Doxycide has 8 Reviews
Below are the reviews left by other members on Doxycide. Jump to review form?
Kirah gave it
on 16th Apr 2009 and said:kay so I know I'm not the only person who probably looked at your site name and said wtf is that, and what does this have to do with Harry Potter? I had to do some Google searching to find that doxycide was something used in the HP books to stun doxies. Maybe add the definition of doxycide somewhere to your website?
I'm not a fan of looking at Rowling's tits, and the colors of the layout don't match up to her dress as much as I'd like them to. The extra white space at the top drives me crazy, even though I have a large screen, I hate scrolling that extra little bit. I do like the general idea of the layout though.
I just noticed my browser blocked a popup from your site. Thanks, but I'd rather not see ads for "Women Seeking Men" near me. If I wanted to look at ugly half naked women who advertise themselves as "needing freaky sex", I would go to a porn site. Your audience is probably under the age of 18, think of what your viewers want to see..
Your site does look cluttered, the sidebar isn't easy on the eyes. There isn't enough of a difference between the color you're using for your links, header text, and the background color. The spacing between headers is really funky, even that out a bit more. You have room to have two 88x31 buttons next to each other, stacking them on top of each other looks kinda icky. If you're insisting on stacking them, give them some padding so they aren't right on top of each other.
I suggest putting the links to all the sites that are reviewing you on their own page, they take up a bit of space. Or maybe just list three or so, and have a view all link.
I'm not a huge fan of the graphics, using celebrity images is not my cup of tea, but others have already mentioned that so I won't get into it.
I've noticed you have all your pages in the same directory, with the category name in front of the files name ("fun_whatvever.php"), I think using folders is a much easier thing to do.
The "fun" section is all about Wizard Rock, you might as well just change the section name to Wizard Rock.
I really don't like your bullets, they don't match the layout at all. I like seeing websites that make an effort to have everything look good, and the bullets just stick out and look really bad.
In your affiliates section, I'd be pissed if I was in the group of websites who you only show on the affiliates page. I've been out of the website thing for awhile, but that's kinda frustrating for other people if they're displaying your link all over their website and you only have it on one page. Add their links to the sidebar, how many hits do you seriously get to that page that even makes you think they'll get hits from being linked there? Most people rarely bother to look at an actual affiliates page. If you don't want to have a million links, make it an image/link rotation. I don't understand why you have an affiliates page, and then an affiliates application page with all the same content as the affiliates page. Take one down.
You're using this as sort-of a personal site. When I go to a fan site, I don't care what's going on in the owners life or why you aren't updating constantly. An occasional "Hey, I'm working on stuff, don't think I've abandoned this site." is okay, we don't expect constant updates.
You mentioned a podcast, you should add a link to that somewhere on the site other than in your updates, it will get noticed a bit more and will be easier for visitors to find once the link in the update gets pushed down a bit.
As a fan site, you should update a bit on current Harry Potter news.. I'm not up on whats going on in the HP world, I was kinda looking forward to updates on the new movie, the cast, etc., that's sorta what I'm used to seeing on fan sites.
I've only seen one article about the HP cast, and you didn't link your source ):. Create a category for all your updates that contain articles, so people don't need to search through your updates. I just saw that you guys sorta use categories, make more use of them! And make the archives page easier to find, I didn't even notice the link for awhile.
Also, your Next/Previous links are backwards and confused me, I can't be the only one who got confused for a second.
Your coding isn't very good. <h4> is not a substitute for <p>. I noticed in one of your updates you were looking for xhtml tutorials, you should learn more on the html basics first.
In all honesty, I wouldn't have stuck around as long as I did if I wasn't here to review you. There's nothing that makes me want to stay for more than 5 minutes. You need much more content for more groups of visitors.
Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
tcaesar gave it
on 2nd Apr 2009 and said:i have no idea why i dont like it but in terms of design i thought it was boring
your color pallet is pretty bland. you might want to try expanding your use of color a little bit
also they layout of the page is pretty basic
maybe you could try adding some other areas and sections to your site
upon my first impression i also had a hard to figuring out what it was aside from just a personal page
try studying modern design layouts a bit more and attacking the page with a new color palatt that is more than just two colors. =) cheers
Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/reeshas.jpg)
reeshas gave it
on 1st Apr 2009 and said:Hey there, I’ll be reviewing your site today, alright, first the names kind of cool but I don’t know how to pronounce it and if I ever wanted to refer the site url, I most likely won’t be able to remember it. dox-i-side but not sure really. Anyways, I like the style of the layout, the strong green horizontal bar says LOOK AT ME! And the bottom one looks pretty good as is scroll down. Now the picture you used. Uhh she looks like of sick or anorexic to me. Ehh not sure if that’s really a good picture but whatever, it matches your layout so I guess it’s pretty clever how she comes out of the picture frames. So currently I’m on the HOME page. I’ll review all the pages one by one, what I like to do, is give you my opinion on the site and what I’m used to, you can either apply that helpful info or just disregard it as trash, either way, I don’t care. I like to judge on what I see but the lack of as well. If you don’t have something I really like on sites. Then I comment on it and score lower. Alright, so far, I like the colors and how the structure is, but I really hate the font because I can’t view it on my screen! People really need to start making layouts that are visible for larger screens, but it’s alright, I use small font just to mess with viewers too xD alright the welcome note isn’t at all clear, its blurring and the font you happen to use for it is kind of thin and doesn’t appear very strong against the pale green. You could have used that darker shade of green instead of that white. Another thing I wish would happen is when I hover over your links; they’d change colors or have some glow effect. But nothing, it’s like an image layout which isn’t that crazy now a day. I just want to comment quickly on the top the tag name at the top: that name is too long and exceeds my tag. It should just say Doxycide! And not that other stuff, plus, you added your link in there like we don’t know how to read your address bar. A Potter Fans Paradise…..i have no idea what that means, and oddly, I don’t think I want to know xD its strange how you ordered your menu on the side and on top, cuz normally I’d go from top to bottom, but here, I’m starting from bottom to top. Sstttrrannngeeee…
HOME: the side info is alright I guess nothing too fancy or out of place. I just don’t like the placement of your Ad. At the very top uhhh seems like you’re a pop-up site. Advertising some game I think. You could add that to the bottom of your page rather than the top. The site and layout info are kind of confusing if you ask me, and people say I have a confusing navigation… you have more Ads I think with that win a domain banner and the one below it. Wow, you advertise a lot of sites! Lol, my affils and I call these types of sites Adwore xD don’t take it personally, it’s just something that makes us laugh. I like your elite images, they’re cute and BUT sadly, they don’t work, I think you need to do a major AFFILIATE CHECK, some of these sites are gone. Alright same goes for TOP affils. Uhh the last image is broken as well and leads me to: http://www.doxycide.net/404.php...uhh very bad form of a 404 page. Really, I think you can do better, say, 404, this page doesn’t work. An image would help; a little comment on the top doesn’t grab my attention right away. Since you already have so many affils, and you categorize them like they’re color, I don’t think I’d want to affiliate with this type of site in particular to its tastes and original capabilities. As for support, it’s cool; you could add a break between the Harry Potter banner and the REVIEWED BY heading. Wow, this is really really disappointing; you have so many site reviewing you it’s not even funny when I say “review ME freak.†I mean really, alright, so you get all these reviews done, do you actually take their advice or just toss it out the window, these people take up their time to give you a good worthy review and you might not even read it! Just scan it and just thank them for all they said. I’m not sure if you do this but that is how I know it works out to be. I stopped giving reviews to sites like this but I didn’t notice you had this huge list. I feel like I should be really mean towards the rest of the review but I’ll try to stay calm. Some of these sites don’t work; others already completed your review, so move on already! Very UNCOOL. So the home page blogging is alright too I guess. I really feel put down right now. I like your smileys and the headings.
FUN: it says COMING SOON! But when I click the link, there’s stuff already on it. Alright, the history is really strange I don’t understand what you’re talking about. These interviews make my head spin….really lost and dizzy. I like the arrows though.
GRAPHICS: wow, uhh not so much icons or sigs, but I see a good collection of signs which ALL LINK TO THE SAME PAGE?! So like why’d you separately link them? My icons and avatars lead to the same page also, but I linked them together to show people hey, these are on the same page. You could just make one link that says: closed, closing, and enter signs. Not impressed at all, I don’t know how long the sites been open, but I think if a site has staff, they should be able to pull off a few dozen avatars and sigs in a week.
COMPETITIONS: I see a pop-up appear. EW. This page isn’t half bad, pretty detailed and basic contests. I see you failed to provide decent info though, as to when it’ll start, how long the contest will last, if you’ll judge or staff or maybe it’ll be voting, no banners to link to, or any strict rules. Ehh, not that interesting either since they’re common contests done by every site. These used up contests lack creativity.
DOXYCIDE: finally, I click on the first link. And the first link is more Ad related… next, we have affiliates which I can’t believe you categorize affils?! They’re all the same silly. How can you say I like this site or person more so I’ll make them top and she’s just a regular affil. That makes no sense, they are ALL JUST AFFILS! So confused, it’s like your discriminating against these sites and owners. Apply is the same page, cut that page in half and have the top linked to affils, and the bottom linked to Apply. I like the contact page cuz you have your email typed out, but a little form wouldn’t hurt either, you can find out more from a form than an email. And again, more pop-ups. the credits page is nice because you explained sort of what the site is about. But the hover links, see hover links are supposed to stand out when I hover over them, here, they turn white and disappear. That’s the opposite of standing out. Some of your link backs are broken…check it out, but nice banners, good quality. And the staff page which should have been the second link on this page under info on the Site which I don’t see any. You have a little list of site info, but you don’t have more detailed info on the site…ok. Profiles aren’t bad, pretty good in length and info. On staff application, I see there are some strange site positions I’ve never heard of or have seen on your site. I didn’t find a gallery page so I guess you’re waiting for someone to take up all that responsibly, I have a gallery and it’s a lot of work. News poster… you mean updates, doesn’t the owner do that anyway. Uhh homepage master…this staff page is a sorry excuse to add people to a declining site. And the explanations provided under these job descriptions are awful. People who make good homepages and stuff with backgrounds and such…ummm WHAT?!
i give my opinion on what i see, i don't snoop around your codes cuz i hate doing that. so what is the lack of or could end up giving you a bad score: Spelling errors, grammar mistakes, messy pages, broken links, over use of links, bad hover links, awful descriptions as if a 12 year old opened this site last week, all the menus and navigations disorganized and linked back and forth. Just not planned out. I came to the site with high hopes. But man, you proved me wrong. I don’t really feel welcomed either, more like do it yourself kind of deal here. how might you fix this...redo! redo!
*sign* thanks for reading, good night.
Using MSIE on Windows | Report This?
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/katili.gif)
katili gave it
on 22nd Mar 2009 and said:// Layout
Nothing about this layout says "Harry Potter fansite" to me, at all. I wouldn't have even known that was the author in a (rather unfortunate) evening dress has I not read it in some other reviews. There are certain types of sites where the layout needs to match the content, and fansite is one of them.
Your navigation is somewhat broken; when I hover over one of the top links, it highlights HOME before the link I'm actually on. Also, why on earth is the first link a link to the sites information? On a fansite, the backend workings of the domain is the last thing I care about; it shouldn't be the first link.
The white is hard to read on that light green sidebar and header; hard enough that I didn't even bother to try to read it. I hope it didn't say anything important.
I do like the buttons for the nav though; I just wish they worked right. The font you've used for the title is nice, too. The color scheme overall is good, except for the white text. White text is almost never appropriate for anything longer (and smaller font size) than a title/header.
// Content
Nothing even remotely inspiring here. The graphics are all rather boring. I might be more amused by the contests if they were more challenging. The "Fun" section wasn't that fun. And I don't feel like I've found anything to use in my "fandom".
// Originality
My general feeling about fansites is that they're pretty much all the same with few exceptions, so I'm not going to dock any points here.. but since I didn't find anything special I'm not going to give any, either.
//Overall
I think you have a good start here, but the site just needs a LOT more. The most complete section is the "advertising" and "affiliates" which is a dumb reason to go back to a site. The graphics are dull, the content is lacking, and the only reason I spent as long on this site as I did is because I was reviewing it.
Make a relevant layout (with proper code), add more (quality) content, and it would be worth visiting a second time.
Using Firefox on Mac | Report This?
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Vera.jpg)
Vera gave it
on 22nd Mar 2009 and said:Nothing gets me in a reviewing mode more than a butt hurt response (to another review). Haven't you lucked out today? *cue toothy grin*
Now before you go on a rampage about all my shortcomings I'd like to make a few things clear:
I'm a big Harry Potter fan.
I've seen quite a few Harry Potter fan sites (and fan sites of other stuff too). Some I've even liked.
... and that should suffice for now.= First Impression =
---------------------------------------
Precisely because I've seen a lot of Harry Potter fan sites, seeing JK Rowling in a revealing evening dress does not really tell me that this is a Harry Potter fan site. My most prominent thought is: "I can see Rowling's breasts!". I'd expect to see a picture of Harry Potter, or an important scene from the books.Passing through that, the layout is rather dull. It starts way too low, and since my attention span is rather low... Ah well, I could make a bit of an effort, I guess.
= Presentation =
---------------------------------------
Generally, I tend to advise people to center layouts, and put their headers' focal point in a place where it draws enough attention. I generally tend to look at the top of my browser window, towards the center. In your site's case, I'm greeted with blank white space. I feel somewhat disappointed, same way as I feel frustrated when I click on a link only to get to a completely blank page. Well, thankfully, this is not the case here, but I don't get too excited upon seeing the rest of the layout.The multiple faded photograph edges around JK Rowling are a nice touch... but don't really match with the rest of the layout. It looks like you tried to achieve this feel of old fairytale type of layout, you worked hard on the container of the header image... but your enthusiasm lasted only for so long.
Having a stark white background is never a good choice. Sure, dark text on light background is always preferred to the opposite. Nevertheless, white is an extremely "harsh" color (well... ok non-color), which tends to draw a lot of attention to itself. I'd advise some shade of cream with a really light pattern, instead, to soften the effect.
The green-blue-ish shade you used (for the background) looks quite out of place. This particular color is of a rather artificial nature (not really found as such in real life). It really doesn't match with the "naturally" aged photograph edges that go around JK Rowling. More importantly though, the text which is on the header and sidebar can barely be read. I suggest you bold it, my eyes just keep sliding over them.
Your site title is not the best idea either, though it does have a clever sound to it. Doxys are creatures dwelling in dusty abandoned places, right? Doxycide brings to mind some form of pesticide... not exactly something I'd think of associating with a fan site. It makes me think of some infestation. Then again, maybe most people don't really get things the way I do....
And that's about it. You have an interesting element in your header, however badly positioned and not very well integrated within the site. Mostly your site's layout just looks extremely rushed and gives a general feel of "I really wanted to get this over with".
Fairytale feel type of layout aren't that many, so some of these may not really seem relevant. Still they try to maintain a consistent feel, and don't mix two very different styles:
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
http://www.dragonrain.com/designs/preview/dividers/Amano-Yushitaka-Artworks/Fairytales/
http://www.dragonrain.com/designs/preview/tables/Otohiko-Takano-Artworks/Random-Scribbles/
http://celestial-star.net/layouts/preview/604/= Content =
---------------------------------- Home -
Your welcome message is too long, too bright in color (I had to squint to read it), and could be better formulated.
For example:
Doxycide is here to fulfill all you Harry Potter related need. Be it information about the books, actors, movies, challenges or custom graphics, you can find them all here.Regarding the affiliate offer, that is not relevant to the site presentation. I'm assuming the site's purpose doesn't include affiliation. Besides, why would you affiliate with just any site. The verb to affiliate means "to associate with", so unless the site in question also has something to do with Harry Potter, I don't see why you would "affiliate" with them. Sure, you might not accept all offers, however this is what I understand from your introduction.
Your news seem fine, although some additional styling for the comment link, the search form wouldn't go amiss.
Now your sidebar... is full of completely useless stuff. This type of sidebar was the height of "coolness" about 4-5 years ago when displaying every single relevant and irrelevant link to cliques, fanlistings was deemed vital. Now, as fan site that claims to cater to such a large range of needs, I don't see why you would need to pepper your sidebar with ads (and I'm not referring to the Google ones here).
Let's take it stepwise:
- first two "categories" on your sidebar advertisements. These past two weeks I've been requited to work with a designer for a radio station's website layout. That site, made most of its profit from advertising. Nevertheless Google ads, or banners of other companies/products were the LAST thing on their sidebar. Similarly, THIS site is a fan site for Harry Potter, so why do you start out with ads as the top information on your sidebar. Are you that desperate to send your visitors away. Oh, and I'm using AdBlock Plus, so I only see the headings... so I imagine that others who see the actual advertisements might be easily ... distracted, so to say.- site info - is this SO important that you need to display it on the front page? Sure, it's pertinent information for an about page, but not even there should it be the first thing mentioned.
- layout info - yet again, irrelevant.
Let me give you a clearer example: You have to introduce yourself to a large audience on a stage.
Do you go out there and start explaining how Calvin Klein designed your clothes, or where you bought the wood necessary to build the stage? Normally you'd tell them who you are, what you do and why they should listen to you.Making a parallel with your site: you should present them Harry Potter related information. As much as this might hurt your ego, your identity should be one of the least important things on this site. Just go to The Leaky Cauldron or Mugglenet. Do you see Melissa or Emerson start off by making a huge deal of introducing themselves? Or do you feel that your person is so important that nobody could possibly permit him/herself to overlook you? Make a personal site of Doxycide instead.
Moving on, to the rest of the info on the sidebar....
- win a domain. Highly relevant HP related... oh wait, never mind.- affiliates - yes, send your visitors away, good tactic
- support - see above.
- reviewed - and this is relevant because...? I mean, to regular visitors who want to find out more about Harry Potter.
- disclaimer - missing the verb. This site is not -what- by the actors?Conclusion: you have a sidebar that contains a lot stuff which is not at all related to Harry Potter information (supposedly) found on this site. Shouldn't you... change things a bit? Ah, well it's probably just me expecting you to make sense... meh, overrated.
- Doxycide -
Hm... yeah, first thing that people want from a fan site is... background information about how this site came to be. Content is probably overrated anyway. Ah but let's see what we can get here. Oh look, Firefox prevented a pop-up from showing. Things get more promising the minute I go further in.So... first link "advertise". Of course, most important to send your visitors elsewhere. Incidentally the JavaScript-powered back forward links are a bad idea. Some people might not get to these pages from your site, but rather from a search engine, or someone linking them from a forum. In that case, these links would send them back to said places. Consider putting links to the actual pages you mean them to go.
Second link - affiliates, right one link to send visitors away was not enough. Need to have another.
Apply to be an affiliate - because for some reason, one page is not enough for these. Ah the rules... remind me of my anime graphics making days. Everyone was so eager to lay down all these rules. Love rule number 6, what exactly is it you mean by it,by the way?
"If you have claim something made by someone else is made by you then don't even bother to apply."
How about "Don't claim others' work as your own"? Too straight-forward? Well true, some people might actually get it the first time they read stuff.
Oh rule 7 is interesting: "I will accept any type of site. It does not have to be Harry Potter related." Are you that desperate to be linked? I thought (from the responses of the previous reviews) that LOTS and LOTS of people visited (and liked) your site. Guess not, or... well no I don't get why you'd accept stuff not related to Harry Potter and claim that is associated to your site. Yeah, like I mentioned before, affiliates are associated to your site (implicitly your site's content). Then again, so far I only noticed a lot of advertising going on, so... right right, have yet to get to the "good part" right?.Oh and the grand finale" 8. Don't type lyke dis" and then "Thats it!" So no "sticky caps", but incorrect grammar is fine. Ah well, can't expect too much, or people'll get all inhibited or something.
Contact, credits, links and... oh finally Staff and staff application.
Ok, now seriously: put things closely related to each other in the same (sub)section. For example: even though you use two pages for affiliates and affiliate application, you should put the link inside the affiliate page.Owner... co-owner... you DO realize that these two basically mean the same thing? I mean if you co-own something it means that both of you are on the same level, but oh be my guest if you want to boast your superior rights. I'd comment more about your self description, but you know I cam here to review a fan site... and well somehow I still didn't get to actually see real "fan site" content... so I guess this'll have to do. For the record: I was bored to death by it. Lucky you, the site's not about you.
- Competitions -
It's um... well the titles are not very promising, but hey maybe they're not all that bad....
Well that's ... erm... unexpected. See? When I see the title Blends, I expect to see some pictures where stuff from multiple other pictures is put together. Instead I get 3 lines of text and some haloscan comments. Same for the rest... and here I thought I could finally get to the content. Guess today's not my lucky day?- Graphics -
What did you use to make these things? Their quality is atrocious? Please upgrade to GIMP, I know Paint probably comes with your OS... but still. The image quality is really bad.
And what did you do to poor Evanna Lynch in that avatar? I hope she never sees it, she'll be having nightmares for the rest of her life. :- Fun -
Oh finally, I was waiting for it. Though just one link is kind of disheartening...
Erm... I don't suppose you could provide some songs of these bands. Well it's good that you have a history, although it doesn't really tell me much. And well, interviews are kind of uninteresting if I don't even know what these bands sound link.... and that seems to be all.
Now, your introductory message (present on every single page) said something about information about the actors, finding out more about my favorite characters... Where's all that?You say you don't want to compete with other fan sites, well I say that's good, because you don't seem to have much of a content. So it wouldn't be much of a competition anyway. At most this site can be cataloged as a mediocre Harry Potter graphics resource. And even that seems to take up a secondary place to advertising.
= Coding =
-----------------------------
Lucky you, I don't care if your code is valid or not (you can check this yourself). However I do care that is makes sense.
Well things look viewable in Firefox, so that's a plus... but let's see what's behind.
Image map... where you could have used CSS (position and background, and use a vertical block CSS navigation), inline CSS and external stylesheet, a lot of anchors and line breaks... instead of using lists. Well at least you use heading tags... in place of paragraphs too...
<h4>
By: Susanna<br>
Featuring: J.K. Rowling<br>
Up since: March 15, 09<br>
Program: Macromedia Fireworks<br>
Pictures: <a target="_blank" href="http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/defaultt">Leaky Cauldron</a><br><br></h4>
A word of advice: if you open a tag inside another one, than you should close it inside it as well. You have a closing center and h4 tag closed outside the div tag, which you opened them in.
And your coding ends with:
</div></html></body></h3></h3>
That's... normal coding? I see, well I guess I should brush up on my skills then. Incidentally, which article claims this type of thing as normal?
Score: 1/5
Your site shows up in Firefox, and I like the faded pictures.
Advice for the future: well it would be nice to see more Harry Potter related things, but well turning this site into an advertising site could also work. And maybe reading up on copyright laws, every single image you use is done so illegally. But well, I think deciding on the content of this site is probably a more pressing matter... as far as you're concerned.Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
Olivia gave it
on 21st Mar 2009 and said:Heya, I'm going to have a stab at reviewing your site. I'm not a designer or coder, I look more at content, but here goes!
First Impressions
Doxycide certainly stands out to me as it doesn't particulary shout out 'Harry Potter fansite'. I hope to discover why this is! As for the layout, I do quite like it. Is there any chance you can move the google ad to the bottom of the sidebar? I think it's better for visitors to see site information first, rather than having to scroll.
Being nit picky here, but the posts on the main page are hard to read due to the fact that each sentance starts on a new line. I also notice that your updates are very unstructured, as in you type whatever comes out of your head. 'I don't know what else to put... oh yes, I've also added...' etc doesn't have quite the right affect on a visitor - it makes me feel like this is more of a personal site rather than a reliable Harry Potter source, if that makes sense! Telling the visitor you have a lot of work to do on the site isn't very uplifting - focusing on what you have updated about gives a much more positive attitude to the site!
About the disclaimer, Shroom is quite right (the reviewer before me) when they say that the disclaimer is not as affective as it could be. The disclaimer suggested below is perfect, so replace it asap!
Oh, your link to the Leaky Cauldron where you credit where you got your layout image from leads me to a 404 perhaps you should change that.
Doxycide
I do find it odd that Doxycide is your first link in the navigation - I mean it would make sense if you were explaining the site name (I definitely think it's a paragraph needed somewhere on the site!). It's strange that the first thing you present to your visitors is not what you say you're offering (everything for your Harry Potter needs) but your affiliates and applications to advertise. To give the POW factor your first offering to the visitor needs be something they want to read/see, and in this case it's the low down on Harry Potter (although if they were really Harry Potter fans they'd know all the basics anyway!).
So... perhaps either turn this site section in to something more interesting to read or move it to after all the main content. Before all the links to credits, staff, affiliates you should perhaps add a little paragraph including why you names the site Doxycide, what you aim with the site, and your email address for contact. A whole link to a whole page purely for one line saying 'use this email to contact me' is a bit of a waste so why not put it into one readable paragraph? Same with the affiliates - affiliates, application could all be on one page. Instead of loads of links it'll look really organised!
This is basically my opinion on 'job openings' on sites, but I'm not saying you have to remove it or whatever.
We need people to add images into the Coppermine Gallery. When I get enough of these I will add it up. If you are interested, maybe you could even be Gallery Boss! You get to organise the gallery, and basically be the gallery master!
Oooh, lucky them! They even get to be in charge of your gallery! My view point on this is that it's your site, and it's your job to get everything ship shape to how you like it - getting other people to help you before you have even established a successful site isn't really on. Why not you be the one to write all your articles? Be the graphics master? Gallery manager? 'Just to show you are not lazy e-mail ...' makes me laugh because I think you're the one that's being lazy. I think you should build the site up yourself first.
Competitions and Graphics
I quite like these competitions, they're a lot of fun. I do find it odd that for both the icon and blend challenge the link to comments sends me to the same haloscan comments page. Why not have seperate comment pages? This is a cute section, but the only way they can really be successful is if there's a lot of entries, so you have to be careful of what's going to popular or not.
The graphics are a good addition for who you're aiming your site at, but I personally wouldn't use them. You have another issue of image copyright (as there is with all graphics!) so it might be a good idea in credits to recognise all the image sources you'd have got these images from. Not fan site galleries, but the companies like Warner Bros, Getty Images, Rex Images etc and all the websites you get editoral images from.
Fun
Wizard Rock? What is that? Before you present the interviews and history you really need a brief paragraph giving an explanation to the concept - it would really help!
Overall to label your site as 'A Potter Fans Paradise' (fans needs to be fan's by the way) would be .. well.. wrong. That title makes me assume the site is a great resource for all things Harry Potter and really you're a interactive fun place for Harry Potter fans. That's a strength and I think you should perhaps build on that.
Final Comments
It's a cute little site. But if I wasn't reviewing you I would have exited pretty quickly, just because I know alot of other Harry Potter sites with more content. My advice would be to think about your visitor and what they want to see - are you going to develop a Harry Potter information section about characters, shipping and the book info? Or are you going to focus on being very interactive with discussions and competitions? If you're going to do both why not create a listing section to list all the different character ships and their seperate fanlistings.
Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/shroom.jpg)
shroom gave it
on 21st Mar 2009 and said:Hi, Shlesha! Okay, to start off, I would like to just say that your name is so cool! If it's your real name, it's so lovely. Anyway, I will be reviewing you today in Firefox on Windows XP.
As a fansite, when I first enter, something should pop out to me in order to make me want to stay. I don't seem to get that when entering your site. Overall, the whole site looks a little messy and unorganized.
I will say that I like the fact that you have J.K. Rowling on your header rather than the characters. It's always good to appreciate the author of a book/movie you love! However, if you really want to stand out from the hundreds of other Harry Potter fans out there, I would suggest a layout redesign. This time, put the movie cast on there. The cast is often more recognizable to fans than the author herself. Besides, the way that the head of Rowling was cut out is a pretty bad job. You can tell it was a quick job. It does not look smooth. Instead, it looks rough and pixelated. In the header, I see that you are using a serif font. Most people do not enjoy seeing serif fonts on website layouts. Some people can make it work, but in this case, it is not working. Consider changing that to a sans-serif font instead. Also, do not have that centered. It should either be aligned to the left or justified. In addition, the text is fuzzy and unclear. In fact, the whole header image looks like it was a crappy job done in MS Paint. I think you really need a redesign.
As Becca already pointed out, your page is nowhere near validated. She also pointed out that much of it is due to the fact that you have no doctype. In case you do not know how to fix this, just put this in between your "head" tags:
Overall, I do not really like your sidebar at all. The sidebar is something that is displayed throughout your entire site, so it needs to be appealing. I realize that you are a fansite and you may be required to place an ad code on your site. If at all possible, consider moving this to a lower location on the page. If this is not allowed by your host, I understand. However, the ad underneath the Google ad code is completely unacceptable. Why are you offering to advertise personal sites, blog, portfolios, and pretty much any site? No, no, no. Get rid of this service immediately! This is taking up valuable space on your sidebar. All of your sidebar content is too far down the page, and this is certainly not helping.
You seem to be running this fansite as a personal site. You should not be advertising a free domain competition on a fansite! The only place I have ever seen this is on personal sites, and it is definitely not acceptable on a fansite. And you've enter three of them! No, not just one. Three. Get rid of them now. I just peeked a look at your host and they offer free domains. Besides, you're already hosted on a domain. If you want another domain, set yourself up a personal site and enter there.
Your affiliate links don't stand out to me. They're really dull, to be honest. I've seen fansite do the cutest things with affiliate buttons. Affiliates are your friends, and they should always be there for you. When I owned a fansite (yes, I admit that I illegally used celebrity images too), I made some great friends through my affiliates. Even now, when we have all finally realized that using celebrity images is illegal and no longer own fansite, we still keep in touch and are great online friends. This should be the relationship between you and all of your affiliates. For you, this may be the case already. However, then you need to show your affiliates that you truly care by attracting a little bit more of the visitors' attentions towards them. Of course, don't attract too much attention - you don't want them to just leave your site. Just spice up the links a little to show them some love.
I'm not going to comment about your long list of sites reviewing you. Just refer to my comments about your free domain competition buttons.
Okay, that is a horrible disclaimer. If somebody decided to sue you for this fansite, you would have nothing against them. Nothing at all. Say something like this, and add much more!
This site is in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling or any cast members of the Harry Potter movies. We do not claim to be affiliated with any of their relations, managers, or acquaintances. All photos on this site are copyright to their original owners and we do not claim to have the right to use, copy, or redistribute them.
Even that would be a horrible disclaimer, and you could still be very easily sued for this site. However, it is a lot better than what you have now. Try to add a little more to that too, because I just typed that up really fast. Also, if it is possible (and sometimes it is not possible for fansites), credit the photographer for all images used and/or posted.
Your main page blog looks very disorganized. Stick to one particular template for all blogs. In your top blog, your signature with your name in it is highlighted in a green. In your second blog, it is simply there in the same text as everything else. On your third blog, it is posted in bold. Your fourth one has it at the top. Then your fifth has it simply there at the top. Put it somewhere and then leave it there in every single post. If you feel that you will forget, customize your FanUpdate template to automatically add it for you at the end in one style.
At the bottom, you can get rid of that "main" link. Your archives, feed, and search bar should be farther up the page, preferably in your sidebar. However, I don't know if that would be a good idea for you since your sidebar is already a mess. Also, it would look better if you moved that FanUpdate credit link to either the sidebar or a credits page. It looks very out-of-place at the bottom.
I'm too lazy to look through all of your site stuff. Just looking at your staff page. I like to learn about who I'm reviewing! Ooh, that one cut deep. You hate Twilight. Haha, honestly, I couldn't care less anymore, but if I had come across your site a year ago (when I owned a Twilight fansite), I just may have had to kill you. Don't worry, I don't care anymore. :) I love your last two lines: "Or want to argue? Just e-mail me." I just may have to take you up on that offer. (Kidding!) Ooh, Susanna has the same birthday as my mom!
Okay, I am now on your competitions page. When I hover over your links, they disappear. I prefer (and so do most people) to still be able to see my links even when I am hovering over them. They should not simply vanish and go poof!
Overall, none of your contests sound particularly interesting to me. Maybe it would help if instead of just saying that the visitor gets an award, show the award to them. If it's an item, show them a picture and tell them they get free shipping. If it's a graphics, show them maybe a 100x100 patch of the graphics to excite them. Humans are greedy creatures. We want to see what we're getting before just putting in the extra effort.
Your graphics are not at all appealing. They show no talent at all. In fact, most of these look like they were just a cutting and pasting job on MS Paint. Show your true talent. I'm sure you have quiet a bit of talent. Otherwise, you would not even be able to own a fansite like this.
In your "wizard rock" category, I think it is very cool that you went through the effort to personally interview these bands. Great job with that! It really shows your visitors that you have put work into your site.
Overall, your site needs quite a bit of work. I hope you find my review to be useful - not only because it took forever to type up, but also because I do believe that you have a great deal of potential. I think the two main points you to focus on first are getting a new layout (and fast!) and organizing your sidebar. Good luck with your site, and feel free to send me a message here on rev.iew.me if you have any questions about anything I said. :)
UPDATED 21 Mar 09:
Oh, no! The code I put at the end of the fourth paragraph didn't show up! How sad. Let me try again. Okay, use the code below, but put tags around it, of course.
meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"UPDATED 21 Mar 09:
Okay, obviously I am not going to tell you that your site is terrific, wonderful, and perfect. Everybody has room to improve. If you can not accept that, then I don't see why you should own a site at all. Yes, there are good things about your site. However, I am not going to spend five minutes of my time gushing over how adorable and lovely something on your site is. If that's what you want, then rev.iew.me is probably not the best place to post your site for review. By the way, I did point out some good things about your site. I sure am sorry for not going on and on about them! When you posted your site on rev.iew.me, you asked for my honest opinion. I am entitled to my opinion, and you are of course entitled to yours.Have you seen any other domain fansites for the fans?
Yes, plenty. You're not the only person who can own a fansite on a domain. Or maybe I misunderstood your question?Why do I need to have my page validated?
Maybe so that all these fans that you are trying to reach out to can actually view your site properly in whichever browser they choose to use.Can't I stick to normal coding? I hardly know what validating my page is.
Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that having validated coding is suddenly abnormal. Oh, well, I guess I always knew I was a little different. *sigh*Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
Shlesha's Response:
All I've seen you do is criticize, on perfectly wonderful sites. I actually like the layout to be honest, and I'm not out there to compete with other fansites. Have you seen any other domain fansites for the fans? I found your review unhelpful, I really like my graphics, and so do a lot of people. Why do I need to have my page validated? I do not get it :/ Can't I stick to normal coding? I hardly know what validating my page is. Some bits of your review WERE helpful, the disclaimer, but that is about it :/
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Becca.jpg)
Becca gave it
on 20th Mar 2009 and said:Well Well Well, it's Shlesha I see :)
This is only going to be a quick review beacause I feel awkward reviewing people I'm friends with :P
Sorry!
Anyways, Awesome awesome layout, Susanna's a really talented girly. :)
Unfortunately, you have unvalid coding. 64 errors to be precise. Why? You have no doctype woman! haha. See them all here. I'd try and help you fix some of them, but I really don't know how for some others.. Your css is valid YAY! :)
Anyway, Considering this is only a short review and I love you I'm going to give you four. You could have five but a)nobody's perfect and b) you're coding. I'll seem very biast if I gave you five :P
Love youxxUsing Firefox on Windows | Report This?
Shlesha's Response:
LOL Becca :) Thanks for reviewing, haha!
Write Your Own Review
Leave your feedback for Doxycide below, and remember - the longer your review, the more points you receive. Don't forget to look at things like style/design, content, coding and originality as they will all help to improve the quality of your review.
You have to be logged in to write a review.