety to it! :D
   --Icons: I clicked on icons and it took me to another sub page. Instead of having multiple sub pages, you should just list all the types of icons in the content section so you save time and space. The icons are cute, very bright against your dark layout.
   --Stock Photography: You have some nice photography here. People can actually use these. I might even use something, too! :D
   --Textures: I don't really get the difference between icon textures and large textures, but okay. Some of the textures might be a bit too big, though.
   --Links: Basically just your credits and affiliates and/or friends.

   Organization // Creativity[/i]
   Your site is very organized. However, you are lacking some content and you should really add more. Maybe a few tutorials? Most of what you have is pretty generic, you would find them on many graphic sites.

   Overall Comment
   Your site could use a bit of work, maybe add a few more stuff here and there. :D I hope this review helps!

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   silentstorms's Response:

   Thanks for your review, it helped me quite a bit!

   I've changed the colors, but nothing bright, really. My previous theme was really bright, white with lime green, it was a bit too bright. I like my current theme a lot better now that I've changed the colors a bit though. I may do something brighter and happier again next time. ;)

   I've changed the amount of blog posts it shows to three, it was a bit too long indeed.

   I will be adding more to the buttons, I haven't really made any new ones in forever! I really should.

   Thanks for the compliments on my graphics, it's nice to know people like them! I use a script for the icons, I prefer keeping it that way. It used to be useful to have these categories as I used to have a lot, but I took down all celebrity icons a few days ago, so there's just not much right now, but I'm fairly certain it will get fuller some time soon, and then it'll be helpful to have the categories. If I don't add new ones soon, I will be reconsidering though. :)
   Icon textures are 100x100 pixels, meant to use for making icons, the larger textures can be used for any kind of larger graphic, like wallpapers, site headers, blends, and such. I like having them big, so they can be used for big graphics, or resized to fit medium-sized graphics, so I will not be changing that.

   I've recently removed quite a bit of stuff (wallpapers, layout templates and tutorials) because I used celebrity images mostly. So there's not much right now, I do plan on keeping adding stuff. it's nice to know I'm going in the right direction. :)

   Thanks again for your review!

4. 

   wiwaneko gave it on 24th Jan 2009 and said:

   First Impression/Layout
   I love the header image! Really nice. I'm not sure about the green, but it works okay. I like how the menus and everything else is set up, and the text is legible, unlike some sites. Your headers don't stand out enough, maybe make the color of the text to something like your background color? You also need more padding...everywhere.
   4.5/5

   About Section
   Standard - I like Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton, too. I'm kind of conservative, but only when it comes to sexual things. :D I'm an immature 15 year old, so whatever. Anywaaay, I really like the page about your mental state; I plan on being a psychiatrist. I went through a lot of stuff, too, such as self mutilation. I don't think you're psychotic; I think some people are born with different senses to things. I don't know, I'm weird. I really like how you came up with Silent Storms. I feel the same way sometimes, because I'm also shy.
   5/5

   Graphics Section
   Wow. Beautiful. I saved almost all of your icons. How do make them so beautiful?! I'm about to go and delete all of mine, now. o_O Now I know what great graphics look like. Everything else is really cute, too. Gosh, I love it all!
   5/5

   Conclusion
   I didn't see anything wrong with your site; I'll definitely be coming back! Great job! The only thing you should change is maybe the header colors and the padding.
   Site rating: 4.5/5

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   silentstorms's Response:

   Thank you for your review, and the compliments! ^_^

   I've now added some padding almost everywhere and tweaked the colours a little bit. Thank you very much for the compliments on my content, it's nice to know I'm going the right way!

5. 

   Erin gave it on 24th Jan 2009 and said:

   First Impressions: Very subdued color scheme, which is easy on the eyes. The header image and the colors seem to match the name, “Silent Storms.” Boring font for the title, though. And I see that the text is squished up against the sides of the container.

   Overall Design: The biggest problem is that you have no padding. The text is jutting up to the edges of its space, and it needs room to breathe. You also need some space between your headings and your text. One blog goes right up against the top of the heading for the next blog. Add some space to show the separation between separate things. In the welcome bar, you need a greater line height. I’m noticing that the text on one line is almost overlapping the next, especially in the Currently Reading section where there is bold text. Your footer text is too small. You have space in your footer to go up a size or two in that text. Again, increase the line height here.

   As for your header image, you’ve chosen a very boring font for your site name, and it’s not used very creatively, either. The name is the focal point of the image, so you want it to be worth looking at. The placement and the color are fine, but there are lots of fonts out there that would work so much better and would pull the whole image together. Right now, it’s just an italicized font.

   I would also like to suggest that you move your navigation to below the header image. When it’s at the top, the eye immediately skips over it and goes to the image because that’s the most interesting part of the whole layout. Also, it gets annoying to have to scroll all the way back up to the very top of the page to find the navigation again once you browsed to the end of a page.

   Blogs: They’ve got enough substance to them, and the grammar is mostly fine. (You don’t seem to like to punctuate when you use smilies. They are not a substitution for a period.) You seem to use a lot of ellipses (…) which is kind of strange to me. It makes it sound like you’re pausing a LOT, and that reads awkwardly and unnaturally.

   About: I would suggest that you make your page headings more distinguished from your in-page subheadings. They are almost identical except for a slight size difference. Try to better differentiate them by changing the color or the font of the overall page heading.

   The Girl – Concise introduction with pages to lead us to more information.
   - Basics: Everything is in list format, which is kind of boring and almost seems lazy, in my opinion. The best way to display information is in a variety of formats – lists, paragraphs, and images – any combination of those. I also noticed that you capitalize each item in the series for all of your lists. Not only is this improper English, but also it makes it harder to read, especially when the items in your lists are only one word each (e.g. Fanlistings; Webdesign; Books; Reading). Instead, you should capitalize only the first item in the list and leave all the rest lowercase, unless it is a proper noun, such as a name or a title. Also, each item should be separated by a comma (,) instead of a semicolon (;). The only time you use semicolons to separate items in a series is when the individual items have commas in the phrase. (For instance, if you wrote, “My favorite movies are Definitely, Maybe; Monsters, Inc; and Crash,” you would use semicolons because the titles themselves have commas within them.)
   - Mental – It’s great that you have the courage to talk about your personal struggles with your visitors. I think that it’s empowering for you, and it may even inspire those who are struggling with similar issues to get help too.
   - Ask Me Something – Pretty standard Q&A page.

   I also noticed that you have “Comments are closed” at the bottom of every page. Were comments previously open, or are comments open on any page? I have yet to go through all of the pages, so I don’t know if my question will be answered, but it seems odd to me that you have this message on every page so far.

   The Site – Pretty standard site information. There needs to be a space between “Domain Registrar” and “GoDaddy.” Also, are there more credits involved in the makings of the site? All you have listed are Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and FileZilla. Did you take the photo in your header? What about in the icons that you described in your blog? Weren’t those contributors involved in the creation of the site?

   Graphics: Again, the “Comments are closed” message. Is there a way you can get rid of this? It seems unnecessary. Obviously comments are closed if there is no way for us to comment.
   Buttons – Pretty basic, which I guess is the point. I suppose these could be useful for those who don’t have graphics programs of their own. You have a nice variety.
   Icons
   - New – These are great! The coloring is nice, and it’s good that you don’t use copyrighted celeb images like a lot of sites still do. I hope to find the credit for these photos somewhere, because they weren’t on your About page.
   - Flowers and Animals – Same as what’s on the New page. I suppose as you add more, the New page will be useful as will the subcategories.
   Stock Photos – These are really nice. Seeing as it’s more of a resource for visitors to use as opposed to a gallery or portfolio, having all of them open in a new window is fine. Otherwise, I would have suggested something like Lightbox to display them, but this method is better for the purposes your photos serve.
   Textures – These are great, too! You have a nice amount, and they’re all good, so you’re not sacrificing quality for quantity here. Good.

   Links: Here are your credits! I think these would better fit on your About page with the rest of the information about what you used to create your site. Other than that, this page is pretty standard. Nothing much to say about it.

   Overall: You have some nice resources to offer visitors, and it’s definitely worth coming back for more. You could work on spacing your text out, adding padding, and styling your headings better. I enjoyed viewing your site, and I think there is a whole lot of potential here. Good job!

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   silentstorms's Response:

   Thank you very much for your review, it helped a lot!

   I have edited the header image, as well as the rest of the layout, to move the navigation into a sidebar instead, and add some padding to erm, everything. I've also changed the color for the subheadings in pages.

   I have removed the Comments are closed thing. I never really noticed it myself, which I find weird, but it's gone now.

   It's nice to know I'm going the right way with my graphics, I just need to keep adding but I'm glad there's nothing I should remove. :)

   I will be working on the pages now. Thanks again for your review!

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